Getty Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics
Ever since the Boston Celtics traded Daniel Theis, many have been clamoring for the team to add another center to complement Al Horford and Robert Williams III. During Danilo Gallinari’s and Malcolm Brogdon’s press conference, President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens admitted that while the team would bring another player into their frontcourt, he also vocalized his faith that Luke Kornet would step up in a larger role.
Brad Stevens says the Celtics will add one more body to the frontcourt before all is said and done, but he and the team believe in Luke Kornet as a player who can step in and help the team.
It appears that when Brad Stevens publicly declares his faith in players like Kornet, he means it. At least, judging by the tweets he likes, he does.
On August 22, 2022, the Twitter account “The Celtics Files” aggregated a viral video from an account called “Givens” that showed Kornet doing a reverse dunk while playing a game of pickup basketball.
I’ve been saying for the better part of a year now: do not sleep on Luke Kornet. He has value for the #Celtics
While Celtics fans came to their own conclusions regarding Kornet’s highlight dunk, Stevens appears to be among those who liked the video.
Brad Stevens: Huge Luke Kornet guy
The Celtics re-signed Kornet to a two-year deal earlier this summer, as was reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Free agent center Luke Kornet has agreed to a two-year deal to return to the Boston Celtics, league sources tell @YahooSports.
According to Spotrac, Kornet signed a two-year deal worth $4,546,582 total. His 2022-23 contract started with a partial guarantee of $100,000, which was bumped up to $300,000 on August 15. If Kornet makes the opening night roster, it gets bumped up to $1,066,639. If he’s still on the roster on January 10, 2023, his contract gets fully guaranteed at $2,133,278.
Stevens has clearly demonstrated that he believes in Kornet. Part of it might be because Kornet has played with the team for multiple seasons.
Kornet’s History with the Celtics
Kornet was originally acquired by the Celtics from the Chicago Bulls at the 2021 NBA Trade Deadline. In the 18 games he played for the Celtics that season, he averaged 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds a game in the 14.1 minutes he would play on average. He also shot 47.1 percent from the field and 25 percent from three.
They opted not to re-sign him in part because of the depth they already had in their frontcourt coming into the 2021-22 season – Horford, Williams, Enes Kanter Freedom, Grant Williams, Bruno Fernando – but brought Kornet back after Freedom and Fernando were traded away.
In the 12 games he played in his second go-round with Boston, he averaged 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 57.1 percent from the field in 7.1 minutes a game. Kornet was also playing behind Horford, both Williams, and Theis. Clearly, he’s played well enough that Stevens believed he was worth keeping around.
Another reason why Stevens and co. have invested in Kornet could be because his teammates have publicly detailed how much they like him.
Grant Williams Names Kornet as One of His Favorite Teammates
During Celtics Jr. camp, Williams was asked who his favorite teammate was. Williams emphasized that when answering this question, he would only be referring to current teammates, which eliminated recently traded players like Theis and Aaron Nesmith.
Williams went on to say that it was a tie between Jayson Tatum and Kornet. Williams then explained why Kornet was among his favorite teammates.
“Luke is like the nicest guy you guys will ever meet. He’s like a Catholic man. He’s a family man.”
Another Luke Kornet fan
There is no guarantee that Kornet will make the opening night roster. He’ll have competition for that backup center spot with the likes of Noah Vonleg and Mfiondu Kabengele, but Stevens demonstrably believes in Kornet’s abilities.