The Boston Celtics have plenty of big men, but what pretty much none of them have is defined roles.
With Daniel Theis and Robert Williams already in the fold, the Celtics brought in Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier to help fill the voids left by Al Horford and Aron Baynes’ departures.
Kanter is a great rebounder and scorer, but a defensive liability. Poirier is a nice rim protector and shot blocker, but doesn’t contribute much offensively. Theis is a good energy player who can do a little bit of everything, while Williams could become one of the top shot blockers in the game over the years.
Each player can be used situationally, but it nonetheless will be a battle for minutes.
Some of the big men defined their skill sets at media day Monday, and how they see themselves contributing this season.
“Our style of play is going to change a little bit,” Theis said, “especially because Al left, he was like a power forward and bringing the ball up. And now we have bigs who can really run the floor, with Enes, with me, Vince, Rob, we can really run the floor and play on the offensive end and defensive end.
“For us bigs, everybody has a strength. For me it’s going to be able to stretch the floor. My shot over the last two years has gotten more consistent, now I want to be able to be even more consistent to stretch the floor and just run the floor. Whenever I play the five bigger and smaller people will guard me, so I’ve just got to outrun them and use my quickness and speed.”
Williams had a pretty straightforward answer.
“I feel like I can contribute a great deal of effort and a great defensive presence.”
Of the four players, Poirier is the only one without NBA experience. The French center gave a scouting report on himself Monday though, and he does have the makings of a fan favorite.
“I’m a team player, I like to play for the team,” Poirier said. “I like to put good screens for sure … I like to do the dirty jobs. Take some rebounds, block shots, run the floor, put good screens for everybody. That’s my contributions for this team.”
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens already addressed how the team likely will tackle the shortcomings of Kanter (as well as Kemba Walker), but as far as his bigs are concerned, he’ll have no shortage of variety.
