The Boston Celtics have a very deep, versatile rotation after adding point guard Malcolm Brogdon and forward Danilo Gallinari. But there's still one item on Brad Stevens' offseason to-do list.
During a press conference to introduce Brogdon and Gallinari on Tuesday, the Celtics' president of basketball operations said the team hopes to add another big man to provide depth in a frontcourt currently featuring Robert Williams, Al Horford and Grant Williams.
"We're still looking, and we'll still add at least one more body at whatever we call the five position nowadays," Stevens told reporters.
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The Celtics are down a big man after sending Daniel Theis to the Indiana Pacers in the trade that brought Brogdon to Boston. But Stevens suggested the team doesn't need to add a traditional center, noting that the C's are well-equipped to play more "small ball" with lineups featuring Gallinari, a 6-foot-10 floor-stretcher who made 38.6 percent of his 3-pointers last season.
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"We'll continue to look at what adds to our team," Stevens said. "I think ultimately, though we started big most of last year with Al and Rob, we oftentimes we would play one of them. We're better set up to play 'smaller' than we were just because of the size of these two guys sitting next to us (Gallinari and Brogdon). We've got a lot of options there."
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Stevens also added the Celtics are "really high" on 7-foot-2 big man Luke Kornet, who appeared in just 12 games for Boston last season but is a permanent member of the roster after landing a two-year, $4.5 million contract this offseason.
"We'll probably add one more person who can play in that area, but we really believe in Luke as not only depth to fill out the roster, but also be ready to help us win," Stevens said. "I think he's at that stage where he can do that."
With due respect to Kornet, the Celtics could use a more talented backup big man who can give them 10-15 minutes per night or take on a bigger role in the event of an injury. Unfortunately for Boston, the options on the free-agent market aren't great, and the team reportedly doesn't plan to sign big man Aron Baynes despite showing initial interest.
The Celtics do have multiple traded player exceptions at their disposal, however, so Stevens could look to the trade market to make one more meaningful upgrade to the roster entering 2022-23.