Despite his crazy combination of size and athleticism, Chris Cenac Jr. only blocked 18 total shots during his one collegiate season at Houston. At 6’10” and 240 pounds, Cenac should profile as a guy who can help anchor a defense with rim protection, but it was rarely on display for the Cougars as he played next to the beastly Jojo Tugler.
But now, in just three summer league games for the Celtics, Cenac has already rejected 9 shots and shown an ability to fly around on the defensive end. He’s still very raw, and obviously the competition in Las Vegas isn’t what he’ll face during the NBA regular season, but the fact that he’s doing this is a great sign.
We’ve seen what the Celtics and their developmental staff have done with big men in recent years like Robert Williams, Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta, and others, and Cenac looks like he’s going to be their latest project. The difference is that Cenac is just 19 years old and a real star upside with his combination of size and skills.
To be fair, we’ve also seen him get pushed around at summer league, look too passive, and find himself out of place. He needs to work on his ball skills and add strength and feel. But he has all the tools and all the potential if he can put it together. And at his age, and in this system, there’s no reason to think that he won’t.
Cenac Jr. has a chance to earn minutes as a rookie
Whether or not he can actually carve out a role in the rotation this season remains to be seen, but it’s certainly not like there’s a path. Queta was great last season, but he’s one-dimensional; Mitchell Robinson struggles to stay healthy and will need his minutes managed; and Luka Garza has some serious flaws on the defensive end. If he can learn his role, he has the talent to steal minutes this year and give the Celtics a totally different look from any of those other bigs.
Another thing he has going for him is that Cenac can, and may be best-suited to, play along a true center. Boston is lacking a double-big look as currently constructed, but with his ability to play on the perimeter, Cenac can slide down to the four, which could give Joe Mazzulla some fascinating jumbo lineups to play with.
Again, I don’t want to put the cart ahead of the horse here for a 19-year-old picked at the end of the first round who has had a few good games in summer league. But it’s clear just from watching that Cenac’s upside is through the roof, and if he can put it all together, he has the potential to become something more than a role player in Boston.
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