Brad Stevens: Kristaps Porzingis adds ‘optionality’ to Celtics frontcourt

Brad Stevens: Kristaps Porzingis adds ‘optionality’ to Celtics frontcourt

Ahead of the 2023 NBA Free Agency period, the Boston Celtics made the league’s first big blockbuster trade of the offseason by dealing nine-year veteran guard Marcus Smart in a three-team trade for 7-foot-3 big Kristaps Porzingis.

Recently in an interview on WEEI with “Jones & Mego,” Celtics general manager Brad Stevens praised Porzingis’s versatility and malleability that he adds to their frontcourt, headed by Robert Williams and Al Horford.

“The part that was very obvious was [Kristaps Porzingis]’s 7-foot-3, so he can play the 5 and the 4. And he can play with any of our 5s and 4s, which I think is important,” Stevens said. “If you bring in somebody that’s just a center, it’s hard to play him and Rob [Williams] together. If you bring in somebody that has the skillset that Kristaps has, has the skillset that Al [Horford] has, you can mix-and-match a little bit. You can stay bigger, (for) longer. That’s something we couldn’t do as much last year with our smaller groups.

“You have to be able to do both (play big and small). You have to have some optionality to do both. But when we were hurt on the front line, we were thin.”

The Celtics donned one of the NBA’s smallest frontcourt last year, with Williams and Horford–their most frequent 5s–standing at 6-foot-9 with Jayson Tatum and Grant Williams standing at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-6, respectively.

Both Williams and Horford were good on-court fits together, however; last year, the duo placed in the 99th percentile in NET Rating (plus-14.5) and in the 98th percentile (+14.0) in 2021-22, according to Cleaning The Glass.

Porzingis could be a more natural fit next to both because of his floor spacing and secondary rim protection, even though he’s not as good of a playmaker or connector as both Horford and Williams.

The 28-year-old is coming off the best year of his career, where he averaged 23.2 points and 8.8 rebounds on 49.8 percent shooting, including 38.5 percent from 3-point range (5.5 3PA) and 85.1 percent from the charity stripe. He’s finished in the 70th percentile or better amongst bigs in block percentage in every year of his career while placing in the 70th percentile or better in 3-point percentage in four of his last five seasons, according to Cleaning The Glass.

Boston did lose the heart and soul in their locker room with Smart, but there’s a level of versatility, or in Stevens’ words, optionality, that Porzingis–who’s currently dealing with plantar fasciitis and a lengthy lower-body injury history–can provide if he remains healthy.

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