What should Boston Celtics expect from Kristaps Porzingis if he makes Finals return?

Although the Boston Celtics have survived the majority of the 2024 postseason without Kristaps Porzingis, most fans feel that he will be needed to win the NBA title. The Celtics, who have been cautious with Porzingis this postseason, will be expecting him to perform at a high level in the NBA Finals.

With the seven-footer set to make his return, what are realistic expectations for his performance? Celtics fans should ultimately approach his return with minimal expectations.

Many factors will be against Porzingis having a highly effective Finals. By the time the Finals start, Porzingis will have missed over five weeks, making his return scary to think about and project. To have Porzingis's first action back from the injury be in the biggest series of his career is concerning to say the least. The worst-case scenario for the Cs is a Kevin Durant-type injury, which he suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals after coming back from an injury.

An interesting thing to monitor with Porzingis is how quickly he can shake off the rust from being out so long. There is no doubt in my mind that the Cs will stick with Porzingis even if he plays poorly in the first couple of games. However, I think this could prove costly, considering what Porzingis is about to do is almost unprecedented. 

History doesn't indicate Kristaps Porzingis will have big impact on Boston Celtics in Finals

In a recent ESPN article, Kevin Pelton highlighted that only three players since 1997 have returned to the Finals after longer absences. Pelton went on to say that none of those players averaged more than 18 minutes per game. There is a chance that Porzingis can come back and will be similar to those players, meaning he really doesn’t provide much for the Cs.

The best-case scenario is that Porzingis comes back and plays similarly to Robert Williams in the 2022 playoffs after he came back from an injury. Although Williams was clearly playing hurt, he was able to provide quality play for the Celtics. As long as Porzingis can be somewhat of a factor, it could go a long way in helping the Celtics secure Banner 18.