Following the Jrue Holiday trade, concerns arose about Boston’s frontcourt depth, given the injury history of Kristaps Porzingis and the age of 37-year-old Al Horford.
However, with just over a month until the NBA’s trade deadline, the initial worries about a lack of depth haven't been as significant as anticipated, as the Celtics seem to have two viable options behind Horford and Porzingis in Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta.
Despite the team already being well above the luxury tax and one of just five teams over the NBA’s second apron, Brad Stevens noted on Thursday that he has the "green light" from ownership to continue to add to the team's payroll – Though that’s easier said than done.
Stevens hinted at potential inactivity at the deadline due to the few options that exist to modify the roster without touching pieces in the rotation, indicating Boston's big splash came on the eve of training camp.
“The major trade deadline move for us was Jrue the day before the season started, so we just have to be on the lookout for how we can fortify it and how we can make it better,” Stevens said. “And I don’t wanna say that person’s not in the building, because they might be right now.
Though Stevens will still be keeping a close eye on the market, Boston’s President of Basketball Operations appears comfortable with the current collection of centers, noting the contributions from Kornet and Queta when their number has been called.
“We’ve gotten, obviously, great play out of Kristaps. I think Al has been good. I think Luke and Neemy, when called upon, have both added great value. So, you know, if we end up adding somebody, I don’t know that it will be a game-changer in the way that you said it from the rotation standpoint.”
With Horford and Porzingis missing a combined 14 games this season, the door has opened for Kornet and Queta to showcase themselves. Stevens expressed no surprise at the strong performances of the two bigs when on the court.
“No, they haven’t [surprised me]. They’re good players,” Stevens said “When you’re surrounded by good players, especially our guards and wings that we have, your job’s a little easier. You get to the rim, they’re either gonna throw it up to you, or they’re gonna throw it out to the other guy for a wide-open three because your guy is sinking on you, so they’ve done a good job of filling their roles.”
Stevens faces a decision on both players. Kornet is on a non-guaranteed deal, which the Celtics have until Wednesday to commit to.
Predictably, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, the Celtics are expected to retain Kornet past his upcoming guarantee date, noting the Vanderbilt product has “Many fans among Celtics staffers.”
Queta’s situation is a little bit different. The Portugal native signed a two-way deal with the Celtics this offseason after being let go by the Sacramento Kings – and has made a strong case for a standard deal, which would fill Boston’s final open roster spot.
Two-way players are limited to 50 games, and with no rush to covert the deal, Stevens will likely maintain the flexibility of having an open roster spot for the trade deadline.
“We have discussions every day about how we’re going to move forward with those other spots on our roster,” Stevens said. “We have one open spot right now. You have to carry 14. I think it’s helpful to go into a trade deadline or whatever with a little bit of flexibility from a roster standpoint.”
Although a standard deal most likely won’t come prior to the trade deadline, Stevens noted that Queta has made a strong case and that he is viewed as a key piece to the big-league squad – despite being on a two-way.
“He, with other people too, made a great case,” Stevens said of Queta. “He’s a hard worker. He’s been a really good player for us. We anticipated and communicated to him when we got him that he was going to be in Boston a whole heck of a lot more than Maine because we were gonna have Al sitting on back-to-backs and because Kristaps was gonna sit a little bit here and there.
With an eye on the postseason, where two-way players are ineligible, the Celtics converting Queta's contract and leveraging a team-friendly deal for a promising depth piece with high potential seems to be likely – if that roster spot is still unoccupied come the trade deadline.
Garden Comfort
Boston's current streak of 16 consecutive home wins to start the season is the second-most in franchise history, trailing just the 17 straight wins achieved during the 1957-58 season. The Celtics have the opportunity to equal this record on Friday night against the Jazz
The atmosphere at the Garden has been electric this season, and according to Horford, it’s left some of the newcomers amazed.
“The Garden has been great, man,” Horford said. “It’s funny because Kristaps or Oshae [Brissett], or some of these guys, haven’t played here before in this manner, and they’re like, ‘Man, is it always like this?’ They can’t believe it because it’s pretty special how much the fans get into it, how the crowd gets. It really motivates us. It gets us going.”
The TD Garden crowd has left Porzingis speechless from day one, and so far, nothing has changed.
That was insane. That was insane for a preseason game. I don't know what to say,” Porzingis said following Boston’s preseason opener. “I'm very happy to be a Celtic. I'm not gonna lie."
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After recording 33 assists in Tuesday night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Celtics are averaging 30.4 assists over their last 8 games (third-most in the league – one of just five teams averaging 30 or more assists over that stretch.
Before that stretch, the Celtics were averaging just 24.7 assists, good for 26th in the league.
Furthermore, They are averaging just 11.0 turnovers over that span (second-fewest in the league).
The Celtics have scored at least 120 points in each of those eight straight games – averaging a league-best 130.8 points per game over that span.
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