I use the word contribute loosely, it was as much a statement about the depth chart at the 5 on this roster, most of the bigs are going to be abused by mismatches. There are situations where a 7'6" 300lb player can be made useful, even if he is borderline NBA talent, the same can't really be said for a generic 6'6" wing scorer.
I do think he could progress to competence faster than people are expecting. He's a total anomaly physically and is incredibly smart, who knows if that translates to BBIQ but there's enough there to make him more worthwhile to me than Strus, 26 y/o Green, or Wanamaker.
While it seems unpopular to consider Tacko having any chance to contribute to the Celtics this season put me down on
Team Optimism for a couple of reasons:
(1) Centers get injured quite a bit. I recall Semi starting at the 5 against the Bucks in a Dec game last year. Al, Baynes, TL, Theis were all injured at different points last season.
(2) Tacko dissuades/alters/blocks rim attacks, which is the Celtics biggest defensive deficiency
(3) When Tacko enters a game he whips the home crowd (even an impartial Vegas crowd) into a frenzy and creates "a home-field advantage". Tacko also takes the spotlight off of some other Celtic issues. Plus it's fun, and a team in the midst of a long, grueling season needs an emotional boost.
(4) The EC elite all have much bigger frontlines than the C's. Getting abused in the restricted zone/FT line, for another season, may force Brad to do the unconventional
After watching the SSS of the Duke game, a handful of Vegas games and 1 preseason game I'm interested in seeing if this guy could be disruptive/effective on defense while playing the screener/dunker spot on offense. If
Hacko Tacko becomes the antidote and he shoots under 50% from the line then it's back to Maine to shoot FTs in games (for what its worth, his stroke has improved from UCF).
So I'll go out on a limb and say Tacko gets a two-way deal and it plays out this way: Tacko starts the season in Maine, continues to be a spark plug with his play and crowd frenzy in Portland. After a month or two, a couple of Centers get injured, Tacko starts getting bench time in Boston. After watching Kanter get beat to the rim for the millionth time a frustrated Brad gives Tacko a chance in a blowout. The crowd goes nuts, gives the team a needed shot of adrenaline in midseason and he starts getting 5mpg.
OR maybe I've watched too many
Muresan Boban games over the years and I'm projecting.
Also, I'm a sucker for these unique/off-the-run players. I always rooted for Mugsy Bogues, Spud Webb, Manute Bol, or Nate Robinson. Back in the day I probably would have wanted the Sox to sign Eddie Gaedel and have him bat leadoff...