WALTHAM, Mass. — What’s the one glaring Boston Celtics need that’s been pounded into your head for the better part of the last two years?
Rim protector.
Rim protector. Rim protector. Rim protector.
The Celtics lack a dominant — or even above-average — shot-blocking, lane-clogging big man, and fans long have been clamoring for them to go out and get one, be it via trade, free agency or the NBA draft. That’s the reason you’ll hear DeMarcus Cousins’ and Willie Cauley-Stein’s names mentioned roughly 13,000 times each over coming weeks.
But is bringing in a high-level big as great a priority for the C’s as most say it should be?
Head coach Brad Stevens spoke with reporters Tuesday for the first time since the Celtics’ season ended April 23 at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he was asked what he’d most like to add to his team this summer. After rattling off a string of intangibles — “the work ethic, the everyday approach, the togetherness” — Stevens got down to business.
“From a basketball standpoint,” Stevens said, “I just think we need to continue to focus on ability to be a little bit more versatile, which I thought helped us as we got later on in the season with a couple of our changes that we made. And then I think shooting is a big deal. Obviously, everybody’s going to talk about rim protectors and those type of things. There’s only so many of those guys. So, I think those other two areas are really important for us.”
It’ll be interesting to see whether the Celtics’ front office shares this opinion, and how it affects the team’s approach to draft night. Boston could land one of a plethora of highly regarded shooters or versatile defenders where it’s currently positioned (the 16th and 28th picks in the first round, then two more in the second), but most elite big men are expected to be off the board by the time the C’s first selection rolls around.
In the meantime, Stevens has been leading group after group of NBAÂ hopefuls through the paces at the Celtics’ practice facility, trying to identify which ones have the best chance to, as he put it, “bring transferable skills to this level.”
“One of the things when you go through these draft workouts is … you’re excited because these guys are competing for a spot at living a dream of theirs,” Stevens said. “We also have to look at it from the realistic point of view of, it’s a hard league to come in and impact. You might see somebody dominate a workout, but then you start to envision them guarding in the NBA Finals next week. There’s a big difference in that.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
