The Boston Celtics need to address their center position as the depth is weak after trading away Robert Williams as part of the package to acquire Jrue Holiday.

Kristaps Porzingis is going to be a total game-changer for the Celtics this season. Head coach Joe Mazzulla has referred to him multiple times as the team’s “curveball” and is looking forward to pulling a wildcard out of his back pocket in the middle of a game.

Al Horford is 37-years-old entering his 17th NBA season and said he’s feeling great and is ready for the season ahead. He even mentioned that perhaps he could play for another three years to make it 20 total in the league.

Horford’s game has brought him away from the basket in recent years and has mostly been limited to shooting 3-pointers, which is more of a role of a true four. He is rarely found underneath the basket or on the block in the post on offense.

However, on defense, he’s still one of the better defenders in the league, specifically on Giannis Antetokunmpo and Joel Embiid. He also led Boston with 1,017 defended field goal attempts last season, which ranked 28th in the NBA.

The biggest variable regarding Horford is age and health. Dating back to last season, Horford didn’t play in any back-to-back games and it’s proved to work well for the Celtics. It’s also worth mentioning that if Boston wants to utilize a double-big lineup, the third or fourth string center automatically becomes the backup for those games as both Al and Porzingis will be starting.

Luke Kornet will likely serve as Boston’s immediate backup to Porzingis and Horford this season. Kornet has shown to be adequate at what the Celtics have asked from him on both ends of the court.

The Celtics have added a few players to their center position but well before they traded Robert Williams. They’ve brought in Wenyen Gabriel, Neemias Queta, and Kylor Kelley to training camp to compete for roles and possibly some real minutes in Boston.

It’s worth mentioning that Gabriel signed an Exhibit-9 contract, Kelley signed an Exhibit-10 contract, and Queta secured Boston’s final two-way contract for this season. That said, there’s going to be real opportunities to earn minutes at the center position this season for any of the players that’ll be competing in camp.

Last season, Gabriel averaged 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game with a 59.6 field goal percentage in 68 games for the Lakers.

Kelley most recently played for Raptors 905, averaging 15.3 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the field, along with five rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game last season.

Although he doesn’t shoot 3’s, Kelley is a high-energy guy who can play a similarly to Robert Williams above the rim as a lob threat and is a great shot blocker.

This season is going to be a different look and feel for the Celtics. There’s a lot of new players on Boston’s roster that need to make chemistry with each other and the core group.

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Photo Credit: David Butler II- USA TODAY Sports