Boston Celtics: 3 free agent bigs that fit better than Tristan Thompson

The Boston Celtics may not be the top team in the league when it comes to offseason spending power (in fact, they’re quite the opposite), but this is not to say they won’t find themselves being active participants once free agency rolls around this coming August.

In fact, based on their early summer shakeups, it’s quite evident that this front office is willing to roll the dice if it means reshaping their roster for a much different outcome in 2021-22.

Kicked off by the trade that sent Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder, new President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, seems comfortable with dealing away players deemed to have an underwhelming fit within the rotation and, perhaps the next player with such a label who could be on the move is veteran big man, Tristan Thompson.

With the fact that the Cs now have the likes of Al Horford, Moses Brown, and Robert Williams under contract, the once depleted pivot position now appears to be overstocked and, due to his specific skill set coupled with his age and easily tradeable salary, Thompson could find himself on his way out of Beantown in the near future.

With this hypothetical move, Boston would obviously be parting ways with a big man, but this is not to say they shouldn’t look to find a player at the same or similar position to help better compliment his cohorts in the frontcourt.

Today, we’ll be discussing 3 free agent bigs who could prove to be better fits than Tristan Thompson in the C’s scheme:

Boston Celtics big man option No. 1) Nemanja Bjelica

Though perhaps not the sexiest of players that will be found as a part of this year’s free agency class, for Boston Celtics fans Nemanja Bjelica should be a rather familiar name as he’s been linked as a potential target for the organization for the past few seasons now.

Even this year, we at HH discussed the veteran as being a solid trade deadline target that Boston should have considered pursuing. Now, obviously, such a deal was never made, but now with him hitting unrestricted free agency, perhaps the front office can finally acquire the big man without having to cough up any assets in the process.

At 6-11, 235-pounds, Bjelica is a big-bodied type of talent that can intimidate opposing players in the paint while his 39 percent 3-point percentage would make him a fantastic floor spacing presence in the frontcourt that the Cs could certainly use.

In comparison to Thompson’s 6-9 frame and his nine total 3-pointers made throughout his entire career, it’s certainly hard to argue against the fact that the Serbian-born baller would be a better fit with the Celtics.