Boston Celtics: 3 low-cost point guard options Cs must consider signing

Despite getting off to a hot start to the 2021 NBA Offseason, what with the trades that landed Al Horford in late June and then Josh Richardson in late July, the Boston Celtics have been rather quiet during this year’s free agency period.

Though we’ve seen the team’s name mentioned in the tabloids and in numerous media publications during this time period, the reasons for why have not been all that positive, for Evan Fournier opted to jump ship and sign with the New York Knicks while former Celtic, Kemba Walker, reached a buyout with the OKC Thunder and headed to the Big Apple as well.

Now, to be fair, Boston did wind up making a signing during the first week of free agency — though, it wasn’t any of the talents we had anticipated — by bringing back former center, Enes Kanter, on a one-year deal but, for the most part, things have remained rather silent on Brad Stevens’ end.

However, even though recently things have been a bit still, there are several players out there that remain unclaimed and could be viewed as realistic targets for the shamrocks to consider.

Frankly, we at the Houdini believe signings still must be made to help address some of their weaknesses within the rotation, with their biggest sore spot being the point guard position.

Should they look to bolster their backcourt depth through the open market, there are 3 low-cost players, in specific, that should strongly be considered:

(**Article scheduled 6PM Thursday night**)

Boston Celtics point guard option No. 1) Elfrid Payton

Due to the fact that the Boston Celtics already have two franchise players in tow with the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, finding a point guard who’s more interested in dishing the rock and playing sound defense rather than looking for his own shot could be the ideal move to make.

Despite having a horrid season with the New York Knicks in 2020-21, Elfrid Payton could easily fit this mold for the Cs and, honestly, recency bias could actually wind up being rather beneficial for the team’s front office when it comes to the veteran guard’s price tag.

Again, we’re quite aware of his lowly season from a statistical standpoint, where he boasted averages of 10.1 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game but, frankly, we’re more so under the impression that this was due to his lacking fit within the rotation’s makeup rather than solely due to a decrease in skill/ talent for the seventh-year veteran.

History tells us that Payton is at his best when being used as an on-ball floor general. In New York this past season, he was, instead, slotted in as an off-ball commodity what with the All-Star level emergence of Julius Randle serving as the team’s point-forward.

This is by no means a recipe for success.

Referred to as somewhat of a Rajon Rondo-lite player, Payton is best served as a team’s primary facilitator — a quarterback on the court, if you will.

For his career, per 100 possessions the 27-year-old averages 10.7 assists and, during the two seasons prior to last, he averaged 12.3 in said category.

With his strengths, Elfrid Payton’s presence could help the Jays — and, frankly, everyone else on the team — get less-cluttered looks at the basket which could only help Boston’s offensive efficiency.