If we are going after a disgruntled soon to be free agent I'd much rather have them target Reggie Jackson than Kanter.
Why? We need size and Kanter is younger and has more upside.
We need lots of things. In terms of size, we need shot blocking not just a big guy and Kanter doesn't provide shot blocking.
Reggie can score by driving the ball to the hoop, which is our biggest need next to rim protection.
We are bad at scoring in isolation, scoring with the ball handler in pick and roll and scoring efficiently in transition. Reggie should be able to help in all those categories.
Why do we need shot blocking? The Miami Heat won back to back titles with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade as their team leading shot blockers (1.4 and 1.3 per game). Even the Spurs had Duncan at 1.9 and like no one else at 1. Tyson Chandler 1.1 blocks per game during Dallas title season. Lakers must have had elite shot blockers, right? Wrong? Pau at 1.7 and Bynum at 1.8 were their leaders for both titles. Our Celtics must have had elite shot blockers, nope, Perkins led the way at 1.5 per game. The 06-07 Spurs and Duncan at 2.4 a game was the last time a champion had its regular season leader above 2 a game (he was 5th that year).
Shot blocking isn't very important as stats for title contenders as stats go. What you do need are interior defenders, something Boston does not have and of which Kanter is not, but a shot blocker is significantly overrated. That said Kanter is a legit 7 footer with a decent offensive and rebounding game and would be worth something like Bass and the Clippers pick.
So I made the mistake of typing shot blocking when I meant rim protection. You are right we don't need shot blocking we need people who can prevent players from scoring in the paint on us.
Citing two examples of championship teams who won the title without great rim protection doesn't mean we don't need rim protection. (also I'd have to check the numbers but I'm pretty sure both those teams defended the rim without blocking a ton of shots or at least created enough turnovers to make up for a lack of rim protection).
Our biggest needs are rim protection and shot creation with the dribble, please let me know what you think our biggest needs are rather than just citing two examples of teams that (potentially) succeeded without being good at those things.
two examples? The last time a team won a championship with a top 5 shot blocker or even someone above 2 a game was almost a decade ago. There was a decent little string prior to that, but the Bulls won 6 championships without a shot blocker and with limited interior defense (aside from Rodman). Prior to the Bulls were the Bad Boy Pistons, no real good shot blockers on those teams (though a ton of interior toughness and defense). The last two Showtime Lakers, no good shot blockers as Kareem was no longer that guy. Even Parish and McHale weren't exactly plus shot blockers. Defenders, yes, shot blockers no. I'm not even sure most of those teams had guys you would call rim protectors. Great interior defenders, sure, rim protectors not so much.
You win titles when you have better players. Trying to find players that fit some mold of what you think wins titles, especially when that isn't true historically, is just silly. Duncan, Shaq, and Hakeem were great players, that is why their teams won titles, it isn't because Duncan, Shaq, and Hakeem were great shot blockers.