The year is 2022. If you close your eyes, you can remember the feeling. The feeling of dread and panic anytime Maxi Kleber had to exit the game against the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the playoffs. The style of play on both ends of the floor depended entirely on whether or not Kleber was in the game. Offensively, he allowed Dallas to play the five-out style that allowed Luka Doncic to thrive in space and be able to attack the rim. Defensively, he allowed the Mavericks to switch the majority of the Suns’ offensive actions and frustrate them with timely and effective rotations. The Mavericks dared the Suns to beat them with DeAndre Ayton and he proved he was simply not up to the task. Now, the year is 2024, and as much as things change, the more they stay the same.
I made the mistake of assuming Kawhi Leonard would be healthy for this year’s playoffs. He wasn’t and the Mavericks were able to dispose of the Clippers. As of the writing of this article, it “appears” Kristaps Porzingis is in line to play during the Finals. He’s still Porzingis so we have to see him take the court before we can gauge how effective he will be and whether or not they will have him on a minutes restriction. For the purposes of this piece, let’s assume Porzingis will play and look like the Porzingis that elevated this Boston team during the regular season. If he’s hurt or not the same player we saw, we can simply pretend I never wrote this.
As someone who purchased a Kristaps Porzingis poster and still has a picture of KP, Luka, and Dirk together sitting on his desk, I’ve been invested in watching how his career unfolds. There aren’t any hard feelings, it simply wasn’t a good fit. I still believe trading for him was the right move, though i disagree with the extension the team signed him to despite having all the leverage. I also believe trading him away for what Dallas got for him was the right move as well. On paper, he was the perfect complement to Luka. A floor stretching five that could protect the paint and pull up from anywhere? Yes, please. His frustration surrounding his role, contract, and injury history made it to where the best thing for all parties involved was to simply move on. Fast forward two years and he could be what stands in the way of the Mavericks winning a second title in franchise history. Sports are funny that way.
The question most people ask about Porzingis is whether his game has truly taken off since his departure from the Mavericks or it’s simply a matter of him finally being healthy enough to showcase his game. For me, I believe health has been the reason why he should have been considered an All-Star as a member of the Wizards, and why this Boston Celtics team looks and feels completely different when he is on the court. He’s improved some areas of his game. Most notably, he is better at attacking mismatches in the post. No one will confuse him for Hakeem Olajuwon but he no longer simply faces the smaller defender and shoots an awkward jump shot after failing to create any sort of separation. The rest of his game simply looks better because he has his legs and has regained his lateral quickness and explosiveness.
For the Celtics, his impact comes on the offensive end. Defensively, Al Horford is probably the better all around defender. Offensively, however, there is no competition. Don’t get me wrong, Horford is certainly capable of knocking down a three point shot. The difference comes to the volume of shots from deep that Porzingis is comfortable shooting and Horford isn’t. If Porzingis launches 12 three pointers, no one think twice about it. If Al Horford takes 12 three point shots, something went terribly wrong for the Celtics. Teams are comfortable leaving Al Horford somewhat open. He can make you pay on occasion, but oftentimes he is more than happy to hold on to the ball and look to pass to one of his teammates. The worst version of the Celtics is iso-heavy and involves Tatum dancing with the ball before hoisting a contested jumper. Having Al Horford on the floor can sometimes bring out those bad habits from players, Tatum and Jaylen Brown, that are more than happy to look for their own shot. Defenses can play off Horford and make them think twice about attacking the paint. If Porzingis is on the floor, all bets are off. Porzingis could start the game 0-for-10 from deep, but opposing defenses will still panic if he is wide open when that 11th one goes up. Porzingis’s shooting splits have never been all that impressive. He doesn’t have to shoot like one of the best shooters in the league in order to get defended like he is. Pick and rolls are a nightmare to defend when he’s setting the screen. If you go under, he will shoot the pick and pop three every time. If you try and trap the ball handler, he can take a quick dump pass and shoot the 18-footer or make his way to the rim for an alley-oop. The Celtics can also run the pick and roll from much farther away due to his range. If you try to send help, the defender has to cover much more ground and you can drive a truck through the space left behind. Even average to above average passers like Tatum and Brown can make those passes to wide open shooters. And now, after roughly 1,000 words, we can finally address the subject of this article, Maxi Kleber.
I get it and I can already hear what the comments of this article will be. I’m an idiot. Our superb center play has gotten us this far. With Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively, Dallas should be able to kill Boston on the boards. The Mavericks are going to impose their physicality on them in the paint and overwhelm the Celtics the same way Dallas overwhelmed our other playoff opponents. Look, I agree. The Mavericks center play has been nothing short of outstanding. Gafford’s energy and hard-nosed play has been key. Lively’s ability to defend in space and throw down thunderous alley-oops has been manna from heaven. All of that is true, and yet, the Mavericks are facing a different beast with this Celtics team. Dallas smothered the Clippers. They dared Chet Holmgren to beat them from deep and he couldn’t. The Mavericks made life miserable for Anthony Edwards with their length and athleticism. None of those teams could play the style of play Dallas will see with a healthy Kristaps Porzingis out there. Gafford isn’t great at defending in space. Tatum will lick his lips and cherish the opportunity to go one on one against him. Even Lively, who is much better at operating in space than Gafford, will likely struggle when asked to defend Tatum and Brown going at him with a full head of steam. Now, maybe you’re thinking Dallas can pre-switch and allow the bigs to hide on one of their weaker offensive players. The problem is that Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are excellent at attacking closeouts and are more than happy to shoot their share of wide open threes. A healthy Kleber changes things for Dallas. If we assume PJ Washington draws the Tatum assignment and Kleber is left to guard Porzingis, it changes how the Mavericks defend pick and rolls. Kleber, while brittle and not the player he once was, is still one of the team’s better defenders. What he lacks in lateral quickness, he makes up for with his IQ and positioning. If the Celtics are working to ultimately wind up with Tatum going one on one against Kleber, I can live with the results. His versatility would allow us to rotate out to shooters and try and disrupt their offensive rhythm.
On the other end of the floor, taking the rim running threats off the floor would change things but I have confidence that Dallas can knock down enough shots to keep pace with the Celtics. The Clippers and Timberwolves didn’t have the firepower to keep up with the Mavericks. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played like an MVP caliber player but his surrounding cast couldn’t uphold their end of the bargain. This Celtics team, with Porzingis, is built to create more problems than you have the solutions for. In this series, we could see Gafford’s minutes reduced due to his limitations on defense. Lively, on the other end, could see a slight uptick in his minutes. I can’t, however, imagine a scenario where Porzingis is on the floor and Maxi Kleber is sitting on the bench. If the Mavericks want to win the 2024 title, it could come down to their ability to match the Celtics five-out, “small ball” style.