A lot of people think that the Boston Celtics will be in the running for an NBA title this season. They’re in first place in the East. Their record is the best in the league. All five of their players could have made a case for making the All-Star team. Celtics fans have a lot to be happy about.

But JJ Redick thinks that one of Boston’s new players has changed the game in their favour. On Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” Redick said that Kristaps Porzingis was the team’s most important player.

Redick said, “This guy makes all the difference for them.” His change has made their offence more interesting. And he’s giving them the same defence that Robert Williams did…At this point, the Celtics have pretty much tripled the number of post-ups they make. They’re looking for mistakes. Kristaps Porzingis makes their defence (that means offence) work. This is his best season shooting the ball from behind the arc in the last 10 years…In the NBA, he’s the best third choice. 

Porzingis has been doing very well while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been scoring a lot. He has had no trouble fitting into Joe Mazzulla’s plan. This is one of the most important seasons of his career. Besides that, he already has close relationships with some of his peers, especially Brown. 

The Celtics have needed a modern big man for a long time. Porzingis’s ability to score from outside has made the team’s five-out offence much more spread out. Boston looks like the team to beat in the playoffs all of a sudden. Their best players are good enough to get them to the NBA Finals. Having Porzingis on the team will make sure they have mismatches all the time. 

Mazzulla will now have to keep his team on task. The team may have made a historic choice when they took a chance on Porzingis in the summer if they can stay fit and play well. It has been 14 years since Boston won an NBA title, after all.