Getty Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum high-fives big man Luke Kornet while exiting the court during Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
July 1, 2022 will undoubtedly go down as a banner day for the Boston Celtics in the proverbial sense — time will tell whether it yields any actual banners.
The morning began with rumblings that Danilo Gallinari could be headed to Beantown. Those were followed by a report from MassLive‘s Brian Robb that the career 16-point scorer would be joining the Celtics on a two-year pact upon his release from San Antonio.
That was followed, in short order, by what could be a trade for the ages.
As reported by Woj, the C’s turned Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan and a first-round pick into standout combo guard Malcolm Brogdon. Put another way, that’s zero core players and a pick likely to be in the 20s for a guy who logged a 19-6-5 line for the Indiana Pacers last season.
However, that wasn’t the only action from team president Brad Stevens on Friday. While the #BleedGreen crew was still catching its collective breath from Gallo and Brogdon, the C’s made an under-the-radar move to bring some size back to their second unit.
Celtics Re-Signing Luke Kornet
Per a report from Yahoo! Sports Chris Haynes, the Celtics and 7-foot-2 center Luke Kornet have come to terms on a two-year deal bringing the 26-year-old back to Boston. Later, Robb added that the big man would be returning for the veteran minimum.
Kornet made all of 12 regular-season appearances for the Celtics in 2021-22, averaging 2.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 7.1 minutes per game. He also saw court time in a handful of postseason contests, exclusively during garbage time.
And while that’s not much of a sample size to judge a player on, it’s clear that Kornet has intrigued the Celtics’ front office, which has done business with him on multiple occasions now.
The baller was first acquired by the club in 2021 as part of a three-way trade with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. Stevens and Co. then brought him back last fall as an affiliate player with the G League’s Maine Celtics. After hardship tenures with the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers, Kornet found his way back to Maine, after which he was promptly retrieved by the C’s.
His new deal notwithstanding, Kornet will likely have to fight to secure a roster spot once again next season.
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Untapped Defensive Potential
While Kornet has, at times, shown an ability to stretch the floor with his three-point shot — he was a 36% shooter from deep over his first two seasons with the New York Knicks — his paint protection could be an asset going forward as well.
He didn’t do much as a shot-blocker in ’21-22, but he finished second on the team with a block rate of 9.2% during ’20-21, as tracked by Basketball Reference. Meanwhile, the Celtics held their opponents to just 101.7 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor that year.
As a member of the Knicks, Kornet blocked six shots during an April 2019 bout with the Chicago Bulls.
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