2 NBA champions the Boston Celtics could sign to their roster this summer
By Mark Nilon
Boston Celtics target No. 1) Otto Porter Jr
To kick things off, we ironically have someone who went on to earn their first NBA title just this past season as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
For months now, Otto Porter Jr. has been linked as being a potential target for the Boston Celtics this summer as an MLE free agency target, and, just recently, my Co-Expert, Andrew Hughes, went on to continue stoking this proverbial fire:
"Golden State is a taxpayer, and has no reason to cut salary. They need to stick to their championship status quo, and will. That could mean that Otto Porter would need to take a salary cut to stay on a championship-caliber team. NBA players don’t tend to do such things, and at age 29, Porter has no reason not to ink a long-term deal at the highest rate possible. Teams with cap space won’t be using it to sign Porter, but the Cs could conceivably make a play for the former No. 3 overall pick in 2013. They should, if for no other reason than to disassemble a potential awakened beast out in the Bay Area."
Porter is a highly intriguing player with a mixed bag of tricks in his bag.
Measuring in at 6-8, coupled with his specific two-way skill set, over the years the veteran has proven capable of playing virtually any position from the three all the way down to even a small-ball five, and, just this past season, we saw him boast shooting splits of 46.4 percent from the floor, 37 percent from deep, and 80 percent from the line whilst averaging career-high in rebounds of 12.6 per-100 possessions, thus showcasing his abilities to bang down low on the boards and serve as somewhat of a change-of-pace universal frontcourt commodity.
Considering the fact that the Celtics could use a versatile backup forward within their arsenal but will be strapped for cash due to their current salary cap situation, coupled with Otto Porter Jr’s injury history likely keeping prospective buyers weary even with his new moniker of NBA champ, the pairing of these two parties could be a match made in heaven this summer.