New-look Celtics already in trouble

A German sportswriter reported that Boston's new big man may miss the upcoming FIBA World Cup with a foot injury, though Porzingis and the Celtics haven't made a final decision yet. While the Celtics may simply be acting out of caution — the World Cup doesn't compare to the importance of the NBA season for Boston — it's not a good start to the Porzingis Era in Beantown.

The Celtics traded their incumbent point guard Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, to get Porzingis from Washington. The 7-foot-3 big man opted into next year's contract and signed a two-year extension, locking him in through 2026 for $96 million. To clear room on the payroll and in the frontcourt for KP, Boston traded restricted free-agent forward Grant Williams to Dallas for second-round picks.

The Celtics committed to Porzingis despite his lengthy injury history. Since playing 72 games in his rookie season, Porzingis has missed at least 16 games every year. He missed the entire 2018-19 season after tearing his ACL, then played 57 and 51 games the next two seasons. Even during last season, his healthiest in years, Porzingis sat out 17 games — over 20% of the season.

While he's suffered myriad injuries over the years, the good news for Boston is that his feet have generally been fine, save for a minor foot injury in 2021. Porzingis has generally had problems with his knees, not his feet, but any sort of foot injury is concerning with a player so tall.

If the injury lingers, the Celtics have options. They still have Al Horford and Robert Williams to play center. They can also play small, with Jayson Tatum shifting to power forward while Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon man the backcourt.

But they'll certainly be shorthanded, a bad sign for a team that wore down in both of the last two playoffs, with Tatum and Brown both playing massive minutes. The duo was first and second in playoff minutes in 2022, and finished fourth and sixth last season, despite not making the NBA Finals.

Porzingis was supposed to take over some of the scoring load from the Celtics' dynamic duo and revise their whole offense. If he's hurt, they're not the same level of contender. And they don't have much financial flexibility to deal with a long-term injury.

This was always the risk with Porzingis. The Celtics bet on his health and his potential. Now they have to hope his body cooperates.