The Boston Celtics signed Wenyen Gabriel right before training camp after having him in for a workout this summer. Gabriel was signed as a depth piece to the center position before Boston traded Robert Williams as part of the deal to acquire Jrue Holiday. Without Rob in the mix this season, there’s going to be positional minutes to spare for a player like Gabriel.

Gabriel is a native of Sudan but is familiar with the North East as he played high school basketball at Trinity in New Hampshire and finished at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Massachusetts. This is where Gabriel became a five-star recruit and received scholarships from Kentucky, Duke, Maryland, UCONN, and Providence. He ultimately chose to go to Kentucky for two years before declaring for the NBA Draft.

The 6-foot-9, 205 lbs center played for the Los Angeles Lakers last year, averaging 5.5 points per game with a 59.6 field goal percentage and 61.5 effective field goal percentage. He had the highest field goal percentage on the Lakers last year and the second highest EFG with a minimum of 50 games played.

In the few times Gabriel has spoken to the media, he shared that he’s a versatile defender that can help the Celtics in many different aspects this season.

“I’m not thinking they’re expecting me to do anything new that’s out of the character of what I’ve already done in terms of bringing energy, toughness, getting us extra possessions, being able to switch, being versatile out there, running the floor, being athletic, blocking shots. There’s a lot of different things I can do defensively, being a good help defender. So there’s a lot of things that I already do as a player.”

Gabriel will be competing with Luke Kornet for additional minutes at center this season and likely two-way player Neemias Queta during the preseason.

As I said earlier, there’s a path for additional minutes to the center position now that Robert Williams isn’t in the mix anymore. Keep in mind that Al Horford didn’t play on the second night of a back-to-back last season and is likely to continue using that method.

It’s worth mentioning that as he’s aged, his offensive game has brought him away from the basket as a legitimate shooting threat like a forward and not in the paint knocking bodies like a center. Defensively, however, Al can still square up against anybody when he’s on the court and dominate.

There’s going to be opportunities throughout the season. I was recently on the Celtics Game Day Recap Podcast discussing the offseason moves from the Celtics and I said “these guys aren’t going to play 82-games” so Boston needs to have adequate depth to the center position this season with only Kristaps Porzingis and Horford who’s entering is 37-year-old season.

Gabriel is efficient around the rim on offense. He’s not a lob threat like Robert Williams is but he’s crafty in the paint and creates second chance opportunities. But it’s going to be his defensive abilities as a shot blocker and rebounder that will make him thrive in Boston.

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Photo Credit. Bobby Manning, CLNS Media