If Mohamed Bamba was laid against Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, his arms would spill off the page. His 7’0" frame coupled with a 7’8" wingspan has the entire basketball world salivating. He is nimble enough to leap up and have his head only inches from the rim. He is unlike any other prospect available. Over the past 10 years only Rudy Gobert compares. Yet this doesn’t matter for winning because NBA basketball has been trending away from who Mohamed Bamba is as a player.

He is a historic college defender. He is averaging 4.4 blocks per game (45th all time). His defensive rating of 83.6 places him 18th all time (one spot ahead of Draymond Green). Bamba is a big man who opposing coaches will have to game plan for, but the best NBA teams already have the blueprint on how to neutralize him.

Premier shot blockers have not taken their teams far in recent years. Looking at the past 5 championship teams none had a player that averaged over 2.0 blocks per game. Over the past 3 years no team that made the conference championship had a player that averaged over 2 blocks per game.

Ignoring whichever team Lebron will be on imagine Bamba in these three scenarios:

1) Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant whizz the ball around the court as they open up another shooting gallery.

2) Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams run a pick and roll that forces Bamba to slow Russell, the human freight train, 25 feet from the basket.

3) James Harden orchestrates a barrage of rockets from long range.

Bamba is a luxury the Celtic’s cannot afford. His greatest strengths can be a backbone to a disruptive regular season defense, but they are no longer one of the ingredients in the championship recipe. Multi-faceted wings and playmakers are being used in excessive amounts. Teams require wings that will not have their ankles snatched by smaller, quicker players and who cannot have their lunch money taken by hulking bullies.

Danny Ainge may have seen this in the tea leaves back in 2007 when he was one of the few GMs who valued Kevin Durant over Greg Oden.

The Celtics defense revolves around quickness and toughness on the perimeter. This is exemplified by Marcus Smart slithering or bullying his way through screens, or him, Rozier, and Brown anticipating then picking off passes. Their agility and strength allows them to be in an aggressive denial position which makes their suffocating defense possible.

On the interior, Al Horford has shown an ability to shutdown bigs and guard perimeter players in spurts. Aron Baynes is an immovable wall either stopping a driver dead in his tracks or drawing a charge. Daniel Theis, the Bundesliga defensive player of the year and the Celtics’ most natural shot blocker, has not been able to leverage his abilities to gain more playing time over Horford and Baynes.

Shot blocking is not a priority for the league’s most stingy defense, and without a premier shot-blocker the Celtics have developed a scheme that holds everyone accountable for their matchup.

The construction of their roster allows them to minimize mismatches. When a player is beat or help is required the Celtics do not need an all-world shot blocker to put out the fire, because usually a Celtic is only beaten by half a step.

Currently, Bamba does not fit the profile; he is a break in case of emergency piece. The Celtics’ methodology is to prevent the emergencies with swarming wings.

Although Boston is flush with talented and young wings, they should not pass up an opportunity to add to their treasure trove. If Michael Porter Junior is the offensive talent he is hyped up to be and is healthy, or if Luka Doncic is still on the board, they are the better choices when considering the new direction of the NBA. The potential they add is so much harder to find and more useful for winning in this NBA.