The Boston Celtics appear to be entering a retooling stage, which may put them in a spot to start targeting restricted free agents.
And if that is a route they take, “chatter” reportedly is building around the league that there are three potential targets for the Celtics.
The Celtics have two glaring needs, provided Kyrie Irving and Al Horford actually leave, which at this point it appears they will: guards and big men. According to Yahoo! Sports’ Keith Smith, the three possible targets are Washington Wizards guard Tomas Satoransky and center Thomas Bryant and Milwaukee Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon. All three are RFAs.
Brogdon, the 2016-17 Rookie of the Year, steadily has improved on both ends of the floor. He had some injury troubles last season, but those absences in some senses highlighted his value to Milwaukee. He likely would be the most expensive to attain of these three but should be too far out of the Celtics’ price range. The Bucks also are tight up against the salary cap right now, so if a team offers Brogdon enough, they might not have a choice but to let him walk.
Bryant in Year 2 showed improvement following his rookie year with the Los Angeles Lakers, but his improved numbers also coincide with playing for a garbage Wizards team. The 6-foot-11 big man averaged 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 blocks per game this past season,
Satoransky seems like a player Celtics fans would enjoy watching, if for no other reason than he plays hard and with tons of energy. The 27-year-old started in 54 of the 80 games he played in this season, averaging 8.9 points with 5.0 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.
It’s unclear whether Boston plans to make a huge splash in free agency, but if it elects not to, all three of those players could be reasonable targets.
