Alright. Deep breath, everybody.
Sure, Marcus Good is a Grizzly.
No, not everyone seems to be completely satisfied about it.
Sports activities could be your greatest pal one second and your worst enemy the following. He meant rather a lot to this fanbase and this franchise and it’s objectively unhappy to see such a beloved participant get traded away.
Nevertheless, if there’s a slice of fine information buried contained in the disappointment, it’s that the Celtics bought again a extremely, actually good basketball participant who, on paper, makes them higher.
I’ll preface this by saying it’s arduous to know the extent of the Kristaps Porzingis commerce till the Celtics execute the remainder of their plan. They’ve loads of property nonetheless to make use of, so I think about one other transfer is coming down the road.
For now, let’s concentrate on what the Celtics are getting with Kristaps and the way it may result in the Jays creating into even higher gamers.
Picture by Nick Grace/Getty Pictures
What Even Is Kristaps?
For followers of 2K on the market, it’s straightforward to start out with broad archetypes of gamers after which get extra particular as you go. Kristaps is without doubt one of the hardest dudes to do this for — his ability set is so numerous and distinctive, however I might say he’s, broadly, a 3-Degree-Scoring Rim Protector. For Celtic followers who haven’t actually watched Kristaps the previous few seasons, he has simplified his recreation vs. the flashy, SportsCenter spotlight days of the New York Knicks and turn into an absolute matchup nightmare for nearly each participant within the NBA on each ends of the ground.
Offensively, he’s coming off a career-best season with Washington. Profession-highs in PPG (23.2), FG% (49.8%), VORP (3.4), and Win Shares (7.7), he’s beginning to put up numbers you’d anticipate of somebody of his expertise stage coming into his prime at 27 years previous. He has an elite put up recreation and shoots 38% from behind the arc, 40% on catch-and-shoot 3s. Make no mistake: KP is without doubt one of the greatest gamers within the NBA proper now.
Loopy half is, he was doing that for one of many worst groups within the NBA. It is perhaps copium or homerism, however I ponder what his recreation goes to seem like enjoying subsequent to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Each are simply the most effective gamers he’ll have ever performed subsequent to within the NBA; I ponder if there’s even one other stage for KP to go to.
Defensively, he’s turn into top-of-the-line bigs on the planet. He ranks top-5 in Factors Allowed per Decide-And-Roll, has developed into an elite drop defender, and persistently averages near 2 blocks a recreation. On the naked minimal, he offers you high quality heart protection towards nearly anybody within the league. How he fares in massive spots towards the likes of Bam Adebayo, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid stays to be seen, however common season-wise, the manufacturing and movie is there.
How Does He Match on the Celtics?
Let’s begin offensively as a result of trying across the NBA historical past books, there simply aren’t any examples of the mix we’re about to see. Porzingis’ particular person offensive video games fills numerous gaps within the Celtics offense. He doesn’t have many duplicative abilities with different gamers on the roster. Nobody has the array of post-scoring choices that he has. It would positively be a go-to choice down the stretch for the workforce when the Jays are getting slowed down. He can even shoot 3s off the dribble, a legitimately hilarious and terrifying factor to observe contemplating he’s 7’3”. Once more, individually, he’s a nightmare, however when it actually will get particular is if you take a look at it by way of the lens of the Jays.
Consider what the two-man recreation of Jayson Tatum and Kristaps could possibly be. It’s two elite gamers above 6’9” that may rating from wherever on the courtroom and are each wonderful in pick-and-roll offenses. The chances are actually limitless. This duo ought to be capable of nearly rating at will towards most NBA defenses.
Then, take into account it from a Jaylen Brown perspective. Positive, you’ll be able to sit on his left hand, but it surely’s a bit of tougher to do with a 7’3” Kristaps Porzingis is flying down the lane subsequent to him. It ought to open up every thing for the Jays in a means I’m undecided they’ve skilled but of their careers. Rob Williams and Al Horford have at all times been efficient PnR choices, however KP is on an entire different stage completely. If they will execute the offense at a excessive stage, each JB/KP and JT/KP ought to rank within the higher echelon of PnR duos within the NBA.
Defensively, the Celtics lastly have somebody who can spell Robert Williams and Al Horford and never get utterly toasted on the rim! They now have three elite defensive bigs who may cause havoc no matter how is on the ground. I don’t assume we’ll see a ton of lineups with KP/Rob. They may crossover for 5-7 minutes an evening, however I think about we’ll see numerous Horford/KP or Horford/Rob or KP or Rob by themselves. Tatum can at all times slide to the 4 to play subsequent to both as effectively to make lineups work.
