The Boston Celtics’ center rotation is strikingly different than it was three months ago. What was an area of luxurious depth is now razor thin. Boston went from Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet to Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and Xavier Tillman Sr. as their top three big men.
It feels like it’s been forever since the Celtics had any holes, let alone one this glaring, to try to plug. While the situation lowers expectations for the on-court product, it sure does make hypotheticals far more fun.
Speaking of which, Sam Vecenie of “The Athletic” included the Cs in an interesting one during a recent episode of the “Game Theory” podcast. When raving about Phoenix Suns sophomore center Oso Ighodaro, he explained that the big man may not have a future in the desert with the team’s plethora of bigs.
“Based on what we saw from Oso Ighodaro at Summer League, I think he’s just good,” Vecenie explained to Bryce Simon. “Like, I just straight-up think Oso is good, and I have no idea how he’s going to play [in Phoenix] long term. They just went out and got Mark Williams and Khaman Maluach.”
Vecenie first speculated that the Indiana Pacers could look to swing a deal for the 23-year-old if the Suns were open to trading him, but later included the Celtics in that conversation as well.
“The Celtics make perfect sense for Oso,” he added.
Oso Ighodaro would be a great low-risk player for the Celtics to take a chance on
Given their current situation, Vecenie raises a great point. Ighodaro is exactly the type of player the Celtics should take a swing at this season. He’s got good size, standing at seven feet tall, and still has some upside being so young.
The former Marquette star would be a great fit for Boston’s third-string center slot, maybe even backup. He appeared in 61 games for the Suns as a rookie, averaging 4.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in about 17 minutes per game.
He’s shown promise as a connective playmaker who finishes quite well around the basket and has a lethal little push shot floater.
The situation in Phoenix just doesn’t seem like it’ll be his best opportunity to grow in the NBA. With the amount of big men on the team, he could very well be fourth in the rotation.
Another part of Vecenie’s point was that Ighodaro would be a low-risk acquisition. He set the estimated price tag at two second-round picks, which the Celtics likely wouldn’t end up missing in the long run.