Alright. Deep breath, everybody.

Sure, Marcus Sensible is a Grizzly.

No, not everyone seems to be completely happy about it.

Sports activities might be your greatest buddy one second and your worst enemy the following. He meant so much 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 acquired again a very, actually good basketball participant who, on paper, makes them higher.

I’ll preface this by saying it’s exhausting to know the extent of the Kristaps Porzingis commerce till the Celtics execute the remainder of their plan. They’ve loads of belongings nonetheless to make use of, so I think about one other transfer is coming down the road.

For now, let’s deal with 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 Photographs

What Even Is Kristaps?

For followers of 2K on the market, it’s simple to begin with broad archetypes of gamers after which get extra particular as you go. Kristaps is likely one of the hardest dudes to try this for — his ability set is so various 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 sport vs. the flashy, SportsCenter spotlight days of the New York Knicks and turn out to be an absolute matchup nightmare for almost 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he’s beginning to put up numbers you’d anticipate of somebody of his expertise stage coming into his prime at 27 years outdated. He has an elite publish sport and shoots 38% from behind the arc, 40% on catch-and-shoot 3s. Make no mistake: KP is likely 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 may be copium or homerism, however I ponder what his sport goes to seem like enjoying subsequent to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Each are simply one of the best gamers he’ll have ever performed subsequent to within the NBA; I ponder if there may be even one other stage for KP to go to.

Defensively, he’s turn out to be among the best bigs on the planet. He ranks top-5 in Factors Allowed per Choose-And-Roll, has developed into an elite drop defender, and persistently averages near 2 blocks a sport. On the naked minimal, he offers you high quality heart protection in opposition to nearly anybody within the league. How he fares in huge spots in opposition to 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 mixture 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 undoubtedly be a go-to possibility down the stretch for the crew when the Jays are getting slowed down. He may 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 while you have a look at it by means of the lens of the Jays.

Consider what the two-man sport of Jayson Tatum and Kristaps may very well be. It’s two elite gamers above 6’9” that may rating from wherever on the court docket and are each glorious in pick-and-roll offenses. The probabilities are actually countless. This duo ought to have the ability to nearly rating at will in opposition to most NBA defenses.

Then, contemplate it from a Jaylen Brown perspective. Positive, you may sit on his left hand, nevertheless it’s just a little more durable to do with a 7’3” Kristaps Porzingis is flying down the lane subsequent to him. It ought to open up all the pieces for the Jays in a manner I’m unsure they’ve skilled but of their careers. Rob Williams and Al Horford have at all times been efficient PnR choices, however KP is on a complete different stage solely. If they’ll 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 could cause havoc no matter how is on the ground. I don’t suppose we’ll see a ton of lineups with KP/Rob. They could 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 properly to make lineups work.