While it’s been an extremely successful offseason so far for the Boston Celtics, all of the wheeling and dealing the front office has partaken in has left a specific part of the rotation vulnerable heading into the 2022-23 season: their big man depth.
In dealing for Malcolm Brogdon, the Cs traded away their primary backup pivot (Daniel Theis) and two backup bigs (Juwan Morgan and Malik Fitts) that profiled as athletic power forwards capable of filling in at the 5 in a pinch. The deal was one you make 10 times out of 10 if you’re the Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens, but it’s one you make knowing full well that your work as a front office is not yet complete.
Luckily, there’s no better time to create a hole on your depth chart than the first week of free agency. There is no shortage of options Boston can consider with its three remaining roster spots — the team’s three TPEs and the veteran’s minimum are all still available for use.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley believes Dwight Howard, once a trade target for the Boston Celtics back in 2012 during Orlando’s “Dwightmare”, is the perfect target and one he named for the team in his piece entitled ‘1 Free Agent Every NBA Team Should Still Sign’ due to his size and length on the block:
"“The Celtics need more size and length on the interior, particularly after trading backup big man Daniel Theis. Dwight Howard may not offer a ton during what will be his age-37 season, but he still checks those boxes easily. It took him a while to settle into a supporting reserve role, but now he’s handling the late-career wind-down just fine. He can tally an impressive number of boards, blocks and point-blank buckets in roughly 20 minutes a night.”"
Dwight Howard would be perfect fill-in option for Boston Celtics on nights Robert Williams sits
Howard remains one of several big men available on the open market for the vet’s minimum along with Ed Davis, Tristan Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, and Hassan Whiteside. We already know Thompson’s fit (or lack thereof) in Boston and we also know that Cousins is looking for a starting role that Boston can’t offer. That immediately strikes two targets off the list for potential signings this summer. As for Davis and Whiteside, both bigs are four years younger than Howard but lack the championship pedigree ‘Superman’ does. Less than two years ago, Howard was the starting center for five of the 2020 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers’ six Finals games.
The benefits of a potential Howard signing are that the Cs can deploy the 37-year-old in the same fashion they do Robert Williams III considering their similar skillsets. When the ‘Time Lord’ inevitably sits games out here and there, Ime Udoka can keep his offensive schemes intact sliding Howard into Williams’ spot.