Who will start at center for the Boston Celtics?

Within the past few days, the Boston Celtics have made a series of moves to address their once dire big man situation. They signed Vincent Poirer from Baskonia in Spain on a two-year deal, likely at the minimum, they signed free agent Enes Kanter, also on a two-year deal, and re-upped Daniel Theis.

However, they also have second year big Robert Williams in the fold as well. This begs the question, who is the Celtics starting center this season?


I think it comes down to Poirer and Kanter, and MassLive.com’s Tom Westerholm and John Karalis agree with me.

Poirer is a great roller in the pick-and-roll and is the better defender than Kanter, which will help against bigger guards with 6-foot-0 Kemba Walker running the point. He grabbed 10.5 boards per 36 minutes in the Euro League last season, with 3.5 offensive rebounds. However, he has never averaged more than 25 minutes a game in his career and never played more than 34 games in a season. He may take time to adjust to the added workload.

Kanter cleans the offensive glass and is a solid roll man, but he is not the best defender to say the least. He is the better rebounder, averaging 14.5 boards per 36 minutes last year with the Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks. Kanter is also the better free throw shooter, hitting almost 78 percent of his frees compared to Poirer’s 63 percent.

Out of the gate, I think Kanter should get the starting nod while Poirer adjusts to the NBA. If that works, keep it. If not, shake it up.

Photo courtest of Mike Stobe, Getty Images

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