Analyst prefers Boston Celtics sign volume shooter over undersized marksman
Inside The Celtics’ Bobby Krivitsky believes the Boston Celtics would be better off signing volume shooter Svi Mykhailiuk, who has a 40/36/76.4 shooting slash in his career, over undersized marksman Rodney McGruder, who has shot 42% from the 3-point line the past three seasons, but who stands at six-foot-four on the wing. Krivitsky cited height and volume as Mykhailiuk’s advantages.
“While Mykhailiuk’s had three seasons where he shot below 33.5 percent from beyond the arc, he’s also had two where he hoisted at least 4.8 three-point attempts, including 5.1 in 2019-20. McGruder’s career-high in the latter category is 3.4,” Krivitsky wrote.
“While the two are comparable marksmen, given that the former’s three inches taller than the six-foot-four McGruder and at 26, he’s six years younger, Mykhailiuk’s a slightly better option, in this author’s opinion.”
The Boston Celtics should sign whoever will agree to a non-guaranteed training camp deal
Neither Mykhailiuk nor McGruder are make-or-break free agents for the Boston Celtics, and the odds are high that the pair will enter training camp without a guaranteed deal beyond the first few months of the season.
If the opportunity arises, the Celtics should bring on both to shore up the wing depth; which still feels incomplete despite the signing of Oshae Brissett during the 2023 offseason and Sam Hauser the previous one. Mykhailiuk has been heavily rumored, specifically to the Cs, while McGruder has gotten minimal free-agent buzz since the end of the 2022-23 Detroit Pistons season.
Boston is top-heavy at the moment, losing depth in the offseason with Grant Williams’ free-agent departure. With that said the Miami Heat have shown that depth can be found anywhere you look if you look hard enough. Adding a late-summer flier that turns out to be a contributor is very much in play for all 30 teams in the Association; but very much the one thing that the Celtics could afford to go their way after several close calls with the Larry O’Brien Trophy the past seven years.