It only took Luke Kornet one half to make Celtics regret everything

Luke Kornet made waves in his preseason debut with the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. The former Boston Celtics center dominated against (checks notes) the Guangzhou Loong-Lions, scoring 16 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field in just 14 minutes off the bench.

This may be more of a testament to French sensation Victor Wembanyama’s skillset than Kornet’s, but the duo’s pick-and-roll game was absolutely deadly.

Kornet’s elite screen-setting ability, paired with Wemby’s unique playmaking bag, made for an unexpected highlight mixtape.

This must’ve been how the guy who invented the peanut butter and jelly sandwich felt.

In all seriousness, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two centers run a pick-and-roll before, nor did I realize how effective it could be if it were pulled off. If Wembanyama and Kornet can execute at the same level against real NBA competition, then the Spurs will be a must-watch League Pass team this year, for sure.

Watching Kornet thrive in his first outing as a Spur was bittersweet. On one hand, the guy gave everything he had in Boston and earned himself a four-year, $41 million payday from San Antonio. On the other hand, it’s got a real “Wolverine reminiscing as he stares at an old photo” feel to it.

Could the Celtics have found a way to keep Luke Kornet?

Considering how thin the Celtics’ center rotation projects to be this season, they’re going to be missing Kornet quite a bit. The big man could’ve had plenty of opportunity to thrive as a starter with the Cs had he stayed.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but looking at some of the salary cap math, Boston may have been able to retain Kornet on a similar contract, while still avoiding the league’s second-apron.

As of October 7, the Celtics are $7.8 million below the threshold. If they were to outright add Kornet’s $11 million to their books, they’d find themselves $3.2 million above it.

The math gets interesting when you factor in the signings of Luka Garza and Chris Boucher. One of them would’ve had to be on the roster regardless of whether Kornet stayed, to bring the total to 14 players. However, if you hypothetically subtract Garza’s $2.4 million from Boston’s books, there could’ve been a path to keep Kornet in town.

He would’ve had to take a slight pay cut, but the Cs could’ve offered him $10.2 million without jumping back up over the second apron.

The reason why this is all a big hindsight hypothetical is that when Kornet signed with the Spurs, Boston still hadn’t traded Georges Niang’s $8 million salary to the Utah Jazz. They simply didn’t have the flexibility to match the offer at that time.

In the end, the move probably worked out for both sides. Kornet got paid and has the chance to play with Wemby, while the Celtics have plenty of expiring contracts to play with as they reshape their roster.