Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics front office have been working overtime to cut costs ahead of free agency starting next week. The team saved more than $250 million in future contracts in a span of ten days, now falling under the second-apron threshold.
They did pay a price, however, which came in the form of Jrue Holiday to Portland and Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta. Both players were key pieces to the team's NBA Finals win in 2024, but their contracts were unsustainable for the team moving forward. Keeping the core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White together should have the Celtics heavily back in contention whenever JT returns from his Achilles injury.
New additions include Anfernee Simons, Georges Niang, and most recently, Hugo Gonzalez. Boston selected Gonzalez, a wing player from Spain, with their No. 28 draft selection in Wednesday's first round. Now, Brad Stevens will look ahead toward the No. 32 selection on Thursday, and there's a big man out of Creighton that would make the perfect successor to Kristaps Porzingis.
Ryan Kalkbrenner Should Be Atop Celtics Draft Board in Second Round
Kalkbrenner is a 7-foot-1 center out of Creighton, where he started 138 of 169 games as a Bluejay. As a defensive anchor and improved three-point shooter, Kalkbrenner has the potential to be a starting center in the NBA for a long time. He won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year with Creighton this past season.
Kalkbrenner broke records throughout his five-year career at Creighton, including being first in defensive win shares (9.3), field goal percentage (65.8%), games (169), minutes played (4944) and offensive rebounds (438). Kalkbrenner joined the likes of Doug McDermott and Kyle Korver as Creighton greats.
The 23-year-old led Creighton to the NCAA Tournament in all five seasons he was there, making it past the Round of 64 in every year and going all the way to the Elite 8 in 2023. This past season, Kalkbrenner averaged 19.2 points and 8.7 rebounds on 65.3% from the field and improved his three-point percentage from 29.6% to 34.4%.
With a 7-foot-6 wingspan, Kalkbrenner has the ability to effect every play at the rim, a skill that Celtics fans became accustomed to seeing with Kristaps Porzingis. Kalkbrenner is also honing his craft as an improved mid-range and three-point shooter.
Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner reminded NBA teams of his tremendous tools and rim-running, floor stretching potential at the Priority Sports pro day in Chicago.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 19, 2025
4x Big East defensive player of the year has a 7'6 wingspan and 9'4 standing reach. pic.twitter.com/640Z0TzqC0
As a five-year player, Kalkbrenner would be the most NBA-ready big man that the Celtics can target with their No. 32 selection. He has the ability to step in and become a center in Boston's rotation from day one, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Luke Kornet and Al Horford in free agency.
Kalkbrenner has an off-the-bounce ability that not many 7-footers should have, and can stretch the floor in Joe Mazzulla's offense. He would be a force in pick-and-roll offense, and possesses an abundance of post moves that he goes to in one-on-one scenarios.
Kalkbrenner's age (23) is the only gripe to his draft outlook, and many think he won't progress much more. The way I see it is, he's more ready to become a rotational player now, unlike a "project" player at 18 or 19 years old that won't see NBA minutes for a couple years at minimum.
The Celtics have a glaring need at center after the Porzingis trade, and it was honestly a surprise that they didn't address it with the No. 28 selection. Luckily for Brad Stevens, he won't have to wait long to make his next pick. The Timberwolves have a selection at No. 31 to kick off the second round, and then the Celtics are right back on the clock in Barclays Center.