The Boston Celtics have every reason to leave their final roster spot open. They're just barely under the tax, and they currently meet the minimum requirement of players committed to their roster. They've had the chance to add players like Bradley Beal with the offseason coming down the homestretch, and they said no.
At this point, it's clear the Celtics are highly confident about their rotation. If they are looking for any more reinforcements, it's probably going to be players who can fill in when Boston is down a player or two. Granted, that's why players on two-way contracts come in handy, but the Celtics still have the chance to add a player who fits that bill if they want.
Someone who would is Nicolas Batum. Batum is among the NBA's premier swiss army knife players at 38 years old, but for what he can't do anymore, he can still shoot threes, make the right pass, and even provide some positional versatility with his height and wingspan.
In essence, if Boston is interested - they reportedly have been in the past - Boston could add Batum to play the role that Blake Griffin once played.
Griffin was one of Joe Mazzulla's best success stories in Boston. He, too, was well past his prime by the time he became a Celtic, but when the team was down a few players in their frontcourt, he proved himself to fit in quite well with what they wanted to do. His generational athleticism was gone, but his basketball IQ was certainly alive and well.
The hustle, the rebounding, and even the three-point shooting turned him into an asset. He was impressive enough that it was, in a way, exciting when Boston would insert Griffin into the starting lineup due to Al Horford having to take the night off.
Batum can play the same role.
Boston will be careful with their rotation this season
Boston added two highly impactful albeit fragile pieces in Paul George and Mitchell Robinson. The Celtics' wing depth is well-equipped to withstand it if George misses any extended time. Robinson is a different story though.
Boston has Neemias Queta and Luka Garza, both of whom are productive and not injury-prone, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If either one of those two (or both) are hurt, it wouldn't hurt much at all to have someone like Batum be an emergency big. Amari Williams did pretty well when Boston asked him to fill in when they were undermanned, but the more, the merrier, no?
Batum is a long player who helped the Clippers a lot when they asked him to be their small-ball five. Again, he can't do the things he used to when he was younger, but like Griffin, he has the IQ to become an asset for Mazzulla when they would call his name.
He is also coming off a season where he was a full-time rotation player, playing 74 games while averaging 17.5 minutes per contest.
Boston doesn't have to do anything if they don't want to, but if they want a depth piece that would fit, currently, Batum is probably the best option among the remaining unrestricted free agents.
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