Chris Cenac Jr. looks like he can be a good pick for the Boston Celtics down the line, and the team shouldn't have any regrets taking him at pick No. 27. But drafting Cenac still doesn't address arguably Boston's biggest problem, which is its lack of a floor-spacing center.
As it stands, the Celtics have Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and Cenac (depending on if they're going to use him as a center rather than a power forward) in their center room. Outside of maybe Garza, who shot a career-high 43.3% from deep last season (it remains to be seen if this is a legitimate development or just an outlier), Boston doesn't have a dependable stretch big on the roster.
Unless they're drastically going to change their offensive philosophy, the Celtics need a center who can stretch the floor. Re-signing Nikola Vucevic, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency, could be an option. However, Boston may be better off just looking elsewhere.
Celtics still shouldn't bring Nikola Vucevic back
Trading Anfernee Simons for Vucevic ahead of last season's deadline might be Brad Stevens' biggest mistake as the Celtics' GM. The team clearly missed Simons' microwave scoring off the bench (even after Payton Pritchard reverted to his sixth man role following Jayson Tatum's return), and Vucevic left a lot to be desired in a Celtics uniform.
The two-time All-Star averaged 9.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 turnover on 43.9/34/78.9% shooting splits in 16 games for Boston. This doesn't even include his horrific playoff performance, when he averaged just 6.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 turnovers while shooting 37.8% from the field and 29.2% from deep in six games (he was a DNP-CD in Game 7).
Vucevic's defense was also somehow even worse than advertised, and he wasn't the same elite rebounder he had been during the prime years of his career. He just couldn't find his rhythm in Boston and often looked a step late in just about every area of the game. His finger injury, which sidelined him for a month, most likely played a big role in his struggles, but he hadn't been showing much promise even before that (11.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2 assists, 44.5/35.1/82.4% shooting splits in 11 games -- these numbers look solid, but they don't account for his atrocious defense and the fact that he was wildly inconsistent in those games).
It has already been reported that the USC alum is likely on his way out of Boston this summer. And even though the team could maybe benefit from bringing him back due to his presence as a stretch big (there's no way he plays this poorly again, right?), it's better to just move forward without him and look elsewhere (Henri Veesaar, Myles Turner, trust that Cenac/Garza can become that guy?).
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