Boston Celtics: 3 potential point guard options with the MLE

It’s been quiet in the month that followed the seismic offseason kickstarting deal new Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens made to land Al Horford. Losing Kemba Walker in the starting lineup has not yet been addressed and perhaps might not be until the start of free agency.

It certainly won’t be addressed at the NBA Draft. Not unless something drastic happens. Stevens needed to attach their only first-round pick this year to offload Walker.

Of course, there are always in-house options. Marcus Smart can play the point if the Cs re-sign Evan Fournier to play the 2, or they could go big and have Horford and Robert Williams man the middle with Smart, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum on the perimeter. Payton Pritchard is on the bench as an emergency option.

All of that said, the point guard market is the most robust in free agency. Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, and Dennis Schroder are all in line for decent-to-damn good paydays, and there are plenty of more affordable options on the market.

That’s who the Houdini is going to explore adding today for the Cs this summer. The MLE is their most realistic way to add a point guard capable of competing for the starting job.

Here are 3 realistic options:

Boston Celtics MLE point guard target #1: Yam Madar

Apparently, it could be very expensive to add 2020 second round draft stash Yam Madar:

Even with the price point potentially being the MLE, Madar could bring a ton to the lineup as a slick passer and adept shooter.

Calling him the Israeli Steph Curry is hyperbole, but even his name being included with a former back-to-back league MVP shows the ceiling some see him having. That’s worth a portion of the MLE at least given his youth at just 20 years old.