Luke Kornet Thrives in Celtics Win vs Suns but Can He Play Double Big?

Luke Kornet says his career changed when he stopped placing expectations on himself and learned to enjoy the collective success of his team over his own. It happened during the 2021-22 season, when he mostly played in Maine, and took pressure of himself to perform. He developed a complementary role, a bizarre-looking defensive strategy and stopped shooting threes after his string of injuries in Chicago. It all led to his best play last year.

This season, that freedom showed in Saturday’s win, tapping his head after a put-back. Waving his finger after a successful Kornet Kontest. In Chicago last month, he dabbed up the floor.

So when the Celtics added another center to the mix by trading for Xavier Tillman Sr. at the trade deadline, Kornet didn’t blink. A move that could’ve signaled a desire by Boston to upgrade over him, hedge against some of his deficiencies and give the team another option — if he struggled or injuries emerged in front of him — struck Kornet as a positive. They sat together at dinner in Chicago, Kornet getting to know his potential competitor and welcoming the addition. He took the pressure off, and in the weeks since has topped each ensuing best performance of his career.

“I’m not really concerned about that at all,” Kornet told CLNS Media/CelticsBlog in Chicago when asked about Tillman potentially cutting into his role. “We’re excited to have Xavier here, and I think he adds a piece that’s great for us, especially having versatility in the playoffs. That’s really important. We’re happy to have him and excited to have him as a teammate. I like the element that he brings for our team, so I think it just makes our team better, makes us stronger and I’m happy to welcome him … and have a better chance of winning … he’s gonna fit right in with us and the type of group that we have.”

After scoring 10 points that night in Chicago after the all-star break, and 14 more against Phoenix, Kornet is averaging career highs in rebounds (3.9), blocks (1.0) and efficiency (69.8% FG) while logging only 14.7 minutes per game and occasional DNP-CDs. That amounts to 12.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.4 blocks per 36 minutes, and while many have appreciated that small role he’s filled on the best team in the NBA without wanting to see more of him, Boston improved to 14-3 with Kristaps Porzingis out in Phoenix. Al Horford and Kornet maintained the standard Porzingis set inside their owns ways.

For Kornet, that meant excelling at screening, knowing the exact angle to set it at against different coverages and playing behind the advantage out of handoffs as a roller. Years removed from improving his finishing at the rim, he’s now focusing on improving his offensive rebounding for a team that’s increasingly focused on creating those extra possessions. Despite it not being his strength, Kornet’s 13.8 OREB% this season would rank second in the league if he played often enough to qualify. Kornet also excels as a positional defender, filling space in the lane, tracking pick-and-rolls and doing a better job defending in space. He just plays a different style, visually, compared to most seven-footers.

“He’s one of the best at our defensive system,” Joe Mazzulla said on Thursday. “He has an innate ability to communicate matchups, change matchups and change his coverage. There was one possession in the first half where he was in touch, but it was an empty side (pick-and-roll), and he made a great decision to blitz it, then Jrue (Holiday) came over and blocked his shot. So he just has an innate ability to communicate our defensive system, but also make the right read defensively. It’s an under-appreciated skill that Luke has to be able to do that. That’s why we trust him.”

Kornet won’t play in the playoffs when Porzingis and Horford are available. His success and increased versatility this year have at least compelled Mazzulla to find out how he could fit into larger bench units for small rotations. They haven’t fared great, Horford and Kornet playing together early in the fourth stalled Boston’s offense on what became a 22-point Cavaliers comeback win in the final frame on Tuesday to fall to a +0.6 on the season.

Horford and Tillman’s partnership performed worse against the Nuggets two nights later (-75.2 in 10 minutes), speaking more to double-big bench combinations struggling for the Celtics in general. It’s more likely Kornet would stagger one rotation behind minutes that Horford and Porzingis (+13.8 in 463 minutes) play together if, as Mazzulla has mentioned, Boston wants to maintain some double-big looks as part of the team’s identity.

The team wouldn’t be able to court them without Kornet’s success, and as it expands, a nightmare scenario where Porzingis or Horford miss minor time doesn’t sound as scary as it did in training camp. Yes, the playoffs are different, Kornet’s impact is matchup-dependent, the Kornet Kontest won’t work on starting wings on good teams that will methodically put him in actions.

All that’s true to some degree in the regular season too, yet opponents have shot 44.9% against Kornet, comparable to Horford (45.1%). Most importantly, Kornet produces the kind of shots Boston wants to — 2.2% fewer shots at the rim compared to when he’s off the floor (82nd percentile) and 0.2% more mid-range shots — though 2.0% more threes this year is a worry. If concerns pan out, Kornet will sit and Tillman could emerge. If the Celtics never get injured, they’ll almost entirely lean on their six-man rotation.

The fact alone that Kornet gave Boston a quality regular season for $2.4 million is still a major development and cultural feat. One these expensive Celtics will have to repeat going forward to sustain success.

“I love Luke,” Jayson Tatum said last month. “He’s the ultimate teammate, ultimate professional. He never knows exactly when his time is gonna come or his minutes, but he’s always prepared, he always knows the the game plan, he’s gonna set screens, DHOs, help get second or third chance opportunities. He might be the funniest guy on the team, so he keeps everybody’s spirits high. So I think we got a well-balanced team of different personalities and different guys, and Luke is an important part of this team.”