The Boston Celtics underwent quite the summer shakeup to get themselves beneath the league’s second-apron line. Part of the initiative included hunting for diamonds in the rough, aka finding effective players on low-level contracts.
A tidbit from HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto’s Wednesday newsletter gave insight into the Celtics’ summer search. Apparently, they were interested in bringing in Brooklyn Nets big man Day’Ron Sharpe as a free agent, but weren’t really able to offer a competitive salary due to the aforementioned financial gymnastics.
“It’s worth noting that Boston also planned to pursue Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe in free agency,” Scotto shared. “The Celtics would’ve been limited to only a minimum offer for Sharpe, but were prepared to offer a chance to compete for the starting center spot this season.”
The Celtics could especially use Day'Ron Sharpe now
The timing of Scotto’s report is actually pretty funny. Boston could use Sharpe even more with Neemias Queta sidelined with an ankle sprain heading into Wednesday’s meeting with the first-place Detroit Pistons.
Frontcourt depth became a glaring issue for the Cs once they traded Kristaps Porzingis away and then lost Luke Kornet to the San Antonio Spurs a week later. Then, Al Horford’s exit was the final blow.
It makes sense for the Celtics to have been interested in Sharpe. He’s got good size at six-feet-ten inches tall, is still young enough to focus on development, and has some promise as a stretch big.
This season with the Nets, the 24-year-old is averaging 6.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in about 16 minutes per game. Sharpe shoots 63.5% from the field and 23.1% from three-point range. Again, he’s not a polished stretch big, but his career average is pushing 30%. Plus, the Celtics have a history of developing shooters.
Sharpe actually had a solid game against Boston last week, in the Nets’ first of two matchups with the Cs. He finished the night with 16 points and seven rebounds with three steals in 18 minutes of play.
Of course, he’s not a perfect player, and there’s a reason that the Celtics felt that they could bring him in on a minimum contract. Sharpe’s above outing is his only above-average performance over his last five games.
It would, however, be interesting to see how he would fit into a better-built team like the Celtics. Brooklyn has been among the league’s worst for the majority of Sharpe’s career, offering him little chance to impact winning at a high level.
With the Nets' reported interest in Anfernee Simons, maybe there's a path for Sharpe to wind up in Boston, after all. For now, we'll all just have to ponder his hypothetical fit.