Free agency has been a whirlwind…well, for everyone besides the Boston Celtics at least. While Enes Kanter was brought back on a veteran’s minimum deal, the rest of the league was handing out an exorbitant sum of money.
Future financial flexibility has been the goal of the offseason, but that has left some Cs fans wanting more.
Like a starting point guard.
Marcus Smart is a fine option to man the floor general mantle for Boston considering his improved passing over the years (5.7 assists in 2020-21) and knack for avoiding turnovers. Still, finding a more natural playmaker to balance out the starting lineup and having a passing threat from multiple positions could be preferable for first-year coach Ime Udoka.
Here are 3 playmakers the Houdini has in mind that the Cs could pursue that don’t involve handing out a long-term contract to Dennis Schroder, who is quickly running out of options:
Boston Celtics free-agent target not named Dennis Schroder #1: Elfrid Payton
The New York Knicks now have former Celtics max point guard Kemba Walker playing for a deal worth less than the MLE. Couple that with re-signing Derrick Rose, and there is no room for Elfrid Payton on the depth chart in the Big Apple.
In Boston, there’s a spot for Payton to prove he could be closer to the player he was before the 2020-21 season, where his assist total–aka his meal ticket to being a starter in the NBA at all–was more than slashed in half to just three per game.
It’s low-risk, high-reward. If it doesn’t work out, nothing changes from right now. If it does? The cost to bring him on makes it a serious value signing.
Boston Celtics free-agent target not named Dennis Schroder #2: Langston Galloway
For Langston Galloway, being on a team that reached the NBA Finals is nice, but he wasn’t exactly the biggest contributor.
Moving forward, Galloway just wants the chances that took him from a 10-day contract option to a legitimate NBA needle-mover. He told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype as much:
"What are you looking for in free agency? Galloway: Just an opportunity. I was on a team that made it to the Finals, but my biggest thing is getting an opportunity to play. Being on a team like that, I learned a lot, and all I need is someone that’s going to believe in me. That’s going to go a long way, and it’s going to pay dividends for whatever team I get the chance to play for next year."
Galloway was the lone bright spot on one of the worst teams of the 2010s, the 2014-15 New York Knicks. He proved to be one of the only serotonin boosters on a team that regularly started Lou Admudson and Jason Smith.
Since then, he hasn’t found a steady role on any team, but the Cs have an underdog element that could make Galloway a good culture fit in 2021-22. He’d surely be available for a minimum deal or portion of the MLE.
Boston Celtics free-agent target not named Dennis Schroder #3: Frank Ntilikina
When it comes to having the respect of the Jays already, Frank Ntilikina had to have earned it when he helped Team France knock off Team USA back in 2019 during the FIBA World Championship games in China.
That Team USA squad had several Celtics on the team, including Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and the recently departed Kemba Walker, and referred to themselves as “Team Shamrock”.
Perhaps the failures of that team got the Walker era in Boston off to a bad start and they never recovered, especially after all of the struggles Walker had even staying in the lineup.
Ntilikina is the polar opposite of Walker and was part of the French Olympic team that just earned a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics in Japan. He’s yet to develop as a true offensive threat, but he and Smart in the same backcourt is a nightmare for opposing offenses.
Given his inability to ever find more time on the floor for Jeff Hornacek’s Knicks, David Fizdale’s Knicks, or Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks, Ntilikina could probably be had for cheap. If he’s willing to take a minimum deal, locking him up for multiple years could be smart considering the minimal cap hit.
Ntilikina represents the stealthiest value on the free-agent market at this point, and signing him at a fraction of the cost of Dennis Schroder would be a huge win in Brad Stevens’ first offseason leading the front office.