After the trade for Malcolm Brogdon, which involved the Boston Celtics sending away three big men (Daniel Theis, Juwan Morgan, Malik Fitts) for a pure point guard, the frontcourt depth on the Cs became nearly non-existent beyond Maine Celtics regular Luke Kornet.
Sure, recent combo forward TPMLE signee Danilo Gallinari and fourth-year man Grant Williams could pitch in some small-ball minutes at the pivot, but the front office should pursue a true center in the event that Robert Williams and/or Al Horford miss any significant time during the 2022-23 season.
A popular name that was previously brought up by Bleacher Report has surfaced again and was even called the ‘perfect fit as a low-risk, medium-reward acquisition’ to put a cherry on top of this offseason.
That’d be the 2019-20 NBA Champion starting center for the Los Angeles Lakers, the 36-year-old Dwight Howard, who CelticsBlog’s Trevor Haas said the Boston Celtics should sign with one of their three remaining roster spots.
Dwight Howard will have interest from Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Los Angeles Clippers
Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney reported that Dwight Howard was unlikely to return to the Lakers in 2022-23 after three separate one-year stints with the purple and gold over the past decade. Howard’s next landing spot figures to offer much of the same things the Lake Show did this past season (contending in a large market) — though the Lakers only offered such in theory.
The Boston Celtics can offer a ready-made primary backup big role for him, but they won’t be the only team ready to offer the veteran a chance to be a locker-room presence on a squad with championship aspirations. While the Golden State Warriors already have Kevon Looney and James Wiseman ahead of him, the allure of playing on a dynastic squad that’s been known to elevate the 1-11 spots on the depth chart. Philadelphia has Paul Reed needing minutes at the 5, but Howard was a proven commodity on the 76ers two years ago when the team nearly made the Eastern Conference finals. The Los Angeles Clippers have the most obvious need for a backup center with just Ivica Zubac on the roster, but they have a surplus of talented true power forwards (Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic Batum) that will need minutes.
It’s unclear where the Howard sweepstakes goes, but consider the Boston Celtics squarely in the middle of it.