Analyst: It’d be ‘an upset’ if these 2 Boston Celtics bigs saw postseason minutes
If either Luke Kornet or Blake Griffin saw playing time for the Boston Celtics in the postseason it’d be nothing short of an upset — this, at least, according to MassLive’s Brian Robb in his latest Celtics Mailbag.
Kornet and Griffin have played in 54 and 27 games, respectively, of the 64 games the Celtics have played this season. Kornet has been held scoreless in four of his last five appearances, all of which were in garbage time. Griffin, meanwhile, has scored 15 points twice in his last five appearances, but he has been largely a sparkplug spot starter this season.
Robb called either of them playing in upset in a question addressing a reader wondering about what bench big man combos we can see in the final month and a half of the NBA’s regular season:
"“I think it will be an upset if we see Blake Griffin or Luke Kornet on the court for a postseason series, certainly not together.”"
Analyst doubts what Boston Celtics buyout market big would’ve added to team
One of the players asked about during Robb’s Celtics Mailbag was Nerlens Noel, who was bought out by the Pistons on February 27, a day before the buyout deadline for waived players to be able to play in the postseason after signing with a new team.
Noel ended up signing with the Nets on March 4, taking the 28-year-old Massachusetts native off the table. Had he been available still, Robb doubts what he would’ve been able to add to the team anyway:
"“Don’t think Noel is going to really add anything at this point given the bench depth in front of him. I think an experienced wing or a young player with promise is likely the direction they go in now.”"
Noel had only made 14 appearances for the Pistons this season after being dealt to Detroit along with Alec Burks and Kemba Walker during the 2022 offseason and averaged career-lows in scoring, rebounding, and efficiency.
He will now look to repair his value in Brooklyn, where there’s a clear need for a second big. There wasn’t such a need in Boston.