In an exclusive interview with Chris Forsberg, Kristaps Porzingis explains why he could be the perfect fit to help get the Celtics over the hump this season
Kristaps Porzingis recently described playing for the Boston Celtics as a "responsibility," and it's one he's taking seriously.
The new Celtics big man, who agreed to a two-year, $60 million contract extension with Boston shortly after the team acquired him from the Washington Wizards via trade, posted several photos to his Instagram story Tuesday from a recent workout with Latvia National Team assistant coach Arturs Visockis-Rubenis.
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Porzingis was in full Celtics attire for the workout and captioned the final photo, "may the next season by my best season" with a shamrock emoji.
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That's a lofty goal for Porzingis, considering he's coming off a career 2022-23 campaign with the Wizards: The 7-foot-3 big man averaged a career-high 23.2 points per game in Washington on 49.8 percent shooting, hitting 38.5 percent of his 3-pointers while adding 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
There's a good chance Porzingis' scoring output declines in Boston, where Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon alone combined to attempt more than 50 shots per game last season. Porzingis will be the Celtics' third option at best next season and may take some time to adapt to that role after being the 1B to Bradley Beal's 1A in Washington.
It sounds like he's more than willing to be a complementary piece, however.
"I want to come here to make life easier for those guys," Porzingis said of Tatum and Brown in his introductory press conference. "Hopefully, with my skill set and my talent, I can take some pressure off of those guys, and that's it."
There's a lot riding on Porzingis succeeding in that role; Boston traded its starting point guard and longest-tenured player, Marcus Smart, to land the 27-year-old big man, and Porzingis' addition also was a factor in the Celtics not retaining Grant Williams. The C's are betting big that Porzingis is the third star who can help them get over the hump, but they're taking a chance on him staying healthy despite a lengthy injury history.
At the very least, Porzingis appears equipped with right attitude as he begins his Boston tenure.
