Celtics sign C Wenyen Gabriel to a training camp deal
- Thread starter bsj
- Start date
I saw a highlight film of him and around the rim he has some hops and quickness. He can dunk and block shots. I could see a poor man’s Rob developing on the C’s.
Nah, he’s just doing his pal Bill a solid by giving Boston fans something else to focus on.
At some point Boston is going to need a 3rd big who can play in the playoffs, and Gabriel (26 years old and entering year 5) probably isn't it, but regular season depth is nice, too.
How many teams have a 3rd center that is playable in the playoffs? With this team, Tatum can, and will play many minutes at the 4.
Not many, but not many teams have a starting center whose averaged just 50 games per year and a backup who is 37. Our center rotation is more delicate than most contenders, so our need is greater.
People keep saying this but it seems like too much risk aversion.
Before the Jrue trade the Cs had too many starting caliber bigs and not enough ball handling. No NBA team is deep enough at each spot and in 2023-24, it feels like you want to prioritize your rotation at the expense of depth, especially if you are gunning for a championship.
In any event, Gabriel is a professional NBA caliber backup big. If they keep him he will be fine for whatever role he gets. And if that's a starting one next spring either he made one of the biggest leaps ever or the Cs are likely screwed anyway.
Last year our center depth was a guy who has averaged even fewer games than that and a 36 year old. I don’t see how they are any worse off than a year ago when it was TL and Horford.
6 of one, half dozen of the other. Maybe KP is slightly more durable than TL, but it felt incredibly lucky that Horford got through last season, and he's a year older.
I think we were well suited to playing a lot of two big lineups, which would've been plenty of minutes for the 3 legit playoff caliber bigs on the roster. Now it feels like we're limited to one big lineups, which both limits our versatility and may or may not be good for KP's health prospects (what's more dangerous, banging in the post or chasing players around the perimeter). It's unlikely to be an achilles heel, but it doesn't feel like a stretch to say our biggest need is now big man depth.
Look you may be right in the end and we may wind up watching this team try to defend opposing bigs with Kornet and a band of wings and ballhandlers during the playoffs. That will suck. But it will suck less having Jrue in lieu of Brogdon. That upgrade right there is bigger than the hit to the Cs big depth imo.
Gabriel is this year’s Kabengele. He’s not an NBA rotation player but would be fine as deep depth. I don’t see him being very likely to make it out of training camp though.
Would Kabengele really be fine as depth though? SL and preseason minutes we saw of him he looked completely lost despite his athleticism teasing us.
To be fair
Kabengele has played a total of 380 NBA minutes in his career. Gabriel played in 68 games and 1024 minutes for an NBA semi-finalist last season. I'd say Queta on a 2-way fills that Kabengele role (in case of emergency break the glass BIG)
Just a reminder Brad picked up a depth 5 in Mike Mussina for some pocket lint last year (2nds) at the trade deadline
I'm not saying I didn't like the move, just that the next path to upgrade is clear (if not easy to accomplish). I'm pretty pleased that we moved off 2 of our 3 biggest injury risks while simultaneously raising the ceiling of our closing 5.
Yeah, ultimately I think if rotation big is the hole on the team, it’s the right hole for Brad to have left open. Those guys are cheap to acquire and are bought out all the time. You’re not going to get another TL that way but you can get someone who can bang and rebound and defend a bit. I’ll much rather be chasing that at the deadline than anything else
And I think the two big flexibility laid out above is ultimately a mirage of the 2022 2nd half when we had peak TL and the entire defense was humming in a way it never did before and never did since TL’s injury late in that season stopped the party. I liked the size advantages it brought but the key was that they still had athleticism and speed. TL slowing down from injury and Smart slowing down and adding Brogdon had some big compounding effects on that defensive cohesion. Just never looked like they had the same defensive plan or ability last season.
Spurs are a team that will have to cut someone to get to 15, looks likely that the final spot may come down to Khem Birch vs. Charles Bassey. Both potential options in the Gabriel level of rotation bigs who may or may not be playable come the post-season.
Last edited:
Live bodied big with some nice finishes around the rim
View: https://youtu.be/mkxiTgwW1cM?si=9chLyNxx8l1-feOV
View: https://youtu.be/mkxiTgwW1cM?si=9chLyNxx8l1-feOV
Gabriel is actually 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-1wingspan, giving him legitimate height and length for the power forward position. Very switchable size that can play both at the perimeter and down low.
I remember my friends who follow the Lakers really liking the guy. Definitely feels like a far more playable option than a Kabangele, with the upside of becoming a below the radar signing who develops into a rotation big (like Theis).
I remember my friends who follow the Lakers really liking the guy. Definitely feels like a far more playable option than a Kabangele, with the upside of becoming a below the radar signing who develops into a rotation big (like Theis).
Last edited:
Horford is talented enough to play both the 4 & the 5 at a high level, he really made 2 BIGz work.
Also a healthy TimeLord, as a defensive free safety, helped create a record-setting D
BUT keeping Rob intact for an NBA season was next to impossible
Yeah, I think when people talk about both him and Smart, they're talking about 2022 guys whom we very well might not see again.
I don’t get all the angst around the Bigs from people. We have seen this team lose the last 3 years because of the inability to handle the ball late in games. Their talent will bring them into the ECF at this point, and POBOBS has now exchanged Smart/Grant/Rob/Brogdon for Kristaps and Jrue, opened up more playing time for Derrick “On The Rise” White AND ensured that we never have to watch Jaylen or Tatum dribble it off their legs while triple teamed in crunch time.
This roster construction has been the opposite of the Patriots. It’s fucking divine.
This roster construction has been the opposite of the Patriots. It’s fucking divine.
The difference between Kristaps/Jrue/(two other spots) is, honestly, I think, worth more than Smart/Grant/Rob/Brogdon, if they just fill those two spots with perfectly cromulent backups. Which I think they can.
A good friend of mine a very accomplished coach and huge Laker fan tells me Gabriel plays hard and does his job. He expects he will be a rotation guy, and pretty good at his role.
Agreed. DEN won the championship last year with Jeff Green and Christian Braun as their 7th and 8th guys
If the Celtics get the injury luck that Denver had last year (after losing Murray for back to back postseasons and MPJ missing about 180 games over his first 4 years, they were due), we'll be just fine.
