The obvious massive change that everyone is pointing to for the Celtics is the departure of Jaylen Brown after a decade in Boston. But stylistically, the team has plenty of wings who can make an amalgamation of what Brown did. His leaving really shouldn’t change much about how the Cs play, and if anything, he may have been one of the bigger stylistic misfits.
An actual on-court change that may end up making a much bigger impact is that for the first time since Al Horford was reacquired from the Thunder, the Celtics’ top two centers are not floor spacers. Their only true stretch-big is Luka Garza, and he may not even be a regular part of the rotation with Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson soaking up most of the minutes.
Even Daniel Theis and Aaron Baynes were occasional three-point shooters, and since then, they’ve had the likes of Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and last year, Garza and Nikola Vucevic to spell Queta. But with Vooch leaving and Robinson being added, there’s a good chance that Boston trots out 48 minutes of non-shooting bigs on a lot of nights.
Mazzulla has never not had a shooting center in his rotation
Joe Mazzulla has never been faced with these circumstances before as a head coach and has constantly leaned on five-out spacing and his pace-and-space principles, which have worked wonders. Even last year, he would lean on Garza and Vooch in the playoffs to try and drag Joel Embiid out of the paint and change the math on offense.
And maybe Garza will still get more run than we think, but otherwise, this will be a pretty big change. I think there’s a chance that it works better than people may think. Spacing doesn’t necessarily mean three-point shooting. Queta was extremely successful last year as a rim-running big and an excellent screener on and off the ball who could eat off easy looks out of the dunker spot as well.
Celtics may look to trade for stretch-big before the deadline
Robinson can offer a lot of the same elements on offense, and perhaps, with enough shooting around them, this won’t ever even be an issue. But if it does become an issue and the Celtics don’t think Garza can hold up defensively in the playoffs, they may need to make an in-season move, and adding a stretch-big would be the clear move.
Myles Turner is someone we’ve heard a lot about, but his contract almost makes that a non-starter. Horford would be the dream, but would both sides welcome a third stint in Boston? The Third Apron podcast floated Jalen Smith from the Bulls, and I think someone like that is probably the most realistic option. Smith is a solid defender who shot over 37% from deep last year on more than four attempts per game.
He’s on a Bulls team that is heading nowhere and on an expiring $9+ million contract. At 26 years old, he could be an optimal target and could possibly be acquired with some of the wing depth (Sam Hauser would be more than enough money to match) and maybe a second-round pick or two.
That’s just one hypothetical option, and I don’t think the Celtics are in a rush to make any move, especially before seeing how this new-look roster actually looks. But as the season goes on, this is definitely a situation to monitor, and if there is a move to be made this season, I’d imagine it’s to target a center who’s a real three-point shooting threat.
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