This is the first part in a series I want to use to look at "the x-factor" on every team, not in terms of the star that needs to play well for them to win but rather the player who most fills a position of need, no matter. And spoiler alert - there's likely to be a lot of (obscure) bigs on this list, since one of the aftereffects of the small ball era being a lack of noteworthy bigs, or them being concentrated on certain teams...
BOSTON CELTICS: RON HARPER JR.
...such as the Celtics aren't one of those teams. Heading into training camp, they're rich in positional diversity. But I'm going with Ron "Nepo Bro" Harper because, at least imo, this offseason they paid him more than he was worth, at $3.5/year over 4 years. Or let me say what's surprising is that they actually want to keep him that long.
If I remember correctly, he started one of those pivotal playoff games last season - for about three minutes, not to be seen again. So the logical insinuation is that Harper Jr. either has potential that's not evident by his play, or the Celts actually perceive a future with him, which then implies that he can fill some type of void.
BROOKLYN NETS: MICHAEL PORTER JR.
I don't even know most of the dudes on this roster, so I'm just going to go with the star, as he's more or less the only reason worth watching. An unexpected superstar may arise from the midst - a Steph if you will - but that doesn't really seem likely. And as for Randle, I'm sort of a fan, but that performance in Game 6 scarred me.
NEW YORK KNICKS: MOHAMED DIAWARA
There's currently headlines circulating about how Mike Brown is putting pressure on Mohamed Diawara - a virtual unknown who perhaps none of us would know if not for him being on the Knicks, but that makes sense. Drummond cannot backup KAT in every application. Meanwhile, Diawara is younger, and they obviously see potential in him. It's possible that he was even drafted with the eventual departure of Robinson in mind. But let's see if Wiseman also makes the team. And I like Bruce Brown also, but it seems NYK likes bringing smaller Gs off the bench as opposed to those bigger F types.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: ARIEL HUKPORTI
This is what actually inspired me to start this series, looking at the Sixers' roster and seeing that they only have one backup C. And that is - Ariel Hukporti(?), besides an F/C, Adem Bona, who at least I think I heard his name before. That's questionable braintrusting in the Wemby era.
TORONTO RAPTORS: TREY JEMISON
Outside of Poeltl, the Raptors don't have any fulltime C on the roster, though they have Trey Jemison(?) on a two-way contract. In a perfect world it wouldn't really matter as, unless they are playing against Wemby himself, Toronto could rather rollout Barnes at the 5, with Kawhi at the 4. But you already know that ol' "Tender Vittles" is going to get hurt. So obviously, whenever Jakob isn't in, they're intending to go small. But it still wouldn't hurt to have a an actual backup C.
CONCLUSION
It felt good doing this D-lister article, to show love to some of the guys who otherwise may never get incepted. And yeah, I guess in theory, everyone in the NBA does get his chance.
Diawara averaged 1pt and 2rbs during the playoffs, but currently, his name is all over headlines. The implication is that if a team drafts or invites you to training camp or whatever, you can fill some type of need. And out of every squad on this list, the Celtics, ironically enough, appear to be the most wembyproof.
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