The Boston Celtics had a hot start to their offseason but have since been dealt a pair of significant blows to their frontcourt, leading to some speculation as to how they intend to counter.
Celtics center Robert Williams reportedly will be sidelined for four to six weeks due to an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee, which will take place this week, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The setback in his recovery from a torn meniscus back in March, along with a torn ACL and meniscus to free-agent signing Danilo Gallinari, has brought up questions as to how the Celtics will look to fill the roles left by two players who were expected to play significant minutes in 2022-23.
Gallinari’s injury brought Carmelo Anthony’s name to the forefront of that conversation, and Williams’ has an NBA insider thinking of other former All-Star.
“If they decide they want to add somebody, Dwight Howard is out there, LaMarcus Aldridge is out there,” NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Tuesday. “(Aldridge is) a player I was told they showed a little interest in this summer.”
The idea of adding Howard has been beaten into the ground in recent months, as the Celtics have been looking to add big-man depth throughout the summer, but the piece on Aldridge is something new. The 37-year-old returned to basketball in September 2021 after being sidelined throughout the previous summer with an irregular heartbeat. In 47 games with the Nets last season, he averaged 12.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.
The Celtics currently have Luke Kornet, Noah Vonleh and Mfiondu Kabengele on their training-camp roster behind Al Horford and Grant Williams. While none of the aforementioned players (including Aldridge) can bring what Williams does, adding a seven-time All-Star certainly couldn’t hurt as Boston looks to fill minutes during the early portion of the season.
