Torrey Craig: A Defensive Spark for Celtics Bench

The Celtics added Torrey Craig on Thursday, filling their 14th roster spot.

After a quiet trade deadline for the Celtics, Brad Stevens swiftly secured Torrey Craig off the buyout market. The veteran forward plugs a gap in the rotation, finally giving Joe Mazzulla the additional wing depth he’s needed all season.

Craig is viewed as a high-level wing defender and bench 3-and-D guy. He’s made his career off being a two-way threat. Still, Craig is 34 and hasn’t played a minute of basketball in 2025. He’s played 9 games all season and hasn’t looked like he’s anywhere near the top of his game.

The Chicago Bulls will do that to you.

Billy Donovan has been overseeing the slowest pivot toward a rebuild in history — primarily due to multiple unmoveable contracts. It wasn’t until De’Aaron Fox got moved from the Sacramento Kings that the Bulls finally found a taker for Zach LaVine and his overpriced deal.

That was then.

We’re focused on the now.

Craig is walking into a Celtics locker room full of elite talent. A room full of champions. His lack of playing time this season should prepare him for what’s to come.

Truth is, Craig is the 14th guy on the roster. As I said in yesterday’s video post, the hope is that you don’t need to play him too often. Yet, you still need confidence that he can step into a more prominent role if injuries hit. For that reason, Craig is probably the safe choice.

Since joining the NBA in 2017, Craig has taken to the hardwood 441 times and made a further 75 playoff appearances. He’s a proven commodity.

"I give him top two players in the league that defends me the best," DeMar DeRozan told JJ Redick on an old episode of ‘The Old Man & The Three.’

Craig will likely fill a role as a wing-stopper off the bench. The below graph is taken from the Basketball Index, showing Craig’s best defensive roles over the past six years.

The big chunky bar in the middle of the graph is from his 2022-23 season with the Phoenix Suns. Craig started 60 of his 72 games that season; he had a defined defensive role and helped the Suns make the second round of the playoffs, where they lost to the Denver Nuggets — who eventually won the whole shebang.

I would expect Craig to have a similar remit with the Celtics — one defined role on the wing but with a heavier dose of help defense. After all, the Celtics switch frequently, and they like their weakside defenders to dig/stunt or rotate over to provide help. When Boston’s at its best, wings usually pinch around the elbows to deny drives, too.

What’s interesting is that throughout his career, Craig has spent a significant amount of time guarding players that fall into the ‘star’ category. In fact, 30.9% of his entire defensive minutes have come against elite competition, with another 33.5% guarding starting-caliber players.

Here’s the full table of Craig’s defensive matchup allocations.

Last season — when Craig was still playing regularly (53 games) — the Bulls leaned on Craig’s defense when guarding PnR’s. His size, foot speed, ability to change direction and screen navigation were likely part of why Donovan trusted him to deal with primary ball-handlers.

Watch this defensive possession. Craig is guarding Jalen Brunson at the point of attack. He navigates Nikola Vucevic’s screen, stays connected to Brunson’s hips while staying big, and forces Brunson to ‘Nash’ his dribble under the basket before closing the angle and limiting the Knicks standout to a tough, contested look.

This is the type of defense Craig will bring to Boston. Yes, the Celtics have Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown to deal with the Brunsons of the world. Yes, Craig won’t be tasked with guarding opposing teams' best players and will rarely share the floor with them. But, with how the Celtics like to switch and cross-match, having somebody like Craig who can hang when guarding the PnR is a massive improvement for the depth chart.

Here’s another example.

Watch how Craig recovers after losing a step of space between him and Cam Johnson after being run into a screen. Craig quickly closes the gap, gets back into the action and contests Johnson’s shot, getting into his airspace and hindering his release.

You don’t need to be at the point of attack to have that type of impact. Craig’s athleticism means he has a similar upside when closing out to shooters, guarding isolations, or working as a help defender.

Since Oshae Brissett left this summer, the Celtics haven’t had a wing who could check into a game and make a defensive impact. Craig can fill that role. What I think is more valuable, though, is that he can operate as a defensive leader, calling out coverages, directing traffic, and essentially quarterbacking the second unit’s defense if Holiday and White aren’t on the floor.

We saw Craig dictate defensive positioning and coverages a lot last season, often to his own detriment.

Watch the above play and take note of how Craig is directing Chicago’s defense. I think he reads this possession quite well. He sees that Luke Kornet’s slip has beat Andre Drummond, so he rotates over to tag the roll, giving Drummond a chance to get back into the play.

Unfortunately for Craig and the Bulls, the ball found Hauser, who Craig had helped off of when tagging Kornet. From there, the Bulls are behind the eight ball, and last season’s Celtics were surgical in their approach. So, as you would expect, the play ends in a bucket, and Craig is the one who left the space to be exploited.

Defense isn’t an individual exploit. Drummond getting beat on the slip forced Craig to rotate over. If he didn’t tag Kornet, then you have a 7-foot big rolling to the rim — no, thank you. Whether Craig made the right call on this possession is up for debate. He left an elite sharpshooter to tag a third-string big on the roll. Still, I like the activity, the way he was directing his teammates and the tempo of his overall play.

I think adding a veteran wing who excels on the defensive end is smart business. Sure, Craig has declined in recent years, and sure, he’s struggled to earn minutes for the Bulls this season. Nevertheless, he’s not being asked to operate as a defensive anchor or even a primary part of the rotation. He’s coming in as insurance ahead of the stretch run and the postseason. If he ends up earning consistent minutes, then good for him, because that won’t be easy.

So, unless Hauser’s back begins playing up again, and he’s forced into missing games or operating on a minutes restriction, I don’t envision there being a clear path to consistent playing time.

When Craig does get on the court, though, I’ll be expecting his value to shine through on the defensive end. If he can knock down some perimeter shots, attack closeouts, and keep the ball moving in the halfcourt, that’ll be enough to keep me happy.

Of course, if for some reason Craig is called upon to eat significant minutes fora stretch of games, we can put his game under a bigger microscope, especially as we will have some data to work with in terms of how he’s faring on the Celtics roster.

For now, this was a solid pickup for the Celtics. Craig fills a position of need, is on a cost-controlled deal and he doesn’t clog the roster up beyond the current season. Boston still has another open roster spot, but odds are Stevens will take his time filling that — if he chooses to fill it at all.

Some quick sidenotes. Craig’s contract details are yet to be released, but I would assume it’s a veteran minimum deal that’s pro-rated, so it is cheaper than its yearly value. I’ve also avoided using defensive metrics in this piece, largely due to Craig’s limited role this season and the Bulls struggles last year — felt like we would be getting disingenuous numbers unless I looked back multiple years.

How do you feel about Craig’s addition? Let me know in the comments!