Entering last month’s NBA draft, there were few Celtics prospects quite as baffling as center Chris Cenac, an obviously talented big man with stretch-5 (or 4) capabilities who was once a Top 10 draft prospect. But his season at Houston had been disjointed. Not that he was injured or underperformed, just that he never quite had the impact that most expected–9.5 points, 33.3% 3-point shooting, 0.5 blocks per game, numbers that belied his reputation as an excellent shooter and a a long-armed rim protector. Teams were scared off and Cenac was not only not a Top 10 pick, he fell to No. 27.
Three games into his summer league career, we’re beginning to see how Cenac could fit in with the Celtics, and that perhaps some teams made a mistake letting him fall so far in the draft. His shooting has, thus far, been off-and-on (he is 12-for-33 from the field, 2-for-8 from the 3-point line) but we’re certainly seeing the defensive impact he can have.
After four blocks in the weekend loss to the Hawks in Las Vegas, Cenac now has nine blocks, tied for third-most in the tournament.
Scout Weighs in on Chris Cenac
Of course, summer league blocked shots for the Celtics are not an indication of future stardom, but they do offer some insight into one of the criticisms of Cenac from his time at Houston, that he was not enough of a rim protector and that his massive 7-foot-5 wingspan was wasted on a guy who lacked the defensive instincts to use it.
One NBA scout clapped back at that: “The blocked shot thing, it is really because they liked putting him on the perimeter and letting him defend, and he would so often wind up guarding outside the paint. He is very athletic and you can use his length out there. If you put him under the basket or on the block, it is going to be a different story. And he can rebound for you. You’re already seeing enormous improvement in just being a center, doing center kind of things.
“There was a lot of untapped upside with him because of where he was on the floor, and it was offensively, too. He spent too much time at the elbow and he is nota great midrange guy. He just never adjusted to what they asked him to do and Kelvin (Sampson) never really found a comfort zone with him. But I always felt like if he got into the NBA and spaced more, it could click for him.”
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Again, that’s not to say everything is clicking for Cenac. It’s clear he has work to do on his offensive game, needs his confidence to be built back up and needs to dip his toe into NBA physicality. Practicing against new Celtics Mitchell Robinson–always a physical big man–could go a long way to help that.
The Celtics can take their time developing Cenac, but the team does have plans to tinker with double-big lineups, and Cenac could find his way to the court early this season.
“Chris is really impressive, especially with his size,” Celtics summer coach Amile Jefferson said. “He has super big hands. He’s really mobile, he can move. It’s been really good. Just in this last week, see the growth, see how the coaching has impacted him, getting him to play really hard, screening, making points and then just being a connector for our team.”
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