The Celtics biggest concern is also their most interesting subplot

The Boston Celtics will enter the 2024-25 season with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined for at least the first two months. If that won't be challenging enough, they'll likely rest Al Horford even more than they have for the past two seasons.

The potential absence of their two big men is definitely something that will be on everyone's mind when the playoffs roll around. The Celtics survived most of their title run without Porzingis, but if that happens again - or potentially worse - there's no telling how much Horford will be able to give them.

However, that's only a concern for the playoffs. In the regular season, it could actually make for some of the most fun games of the season.

To preface this, this won't be a segment where advanced metrics prove this notion. The Celtics don't have the flashiest names behind Porizngis and Horford, but certain numbers prove that their backup big man rotation of Xavier Tillman, Luke Kornet, and Neemias Queta can survive without them.

Xavier Tillman, Luke Kornet, and Neemias Queta are Celtics most interesting subplot

Let's start with Kornet. Besides being the team's best comedian, he's also one of the Celtics' best success stories (not to mention the longest tenured of the three backup options).

After his NBA career was hanging by a thread, the Celtics gave him a lifeline. Since then, he's turned into a dependable lob threat and rim protector for 15 minutes a game.

Kornet played in enough games (132) over the last two seasons that, by all accounts, he's earned his status as a rotation player for the Celtics. He also started seven games for the Celtics during the 2023-24 season, and they won all of them.

To be fair, the Celtics didn't play against exactly the toughest competition with Kornet as a starter—none of those teams made the playoffs—but the point is that Kornet is good enough that the Celtics can start him in certain situations and not worry about it hurting them.

And he steps up when the Celtics have asked him to. Lest we forget, his best performance as a Celtic came when they started him against the Toronto Raptors just before 2023 ended.

Then there's Queta.

Queta fever was definitely a thing when the young big came onto the scene in Boston. It even went overboard at times because he often reminded Celtics fans of the departed Timelord.

Queta is an exciting prospect, and his best days are very much ahead of him. He filled in quite well when the Celtics were undermanned, seeing his most action from December 15 to February 1, playing 18 games.

How many of those games did the Celtics lose in that span with Queta on the court? Four. While it's not like he lit the world on fire, he did well enough that, again, the Celtics didn't suffer in the slightest.

Finally, there's Tillman.

Tillman may be remembered most for hitting a huge three that gave the Celtics considerable distance against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but there's a lot more to him than that.

Not enough attention has been given to the Celtics keeping Tillman for cheap. The 25-year-old proved to be very reliable when the Celtics called his name. It's fair to say that his production goes beyond hitting one three-pointer in the NBA Finals.

Tillman will never be among the high scorers for any team he plays for, but when you go the tape, it's pretty clear that he brings great intangibles on the defensive side of the floor. So much so that the Celtics played him key minutes against the Pacers and Mavericks in their title run.

There isn't as much quantitative proof for Tillman as there is for Kornet and Queta. At the same time, he was a mid-season acquisition of a title contender and still managed to carve out pivotal playoff minutes. With training camp and a Celtics preseason sting under his belt and almost the exact same team around him, there's a solid argument that Tillman could be even better in Boston.

Hitting the occasional three-pointer is an added luxury to the excellent defense he provides. Of the three mentioned here, Tillman will have the highest expectations going in, and there's a good reason for that.

The Celtics are so deep and talented that it doesn't matter much in the regular season if they must endure missing Porzingis and/or Horford. None of the three backup bigs will play close to the same level as their two primary bigs, but they don't have to.

The bar will be set at "Just don't get in the way," and all three can do that and more. That's what makes watching them a very exciting subplot.

The Celtics could go up against some of the NBA's best competition and stand their ground even when they have to depend on their third through fifth-string big men while doing so.

It's exciting that, in a situation that most teams want to avoid, the Celtics will likely embrace it because they have the depth to withstand such a scenario.

Because these three are good enough that they can handle their own during the regular season, the Celtics can afford to let Porzingis recover for as long as he needs to, and Horford can rest as much as he wants.

Doing so could help them maintain their health when the postseason rolls around. The playoffs are always a war of attrition, so having the squad at full strength matters. The Celtics emphasized making sure Porzingis and Horford were ready, and even if it was a bumpy ride, the strategy worked.

Between Kornet, Queta, and Tillman, Boston has enough cushion. Even if they may not be as much of a juggernaut as they were last season, they could see optimal health from Porzingis and Horford in the postseason thanks to the keen big-man trio.