Celtics Depth Chart 2021-2022 season

[nickagneta]

I am going to try and present this another way.  First eliminate the obvious or easy:

Smart and Pritchard will share 48 PG minutes (Probably Smart 32, Pritchard 16)
Horford and RWilliams will share 48 Center minutes (Probably 24/24)

That leaves 144 minutes for the wings, swings, power forwards, whatever you want to call them.  From this 144 minutes, the following is pretty obvious:

Tatum 36, Brown 36, and Richardson 24 minutes.  That is 96 minutes leaving just 48 minutes.  These are the 48 minutes that are in question.  These 48 minutes will be shared by the following (in no particular order)

Parker
GWilliams
Nesmith
Langford

That is on average 12 each.  I suspect it will vary from game to game.  Whether Richardson starts, Parker, Nesmith, doesn't matter, the minutes are going to work out the same.  Richardson will play starter minutes (24 or more), Parker likely won't.  I actually think match ups will force Parker and GWilliams to play more like 16 min per game, leaving less for Nesmith and Langford.  There will be injuries also that will vary the distribution.

But as far as positional depth, it is how I presented it in my earlier post.  Jabari Parker is a PF.  Jason Tatum is a SF.  Nesmith is a SF, Langford a SG.  As sad as this is, Jabari Parker is the best player on the Celtics that plays the position of PF.  Richardson by position is the second best SG behind Brown.  So on a depth chart that is sorted by position, he goes in as the second SG.  The coach can decide to play both Brown and Richardson at the same time but that does not change what their natural position is.  You are just choosing to play with two SGs.

The bottom line is that Parker and GWilliams, two PFs, will play likely 24-32 minutes combined and they are not very good.  If we had a better PF to play those minutes, the team would be better off for it.

First, I think the Jay's will be held more to 34-35
 MPG, so there will be a few more MPG for the 2-4 positions. Also, don't forget that due to injuries and games off, the MPG numbers could be 2-3 more minutes per game higher for almost everyone but the Jay's and Smart.

So I see plenty of opportunity for Nesmith, Romeo, Timelord, Nesmith and Grant to develop.

[RodyTur10]

I'd probably start Nesmith. I reckon we could have a use for an off-ball specialist alongside the Jays. I mean, the Nets have Joe Harris, the Bucks had PJ Tucker, the Suns have two 3+D (s)wings in Bridges and Crowder, the Jazz have Bojan Bogdanovic, Ingles and Royce O'Neale (all of them are perfectly suited to play off the ball), the Heat already had Duncan Robinson and they added PJ Tucker, the Hawks have Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic. I could go on and on...

Start Nesmith. Bring JRich off the bench as a shot creator/swiss army knife/do-it-all type of player for our second unit.

PG: Smart - Pritchard - Dunn
SG: Brown - Romeo - Edwards
SF: Nesmith - JRich - (Hauser)
PF: Tatum - Jabari - Grant
C: Horford - Timelord - Kanter - Bruno

Starting Nesmith and using Richardson as a 6th man makes a lot of sense. It would help provide more shooting around the Jays and give a stronger vet presence on the bench. However, that decision will be an interesting flex point for Udoka. Richardson is obviously the more established player and is in a contract year. Starting usually matters to NBA guys as a status thing. I'll be interested to see how Udoka approaches that starting 5 decision as it will be a first indicator of how willing he is to define roles with vets.

Another way to get some veteran presence on the bench unit would be starting Timelord and bringing Horford off the bench.

However, if you start Timelord, Smart, and Richardson around the Jays, the shooting/spacing is probably unacceptable. So that begs the question: would Udoka consider a younger starting lineup of Smart-Nesmith-Brown-Tatum-Timelord with Pritchard-Richardson-Langford-Horford as primary bench unit (with one of Tatum/Brown often anchoring the second unit)?

Honestly, those lineups might be my favorite skill-set combos. Nesmith's role as a spot up shooter is simplified with the starters. Timelord would provide pressure on the rim with rolling and verticality.

Meanwhile, Richardson and Horford would add vet stability to 2nd unit. Horford would play against backup Cs a bit more to save his legs. Horford and Pritchard provide two shooters that can play off ball more, allowing Richardson and Langford to play on ball more.

I like the way you are trying to balance the units. No idea whether our new coach will have such a 'Spurs' approach or more traditional. One player you're forgetting to mention is Kanter, he will definitely be in the rotation. However as we saw 2 years ago he needs a another big to help on defense.

Smart (28) / Pritchard (20) /  Edwards
Brown (32) / Langford (16) / Dunn
Nesmith (20) / Richardson (28) / G.Williams
Tatum (32) / Kanter (16) / Parker
Timelord (24) / Horford (24) / Fernando

If Parker stays I can definitely see him make consistent minutes as almost always someone is out with injury. Interesting whether Dunn comes, I could see him take over Langford's role.
Fernando was a draft binkie of mine, but hard to see him getting lots of opportunities.
I've given up on Edwards and G.Williams.

[Who]

Looking at these depth charts highlights how ugly this team's roster is

G: Smart, Pritchard, Dunn
G: Josh Richardson, Romeo, Carsen
F: Jaylen, Nesmith,
F: Tatum, Grant Williams, Jabari
C: Horford, Rob Williams, Kanter, Bruno Fernando

So I like the starting five. Five solid starters.

However, the bench is a train wreck. I count 3 players we can count on night in night out and that is being optimistic since 2 of those players are Pritchard and Nesmith. The 3rd being the injury prone Rob Williams. That is 8 guys we have that we can rely on for minutes next season.

I like Kanter as a 3rd stringer. He is reliable but we can't play him much with Horford or Rob Williams. So his minutes are limited.

Out of the rest of the roster, I do not consider Carsen Edwards, Grant Williams, Jabari Parker or Bruno Fernandes to be NBA level players. I am not convinced Romeo is either. He plays good D but he is a trainwreck on offense and right now is a large net negative for the team and that may not change.

That leaves Kris Dunn as a possible reliable 3rd string guard and he is extremely injury prone.

This bench is a train wreck made up of largely unproven semi-reliable talent, a whole bunch of non-NBA level players and a couple of highly injury prone players. This bench is shaping up to be a disaster similar to last season.

[Celtics4ever]

F: Tatum, Grant Williams, Jabari

If Jabari is on the team, he is better option than Grant on offense and can rebound. 

[Vermont Green]

However, the bench is a train wreck. I count 3 players we can count on night in night out and that is being optimistic since 2 of those players are Pritchard and Nesmith. The 3rd being the injury prone Rob Williams. That is 8 guys we have that we can rely on for minutes next season.

I think we have 6 players that are worthy of starter level minutes (to me, that means around 24 min or more).  The lower 2 or 3 of these are definitely fringe for this level at best, but let's start with that.

Tatum
Brown
Smart
Richardson
Horford
RWilliams

Those 6 are not well balanced but that is what we got.  To me, the next tier or the bench tier are those that probably will or should play more like 12-18 minutes (this is just an average or a baseline, it of course will vary if there are injuries or whatever).   All of these players have some questions.  I am hopeful that all of them will be "fine" but I don't think you can expect all that much from them.

Pritchard
Nesmith
Langford
Parker
GWilliams

The rest to me are the deep bench, reserved for blowouts or emergency situations where there are multiple injuries or foul trouble.  I have Kanter in the lower tier but he may be able to bump us.  Maybe Dunn too.  But at this point, I don't expect it.

Kanter
Dunn
Edwards
Fernando

To me, the issue is clear.  We don't have even one true PF in the group that should be playing starter minutes and even in the group that is expected to play regular bench minutes, our PF options are very questionable.  I know that no team has a perfectly balanced roster but for each position or role, you like to have a starter, a regular bench, a deep bench.   Our center position is passible with Horford, RWilliams, Kanter.  Our PF is weak.  We have no starter level PF and our bench PFs are Parker and GWilliams.  PG and wing look pretty good both in terms of a legitimate starter and depth.

It is like the Patriots last year with not real starting level Tight End.  They still put 11 players on the field, someone lined up at tight end, but usually it was 4 or 5 receivers and 1 or 2 backs or other combinations that allowed us to play without a tight end (much like the Celtics are forced to play without a PF).  A 5 receiver set is fine sometimes but it is better to have a good TE.  Then you can play 5 receivers when you want to but can also play a TE (or 2) when you want/need to.

[Goldstar88]

Updated Depth Chart

Smart/Schröder-Pritchard-Dunn
Richardson-Nesmith-Smart-Dunn
Brown-Langford-Smart
Tatum-Parker-Bruno
Horford-Timelord-Bruno

So will Smart or Schröder start? What does this mean for Pritchard, G-league? Yam should stay overseas for another year. Have been pleasantly surprised with Bruno, he moves really well and seems athletic enough to play both the 4/5. Depth chart doesn’t seem so bad now.

[jay]

So who is the main 9 man rotation?

Schröder
Pritchard
Smart
Richardson
Brown
Nesmith
Tatum
Horford
Williams

Outside looking in: Grant, Romeo, Kanter, Dunn

Probably on bench: Fernando, Edwards 

[gouki88]

I'd roll with:

Schroder / Pritchard / Dunn
Smart / Richardson / Langford
Brown / Nesmith
Tatum / Parker
Horford / Timelord / Kanter

Richardson and Langford can play some minutes at SF. Probably still need a forward.

[tstorey_97]

So who is the main 9 man rotation?

Schröder
Pritchard
Smart
Richardson
Brown
Nesmith
Tatum
Horford
Williams

Outside looking in: Grant, Romeo, Kanter, Dunn

Probably on bench: Fernando, Edwards

Right now, I think that you've got it. See what Stevens does this week.

[slamtheking]

So who is the main 9 man rotation?

Schröder
Pritchard
Smart
Richardson
Brown
Nesmith
Tatum
Horford
Williams

Outside looking in: Grant, Romeo, Kanter, Dunn

Probably on bench: Fernando, Edwards

Right now, I think that you've got it. See what Stevens does this week.

yup, that's probably the core rotation and the deeper rotation/situational pieces.

[tstorey_97]

This is what was discussed by the espn announcing team on my feed tonight from the Suns SL game.

Schroder wasn't promised the starting PG minutes.

I think he took the small money because he WILL be the starting point guard and the team STILL has way too many guards.

[Ed Monix]

So who is the main 9 man rotation?

Schröder
Pritchard
Smart
Richardson
Brown
Nesmith
Tatum
Horford
Williams

Outside looking in: Grant, Parker, Romeo, Kanter, Dunn

Probably on bench: Fernando, Edwards

According to Spotrac, the Celtics are $6,608,558 in the Luxury Tax and I have heard multiple reports that Dunn may be moved on and I'd say Parker & Fernando may be cut or traded as well.

[Goldstar88]

I'd roll with:

Schroder / Pritchard / Dunn
Smart / Richardson / Langford
Brown / Nesmith
Tatum / Parker
Horford / Timelord / Kanter

Richardson and Langford can play some minutes at SF. Probably still need a forward.

But if Smart isn't playing the point that means he’s going to be shooting more...I was actually hoping he would be the starting PG for that reason. Schröder isn’t a very good shooter either. Really not liking Parker as the first PF off the bench. Better than a Grant, though.

[gouki88]

I'd roll with:

Schroder / Pritchard / Dunn
Smart / Richardson / Langford
Brown / Nesmith
Tatum / Parker
Horford / Timelord / Kanter

Richardson and Langford can play some minutes at SF. Probably still need a forward.

But if Smart isn't playing the point that means he’s going to be shooting more...I was actually hoping he would be the starting PG for that reason. Schröder isn’t a very good shooter either. Really not liking Parker as the first PF off the bench. Better than a Grant, though.

I hate the lack of dribble penetration with Smart as the starting point guard, and I think with the Jays and Horford opening up more looks for Schroder he can return to that 38.5% we saw in OKC. I don't know that Smart will necessarily be shooting more because he's playing SG - in 18-19 he played SG and didn't shoot too often, but was at pretty decent efficiency. That role, next to a guard who can get to the hole at will, is what I envision for Smart in that lineup.

[Ed Monix]

IMO this is how Celtics management views their roster depth rotations:

Guards: Smart, Schroder, Pritchard, Edwards

Wings: Tatum, Brown, Richardson, Nesmith, Langford

Bigs: Horford, Williams III, Willams, Kanter