There‘s a good reason why the Celtics still felt comfortable with their big man depth despite going into the season with an injured Kristaps Porzingis and 38-year-old Al Horford. The C‘s brought back their trio of Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta over the summer, re-signing their big line of protection. All three big men have contributed well for the team, giving C’s coach Joe Mazzulla multiple options.
Queta showed Thursday in the Celtics’ blowout win over the Wizards exactly why they didn’t make any huge changes to the roster. The reserve big man played with energy and spring in his 14 minutes, putting up 12 points and seven rebounds (four offensive) in his limited time on the court.
The C‘s already know Queta can have that kind of impact in bursts — he did that a few times last season. But Queta being able to provide value in his developing role gives the team an extra advantage: It allows them to save their other bigs in those minutes. Horford, for example, only needed to play 20 minutes in Thursday’s win. That goes a long way for the Celtics over the course of an 82-game season as they can rely on a different cast of guys every night.
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Of course, it‘s not just Queta’s solid play Thursday that makes up the Celtics roster. Kornet and Tillman — both of whom will be relied on all year — have been steadying forces inside. The C‘s have also tinkered with their pairings early on, seeing how differing double big lineups feel and look. Each big gives the C’s a different skillset, so seeing how, say, Horford and Tillman look is also beneficial for their long-term outlook.
Even when Porzingis returns to the court in the next few months, the team is going to be cautious with their big man. He’ll likely be eased into the rotation, slowly ramping up his minutes. The playoffs are what matters for the reigning champs, after all.
So, there will be plenty of minutes to go around for Queta, Kornet and Horford. And when the lights are brightest, they could have their number called — just like Tillman in the NBA Finals last season. Queta originally came to the Celtics as a two-way signee last year, but they promoted him to the standard roster ahead of the playoffs. When the opportunity came to re-sign with Boston, Queta took it as he earned a guaranteed contract and spot in the league.
The C‘s have cruised to two comfortable victories thus far to get to the 2-0 mark. They‘ve flexed their continuity and muscles as they’ve picked up where they left off from last season. Sure, they‘ll be without Porzingis for the foreseeable future, but they already knew that months ago. And there‘s a good reason the front office didn’t feel the need to bring in more big man depth.
