Boston Celtics: Should The C’s Sign Jonathan Holmes?

The Boston Celtics had many players on their NBA summer league roster that impressed, and undrafted free agent Jonathan Holmes was one of them.

Holmes had an impressive collegiate career at the University of Texas, and some of you may remember him from his buzzer-beater he hit against UConn last season, but he is much more to offer than just one game-winner. He was a four-year player for the Longhorns, who could do just about anything on both ends of the floor.

ALSO ON HOOPSHABIT: 25 Greatest Individual Seasons in NBA History

His numbers will not really jump off the screen, but he always had an impact on the outcome of the game because of his ability to stretch the floor at a power forward, and sometimes a center.

Should the Celtics take a chance?

More from Boston Celtics

• Why the new and improved Celtics are a major threat
• These two Celtics will be crucial to unlocking Kristaps Porzingis’ potential
• The new-look Celtics are closer than ever to an 18th title
• 3 Reasons Boston will regret trading Marcus Smart
• Ranking the 5 best available power forwards in 2023 NBA free agency

The Celtics should sign Holmes to a deal because he is a low-risk/high-reward player because of his ability to stretch the floor and shoot from distance.

Holmes was very steady after a slow opening debut against the Utah Jazz by averaging 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Holmes also impressed with his three-point range by shooting an impressive 44.6 percent from long-range throughout the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues.

Everyone could see that Holmes could be a good NBA player one day after his time with the Celtics because he showed that he can do many things on both ends of the floor. The Celtics should sign him with the idea that he could turn into a stretch-4, with the ability to play the center position at times.

The NBA is heading into a phase were “small ball” is many team’s formula to win, which is why Holmes should be on the Celtics’ roster.

Hardwood Houdini

The only players the Celtics could play at the stretch-4 right now are either Jared Sullinger or Kelly Olynyk, but both players are far too slow and inconsistent to play many meaningful minutes down the stretch at the power forward or center position. Jordan Mickey, Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, most likely David Lee, and Tyler Zeller make up the rest of the frontcourt for the Celtics.

Not one of those players can shoot from distance other than Jerebko, and he is far too small to play as a stretch-4. This is where Holmes could come in, as a guy that could add shooting to a lineup, which would make the Celtics very dangerous.

Obviously at times teams still need to have a pure center playing meaningful minutes, but Holmes could step in at some point during next season or in future seasons to make the Celtics a dangerous shooting team from every position and help space the floor.

Holmes was projected to be a late first-round or early second-round pick prior to the 2015 NBA draft, but every team passed on him, making Holmes a free agent looking for a place to play.

Boston should forget about how many frontcourt players they have and sign Holmes because even though he might not see the floor next season, he has the ability to stretch the floor and shoot from distance as a big man, which is something that is not easy to find, especially since Holmes will not cost that much for the Celtics.

Boston; sign Holmes before someone else snags him.

Next: 50 Greatest NBA Players Of The 1970s

More from Hoops Habit

• The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout