There are some Celtics fans so obsessed with "big men" and the way the game was played was played in the 80s that they won't shut up about a Center until they see some 7'0"(6'10" in Drummond's case) plodding dinosaur in the middle for the Celtics. And they willingly want to blow up the good young team we have now for their mythical BigFoot. Thankfully Aingie isn't going to trade players like Tatum, Smart, or Hayward.
There are also some who, for whatever reason, don't realize you need a productive center in order to win a championship.
Did all those Miami and GSW teams have a productive center? I don't think they did unless you count those teams using their PFs at center.
Right now the Celts don't even have a real PF that they can use as a Center.
And right now, Tatum, a wing player, is leading the Celts in rebounding.
Clearly the Celts have a big man problem.
I mean the wing player is leading the team in rebounds?
Whether the Celts get a big like Drummond or someone like Poeltl, it's very clear the Celts need to address the big man problem before the playoffs start.
It's just too big of a risk to rely solely on Marcus Smart to defend guys like Embiid and Giannis.
Is it really a problem? They're 16-5 with the piecemealing so far and outside of a couple of opposing team matchups, it hasn't really been an issue at all.
What realistic blockbuster trade is out there for a big man that wouldn't gut the depth of this Celtics team? What trade is a bonafide slam dunk to put the team over the top? I just don't see it. Piece-mealing it has been fine so far. I remember people wanting to move Jaylen for Serge Ibaka years ago because people wanted a big man. That would've been disasterous.
Getting a guy like Poeltl won't gut the depth of the Celts.
I don't know what the Spurs would be asking for, but most probably it will be draft picks.
What's Poeltl gonna give you that you're not already getting from Theis right now besides an additional few inches?
The few inches also means longer wingspan.
What that means is guys like Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan won't be going over Poeltl's head like what they did to Theis.
It's easier to out-jump someone who's shorter than you than trying to out-jump someone who's as tall as you.
During GSW's championship run, they always had guys like Bogut and Pachulia to somewhat contain opposing bigs.
It's true that in today's NBA, you really don't need an MVP type big man to win a championship.
But you can't also win a championship if your best big man is only 6-8.
first, longer arm span does not always provide a higher standing reach. but that is a small point.
if you want standing reach, then the celtics have it already. Poeltl standing reach is 9'3.5". timelord standing reach is 9'4".
No doubt RWill is the big man of the Celtics for the future.
I will not disagree with you on that.
But here's the thing, with all the player movement that happened last summer, the east is weaker this season compared to last season.
That means the only real threat is the Bucks.
So the Celts really have a chance at getting to the Finals.
Right now the difference between Poeltl and RWill is experience.
Poeltl will make less mistakes in the playoffs than RWill.
RWill just makes too many mistakes at this point in time.
But yeah, the future big of the Celts is RWill, there's no doubt about that.