The Boston Celtics are bringing back the same group of big men that contributed to winning a championship last season with Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta, and Xavier Tillman.

It was well known that Boston would start this season without Porzingis, as he recovers from offseason surgery to repair a torn retinaculum he suffered in the postseason last year.

GM Brad Stevens shared on Media Day that the recovery process seems to be going faster than expected and that he’s “even a little surprised” at the progress Porzingis has made.

Stevens also shared that Porzingis wasn’t the only player to have offseason surgery, as both Kornet (wrist) and Tillman (knee) had cleanup procedures. He followed by saying that they’ll be ready for the season, however.

It wasn’t reported that Kornet and Tillman had surgeries this offseason, however, it doesn’t sound like it’s anything too serious considering that Stevens said they’ll be ready for training camp.

Although Stevens doesn’t sound concerned, it still makes me feel uneasy knowing that both Kornet and Tillman had surgeries, as the depth to the position is more important than ever with Porzingis missing the start of the season.

Horford, at the advanced age of 38-years-old, is going to be expected to pick up much of the workload in the beginning of the season while Porzingis is out. But it’s fair to say that Horford can’t be playing upwards of 30-minutes per game and over 2,000-minutes for the season if he’s to expected to play at the highest level in the playoffs.

It’s going to take the entire position group to essentially fill in for Porzingis while he’s out in the beginning of the season. Tillman explained how they’ll do it, and it’s easier said than done, of course.

“It’ll be probably me, Al, Luke, and Neem just kind of cycling in, and you know Al probably isn’t playing in any back-to-backs. For us, just figuring out where we can best assess- Neem is going to be a a great shot-blocker for us when he gets into the game. Myself, screen-setting, on-ball defense, spacing out, and shooting threes, stuff like that. Luke being savvy, playmaking and stuff like that off the short roll as well as live dunks at the rim… I think everybody is going to have a specific role as far as the bigs and we should be ready to go.”

The biggest challenge is going to be in trying to replace Porzingis’ 3-point shooting production with the committee of players in the position group. Here’s how Boston’s centers shot from distance last season.

• Horford: 41.9%
• Porzingis: 37.5%
• Tillman: 28.6%
• Kornet: 100% (1/1)
• Queta: Never attempted a 3-pointer.

It’s unclear if the Celtics are going to play in a similar way offensively without Porzingis to start the season, as Boston is without the dual-threat unicorn that changed the dynamics of the court for them last season.

The shared skill that all of the centers have is their ability to run screens and pick-and-rolls, which Boston has thrived on for the last few years.

The x-factor in Boston’s frontcourt this season is going to be Queta. He agreed to return on a three-year, $7,180,128 contract. Queta’s game is very reminiscent of Rob Williams when it comes to protecting the rim on defense and playing above it on offense.

Last year without Porzingis, Boston went 21-4 in the regular season and 10-2 in the playoffs en route to winning a championship.

The Celtics should have enough support to get by without Porzingis in the first part of the season.

Follow us on Twitter @CelticsFiles

Follow me on Twitter @Trombino20

Photo Credit: Brian Babineau, NBAE Getty Images