Could Boston’s best target for their MLE be a familiar face?

Old friend Aron Baynes ought to be on the Boston Celtics shortlist for MLE candidates this summer.

With their offseason officially in motion after their defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics have had to turn their attention to overhauling their roster to better prep for the unexpectedly early re-opening of their contention window for an NBA title.

Part of that process will be the 2020 NBA Draft, and there very well may be trades both on draft night and more generally to help tighten up the roster’s rotations — possibly even a big move, if the right candidate emerges on the scene.

Far more likely will be small moves around the margin, and when it comes to free agency, that’s the only kind of realistic moves the team can make barring a sign-and-trade out of left field given they will have no cap space to work with.

That is, save for the taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (MLE).

We don’t know how much money that will be precisely given the pandemic’s impact on the cap won’t be known for some time.

But with many sage minds agreeing it is likely to remain in the $109 million range for next season, that translates to about $5.7 million of spending power for the Celtics to sign a player for up to three seasons.

In a depressed cap market, there may well be some surprisingly good values to be had this offseason, but at least one analyst believes the Celtics’ best potential signing could very well come from a familiar corner.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley believes former Boston bog man Aron Baynes might well be the Celtics’ best option for an offseason signing — and if he prefers a familiar home that’s contending to a chance at earning more on a mediocre or bad team, Boston’s MLE might be a mutually-agreeable option.

Noting that Baynes “remains a fan from afar,” Buckley explains that the rise of All of Australia’s trey “powered him to a career-best 18.5 points per 36 minutes”, giving Boston back a big who can face the beefier frontcourt covers of the east without camping in the paint and killing the spacing.

“Baynes isn’t the sexiest name on the market—Jakob Poeltl and Chris Boucher might be more intriguing ways to address the interior void—but the C’s have all the sizzle they need in Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Supporting those stars with a blue-collar bruiser could quietly be a best-case scenario for the offseason.”

The front office may prefer to offer a younger big man in Baynes’ stead given he’s already 33 years old and big men can fall off of a cliff at any time this late in their career.

But Baynes is rightfully beloved in Boston as much for what he brings to the game as how he contributes to team chemistry.

If Boston wants a level-headed vet to hold the second unit accountable, needs a burly big man off the bench and some shooting to go with it, All of Australia might just be able to address all three boxes in one fell swoop.

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