It's as though the Basketball Gods simply just don't want the Boston Celtics to be healthy. Shortly after Jayson Tatum returned to the floor, Nikola Vucevic suffered a fractured finger, an injury that won't keep him out for too long. For that matter, it's not like the Celtics can't manage without him.
It just means Luka Garza, who was playing some fantastic basketball before the Vucevic trade, will get more minutes. Celtics fans should be more than comfortable, but what they should be a little concerned about is their big man depth as a whole.
With Vucevic out, the Celtics' frontcourt rotation is Garza, Neemias Queta, and Amari Williams, which did just fine before the trade deadline, but if another one of those three goes out, it could be a problem. Moreover, it would call one Boston decision into question: trading away Chris Boucher and Xavier Tillman in salary dumps.
For the record, Boucher never fit with the Celtics, Tillman was there just for the vibes, and getting rid of them opened up so many possibilities for Boston in terms of salary. However, at times like these, it would have been nice to have some emergency bigs when freak occurrences like these happen.
As emergency bigs, they fit those roles well
Boucher was a flop in Boston, but part of that was because it was clear how much the other bigs simply outshone him. It was nice to have him waiting in the wings in case the Celtics lost more of their depth. Tillman's lateral movement, which once made him a valued cog, is gone, but hey, he gave Boston six fouls to burn if they ever called his name.
What makes it harder is that no available big man on the free agency market looks all that appealing to the Celtics. Boston has three open roster spots, so it wouldn't be surprising if they now try to fill one of them with a big man, but the best ones available don't provide much to brag about, like Tony Bradley and Dario Saric.
It's so barren that floating another reunion with Daniel Theis is honestly not as laughable as it sounds. And yes, let's be honest, the Celtics haven't been forced into desperation just yet on this front, as they still have three big men capable of holding the fort for 48 minutes.
So one can fairly argue that this is a doomsday overreaction to something that hasn't proven itself to be a problem yet. Still, it would have been nice to see Boston have their bases covered entirely when they lose one of their frontcourt guys.