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Boston Celtics: 5 reasons to go all in on Kawhi Leonard

By Bret Stuter

Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images
Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images /
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Photos by Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images /

4. Kawhi Leonard is a good fit

The Boston Celtics had trouble when facing the determined LeBron James and a less than impressive Cleveland Cavaliers. The reason? Not enough firepower. To be fair, they faced the Cavaliers without either Kyrie Irving or Gordon Hayward, but that’s ignoring the fact that their replacements, Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier, put up very impressive numbers in the playoffs.

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    • So the return of Hayward and Irving may not result in an immediate plus in the win column everyone’s expecting. Irving is clearly more offensively talented than Rozier, but the defensive edge goes to Rozier. On one hand, the Celtics’ offense seemed to put in just enough points to win at home. On the other other hand, while Hayward is the better offensive player when compared to Tatum, Tatum still gets the edge defensively. Finally, Tatum is just 19 years old, while Hayward is coming back from a pretty significant injury.

    This merely proves the presence of ambiguity with the Celtics’ certainty of success this upcoming season. Ambiguity leaves room for doubts and second-guessing. The Celtics had that same ambiguity with the injured hip of former Celtics star Isaiah Thomas. It was that level of ambiguity that persuaded them to pay a premium to trade Thomas to the Celtics for their equivalent in Irving.

    Now, that same set of circumstances clouds the team’s future with recently acquired Gordon Hayward. Pushing Hayward at the Spurs would definitely lower San Antonio’s asking price, and the deal would put the Celtics firmly in the driver’s seat as the projected NBA Eastern Conference champions.

    In any case, no matter which wing the Celtics wind up surrendering in a prospective trade, Kawhi Leonard would automatically become the best one on the roster and could be plugged into small-ball lineups perfectly for the No. 1 defense in the NBA.

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