NBA Rumors: No Trades Happening Yet, But Tacko Fall Can Be Boston Celtics’ Franchise Center

Boston Celtics aren’t really in a bad situation this season but the talks about the team still looking for a big man never stops swirling. Currently sitting at the second spot in the Eastern Conference next to the Milwaukee Bucks, you can see that the team is doing well in their post-Kyrie Irving era.

While nothing is being done by the management to bring a legit center to the roster, the Celtics is at the upper half of all the teams in terms of total rebounds per game in their 25 games this season at 45.5 rebounds per outing, good at 14^th place. Jaylen Brown leads the team with his seven rebounds a game.

In their recent 114-93 victory against the Detroit Pistons at home, Enes Kanter grabbed game-high 18 boards in 22 minutes while Daniel Theis followed up with six boards playing the same number of minutes as the Turkish big.

To the delight of the crowd, Tacko Fall was fielded by coach Brad Stevens within the last six minutes when the game is already in the books for his team. He had five points, two boards, a block, and an MVP chant from the Boston crowd.

The Boston Celtics might already have the big man that they are looking for if they just develop their 7-foot-5 rookie with the skill that they are looking for a big man. Fansided previously wrote about the things that Fall should do in order to be the team’s next franchise center.

Free Throws (Improve, Get More)

In his eight games with the Maine Red Claws in the G-League, he is not going to the free-throw line that much. He’s only taken 15 free-throw attempts, making 10 of them. With his height and position that he plays, he is susceptible to getting hit on the shaded lane and in order to maximize his presence, he needs to make opposing teams pay whenever they send him to the line.

Fall only took two freebies in their last game, making the first but the second one rattled out. Once he makes the regular rotation of the Celtics next season if he gets signed a new deal, he needs to assert his giant frame to the teeth of the defense.

Defensive Improvement

He is one of the players being compared to the legendary Manute Bol (other than his son Bol Bol) given his length. Standing at 7-foot-5, his standing reach was measured at 10-feet 2.5-inches high – with the excess inches already higher than the standard NBA hoop measurements from the ground up.

In the G-League, he averaged 2.3 blocks a game and changed a lot more shots when other players are trying to test his defense. If he cannot find his offense right away, he can use his defense as his calling card. Fall is 311 pounds – other big men can create space down low, but they also have to deal with the length as they take off that shot. If he can do that on a consistent basis, the DPOY trophy is within his reach, literally and figuratively.

Make Jump Shots

We are now in the era of big men shooting from beyond the arc – Kristaps Porzingis, Brook Lopez, DeMarcus Cousins, Joel Embiid, and a lot more. But it will be unfair for Tacko to have him develop three-point shooting right away but he was caught taking shots from beyond the arc.

If he wants to establish his presence as a center, a short jumper would be okay for now and it’s much easier to develop for now. That way, he can also extend the defense even just by a maximum of 10-feet and that’s enough space for the others to sneak in for the deuce.