The Celtics have kicked off their first two days of training camp with plenty of storylines emerging already between Lonnie Walker playing for a roster spot to a motivated roster to repeat. Let’s take a closer look at some intriguing Celtics questions for the first week of the new season ahead of their preseason opener next Friday against the Nuggets. If you have questions about the Celtics or NBA, email brobb@masslive.com or tweet @briantrobb
Why is this Lonnie Walker situation even a situation? He’s a very good player, why are we acting like he can’t contribute to the team right now? Why are the Celtics approaching it this way? — Trevor
It’s a reality of a free agent market really. Plenty of proven NBA players are taking non-guaranteed deals this offseason (Talen Horton-Tucker, Landry Shamet) simply because there are not as many roster spots available around the league these days. If you are a flawed veteran, there may not be a spot for you around the league like there may have been 5-10 years ago, even if you are still in your 20s. Walker falls into that category, for now. He’s a proven scorer but he hasn’t fit in well to a team’s offense in a lot of spots he’s played lately. His defense has always been a question mark as well and it got to the point where even some rebuilding teams didn’t want to invest a big deal with him.
The Celtics are clearly happy to take advantage of that reality with his Exhibit 10 contract. Realistically, he’s a long shot to make the roster barring some other moves, largely due to the pricy tax bill awaiting the franchise by carrying any 15th man. However, Brad Stevens clearly sees something in Walker as evidenced by the team inquiring about him at last year’s trade deadline. If he’s willing to learn Boston’s system and show he can be a productive part of it (in Boston or Maine), he will get a chance on the 15-man roster at some point. For now, the likely path for him is probably getting waived and showcasing himself in the G-League for the Celtics and other potential interested teams.
How do you think the team manages the center position while Porzingis is out? Will guys like Queta or even Watson get a chance for some minutes or is it likely Al, Luke and Tillman that fill the role for the most part? — Matt K
I think there are much better odds we see a guy like Queta rather than Watson out of the gate. He’s far more seasoned and showed some great rim protection and rebounding last year, which the team is going to need on nights when they are without their top two centers. Al Horford is probably only going to play closer to 25 minutes on nights when he’s active, so Queta will be a guy they call upon when they need some bulk.
Otherwise, I’d expect the default alignment to be a combination of Kornet/Tillman at backup center, depending on the matchup. Kornet has earned being a default option after his strong season but Tillman is the far more versatile defender for certain matchups. Watson is an intriguing developmental prospect along those lines but the guess here is we see him far more in Maine than Boston this year, unless injuries press him into action.
At what point does a guy like Pritchard decide to leave for a starting gig somewhere else? With new cap rules in 25-26, is he a trade piece this season or a potential starter in 25-26 if others get moved? — Poker D
The Celtics got ahead of this possibility last fall by agreeing to a four-year, $30 million extension with Pritchard ahead of his rookie contract expiring. That new deal kicks in this season and looks like a bargain now after Pritchard put together a terrific year in an expanded bench role last season. The Celtics very much control his fate now for the rest of the decade and I’d put the odds on him remaining in Boston for awhile as quite high because of his team friendly pact. The team’s repeater tax bill next season is likely going to cause some roster casualties among rotation players and Pritchard has shown himself capable of playing a bigger role.
