2017 NBA free agency grades: Boston Celtics add Aron Baynes
After waiving Tyler Zeller and renouncing Kelly Olynyk, the Boston Celtics needed a backup center. They found their man in former Piston Aron Baynes.
The Boston Celtics essentially locked up a successful offseason when they signed Gordon Hayward. However, some of the moves needed to free up space for their new All-Star forward left them with a thin big man rotation.
The Celtics were forced to renounce the rights to Kelly Olynyk to create cap room. Furthermore, they also had to waive Tyler Zeller to make room for the Hayward signing.
With free agency winding down, the Celtics needed to find a bargain big man to fill out their bench. Aron Baynes declined his $6.5 million player option for next season just before the draft. Unfortunately for Baynes, he was unable to find a long-term deal on the open market. That allowed the Celtics to pounce with a one-year deal for $4.3 million, as first reported by The Vertical‘s Shams Charania.
Aron Baynes is a low-usage big man who will help fill two major needs for the Celtics. Baynes is an excellent rim protector who also is a much better rebounder than starting center Al Horford.
Baynes is mostly a screen-setter on the offensive end and is not a big man who requires post touches to play hard on the defensive end. His Usage Rate has been below 20 percent in all five of his years in the NBA.
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
That Usage Rate dropped to a career-low 14.1 percent last season. With Boston’s plethora of offensive options, Aron Baynes will fit in well as someone who will not soak up offensive possessions. Additionally, his 57.0 percent True Shooting mark indicates that he is effective when he does opt to shoot the ball.
With Boston’s plethora of offensive options, Aron Baynes will fit in well as someone who will not soak up offensive possessions. Additionally, his 57.0 percent True Shooting mark indicates that he is effective when he does opt to shoot the ball.
Baynes is also a decent rebounder, which is a boon to the rebounding-starved Celtics. His Rebounding Percentage of 15.8 percent was exactly average among NBA centers; that rate was 50th out of 101 centers last season, per NBA.com.
However, Baynes looks like a rebounding savant in comparison to Al Horford. Horford is excellent in basically every important area as a center. However, rebounding is his greatest weakness; his Rebound Percentage of 11.8 was 87th out of 101 centers last season. Kelly Olynyk ranked 74th on that same list, so Aron Baynes will more than replace his production on the glass.
The biggest benefit to the Baynes signing, however, is his excellent rim protection. Aron Baynes forced opponents to shoot just 50.5 percent from less than six feet from the rim, per NBA.com. That was a staggering 10.7 percent worse than league average from that range.
While there is a wide range of variance in overall defensive field goal percentage numbers, those numbers are quite constant when just looking at shot percentage allowed from less than six feet away from the rim. Those numbers hold to form with Aron Baynes; he has lowered opponent’s accuracy from six feet and in by at least 6.4 percent in each of the four years for which NBA.com has defensive shot tracking data.
Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far
Aron Baynes is a great rim protector and decent rebounder — both areas of need for the Boston Celtics. Baynes is a perfect fit for the Celtics as a backup center, and Boston managed to get him on a cheap one-year deal. Danny Ainge and Celtics fans could not have asked for anything more.
Grade: A