What does your ideal second unit look like next season?

[gpap]

I am starting to lean towards Poirier starting to better balance out the lineup.

so starters are:

Kemba
Smart
Brown
Tatum
Poirier.

Gives you 3 scorers, 3 defenders, 2 role players who score opportunistically.

Primary bench is

edwards
Langford
Hayward
Williams
Kanter

Scoring from all positions, well balanced between vets and Rookies, Hayward runs the show off the bench.


Closing lineups will use Kemba, Kanter and 3 of the best performers for the night between Smart/Brown/Tatum and Hayward.

I also would expect to see some end of game offensive lineups of Kemba/Smart/Brown/Hayward/Tatum

I just think Kanter should start due to the fact he's a proven, successful NBA player and Poirier will be totally new to the league. It will take him a while to get adjusted and get used to the game. I wouldn't even be surprised if RWill is used before Poirier. Truth be told, I don't know why Danny keeps going after these guys in the Euro league, where the results have been mixed at best, but that's another story for another day.

Probably, just because they're cheap

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Smart as the 2nd unit floor general, also as a closer with whatever other starters are hot
Carsen getting some run as SG,
G Will, and Ojeleye dominating the wing minutes
Time Lord and Poirier partnering Theis in the frontcourt depending on matchups

[fairweatherfan]

Hayward and Kanter first off the bench. Smart starts but splits time and runs a lot with bench lineups.

Next off the bench is Edwards, G Williams, and whichever of R Williams and Poirier isn't starting. Spot stuff for Langford, Theis, Semi, and probably in that order.  Tacko comes in to defend late-game inbounds 

[drogbagarnett]

Again, for better balance between scoring and defense, youth and experience, floor spacing and scoring in the paint, and better playing time distribution, here is my ideal bench and starting line-ups :

Starters:

Kemba
Brown
Tatum
Hayward
Poirier

- 4 3pt shooters to spread the floor.
- 1 pick n roll monster to dominate the open paint.
- 4 scorers that can go get you a basket.
- 3 defenders guarding opp. best guard (Brown), wing (Tatum), Center (Poirier)

Bench:

Edwards
Smart
Semi
Theis
Kanter

[Celtics4ever]

Having a couple rookies is normal. Having 5 rookies on the 15 man roster, 2 more rookies on 2 way contracts, 2 sophomore players that played a combined 620 minutes last year and 2 3rd year players that played limited minutes in their two years is not normal. It means you have one of the least experienced benches in the league in this or any year.

But we won't have five rookies on the roster at one time.   Most will be in the G league, I wager so I think we will be fine.   

[nickagneta]

Having a couple rookies is normal. Having 5 rookies on the 15 man roster, 2 more rookies on 2 way contracts, 2 sophomore players that played a combined 620 minutes last year and 2 3rd year players that played limited minutes in their two years is not normal. It means you have one of the least experienced benches in the league in this or any year.

But we won't have five rookies on the roster at one time.   Most will be in the G league, I wager so I think we will be fine.

Yes, we will have 5 rookies on the roster. Yes, 12 players are active every night but that doesn't mean those other 3 guys are not on the roster. Here is your roster after the starters:

Smart - 6th year
Theis - 3rd year
Semi - 3rd year
Timelord -2nd year(almost no rookie PT)
Wanamaker -2nd year
Poirier - rookie
Langford - rookie
GWilliams - rookie
Edwards - rookie
Fall or Green - rookie

Two Year contracts
Strus - rookie
Waters - rookie

I know everyone wants to be positive and excited over the prospect of youth, but that's a crap ton of youth. Of the 17 players that would be eligible to play next year, this team will have 12 players with 2 years of NBA experience or less, 7 players with no NBA experience.

I hope all that youth pans out. Heck, I hope one or two of them pan out. But given where they were chosen or signed from, expecting them to be any different in their first couple years to any of these guys is setting yourself up for disappointment:

James Young
Guerschon Yabusele
RJ Hunter
Semi Ojeleye
Ante Zizic
Terry Rozier
Kelly Olynyk
Fab Melo
Jared Sullinger
Jordan Mickey
Avery Bradley
JaJuan Johnson.

[fairweatherfan]

Having a couple rookies is normal. Having 5 rookies on the 15 man roster, 2 more rookies on 2 way contracts, 2 sophomore players that played a combined 620 minutes last year and 2 3rd year players that played limited minutes in their two years is not normal. It means you have one of the least experienced benches in the league in this or any year.

But we won't have five rookies on the roster at one time.   Most will be in the G league, I wager so I think we will be fine.

Yes, we will have 5 rookies on the roster. Yes, 12 players are active every night but that doesn't mean those other 3 guys are not on the roster. Here is your roster after the starters:

Smart - 6th year
Theis - 3rd year
Semi - 3rd year
Timelord -2nd year(almost no rookie PT)
Wanamaker -2nd year
Poirier - rookie
Langford - rookie
GWilliams - rookie
Edwards - rookie
Fall or Green - rookie

Two Year contracts
Strus - rookie
Waters - rookie

I know everyone wants to be positive and excited over the prospect of youth, but that's a crap ton of youth. Of the 17 players that would be eligible to play next year, this team will have 12 players with 2 years of NBA experience or less, 7 players with no NBA experience.

Sure but counterpoint, here's the team that went to the 2018 ECF:

Tatum - Rookie
Theis - Rookie
Semi - Rookie
Nader - Rookie
Bird - Rookie
Yabu - Rookie
Brown - 2nd year
Rozier - 3rd year
Smart - 4th year
Larkin - 4th year
Baynes - 6th year
Morris - 7th year
Monroe - 8th year
Horford - 11th year

Not a lot of experience there either. Banking on inexperienced guys is probably not going to translate into a deep playoff run but we've just seen it happen.

[nickagneta]

Having a couple rookies is normal. Having 5 rookies on the 15 man roster, 2 more rookies on 2 way contracts, 2 sophomore players that played a combined 620 minutes last year and 2 3rd year players that played limited minutes in their two years is not normal. It means you have one of the least experienced benches in the league in this or any year.

But we won't have five rookies on the roster at one time.   Most will be in the G league, I wager so I think we will be fine.

Yes, we will have 5 rookies on the roster. Yes, 12 players are active every night but that doesn't mean those other 3 guys are not on the roster. Here is your roster after the starters:

Smart - 6th year
Theis - 3rd year
Semi - 3rd year
Timelord -2nd year(almost no rookie PT)
Wanamaker -2nd year
Poirier - rookie
Langford - rookie
GWilliams - rookie
Edwards - rookie
Fall or Green - rookie

Two Year contracts
Strus - rookie
Waters - rookie

I know everyone wants to be positive and excited over the prospect of youth, but that's a crap ton of youth. Of the 17 players that would be eligible to play next year, this team will have 12 players with 2 years of NBA experience or less, 7 players with no NBA experience.

Sure but counterpoint, here's the team that went to the 2018 ECF:

Tatum - Rookie
Theis - Rookie
Semi - Rookie
Nader - Rookie
Bird - Rookie
Yabu - Rookie
Brown - 2nd year
Rozier - 3rd year
Smart - 4th year
Larkin - 4th year
Baynes - 6th year
Morris - 7th year
Monroe - 8th year
Horford - 11th year

Not a lot of experience there either. Banking on inexperienced guys is probably not going to translate into a deep playoff run but we've just seen it happen.

Counter to your counterpoint.... that team had just 8 players with 2 or less years experience, which is a ton of youth. This team has 12 of those players. Also, of the 6 players that were rookies or 2nd year players on that team, two were #3 draft picks. On this team there are 9 of those players and the highest drafted player was chosen 14th in a bad draft.

[Birdman]

Our 2nd unit may be one of the worst in NBA

[tstorey_97]

I am starting to lean towards Poirier starting to better balance out the lineup.

so starters are:

Kemba
Smart
Brown
Tatum
Poirier.

Gives you 3 scorers, 3 defenders, 2 role players who score opportunistically.

Primary bench is

edwards
Langford
Hayward
Williams
Kanter

Scoring from all positions, well balanced between vets and Rookies, Hayward runs the show off the bench.


Closing lineups will use Kemba, Kanter and 3 of the best performers for the night between Smart/Brown/Tatum and Hayward.

I also would expect to see some end of game offensive lineups of Kemba/Smart/Brown/Hayward/Tatum

TP to silky-

My guess is Stevens won't start Hayward, who, in the long run, will get as many minutes as any starter.

[Somebody]

Any lineup that has Hayward on it. His skills would be immense for our bench's performance.

[Birdman]

Poirier our starting center?? we are in big trouble

[jambr380]

Calling Poirier a rookie and Wanamaker a 2nd year player seems a little disingenuous. If Danny thought we were signing pure 'rookies' in those two, he wouldn't have done it. They are expected to perform from the very beginning - albeit, probably at a lower-end vet rotational level. Theis should be included in this conversation as well, but not too many people are harping on him since he is now in his 3rd year.

Guys like Grant and Edwards also aren't your prototypical rookies. They may not have major roles early on (or ever), but one can see that their skills are easily translatable to the NBA game - at least in some way.

So sure, Langford and TL might not be ready for prime time, but that's about it...and they are worth taking the time to work with. Strus, Waters, and Green (26 y/o btw, no way he makes the roster, right?) shouldn't be discussed - they are just two-way players - every team has rookies in those positions. I imagine people will stop freaking out when we finally pick up a vet for that 15th roster spot. That might not be until after the deadline, though.

[nickagneta]

Calling Poirier a rookie and Wanamaker a 2nd year player seems a little disingenuous. If Danny thought we were signing pure 'rookies' in those two, he wouldn't have done it. They are expected to perform from the very beginning - albeit, probably at a lower-end vet rotational level. Theis should be included in this conversation as well, but not too many people are harping on him since he is now in his 3rd year.

Guys like Grant and Edwards also aren't your prototypical rookies. They may not have major roles early on (or ever), but one can see that their skills are easily translatable to the NBA game - at least in some way.

So sure, Langford and TL might not be ready for prime time, but that's about it...and they are worth taking the time to work with. Strus, Waters, and Green (26 y/o btw, no way he makes the roster, right?) shouldn't be discussed - they are just two-way players - every team has rookies in those positions. I imagine people will stop freaking out when we finally pick up a vet for that 15th roster spot. That might not be until after the deadline, though.

High level NCAA basketball is better
basketball quality and basketball competition than most pro leagues around the world. Most pro leagues outside the US play schedules only as long as the NCAA season. If I am not counting high level NCAA basketball as NBA competition, then neither is pro basketball from most other league around the world.

If I am calling college players like Edwards, Langford and Grant Williams, who played high level, top 20 NCAA basketball in the Big Ten and the ACC, rookies, then I am calling people who played in pro leagues outside the NBA rookies and 2nd players too.

I mean, some of the leagues that Theis, Poirier and Wanamaker played in early in their pro careers aren't even G League level competition. We certainly don't consider G Leaguers as having NBA equivalent experience. For example, Theis was DPOY in a league in Europe just before getting here. Yet his NBA defense is quite mediocre to just plain not good at times. Tre Waters was a DPOY in the SEC. My guess is his NBA defense would be quite mediocre to just plain not good most of the time.

Sorry, I just do not count pro basketball experience outside the NBA as being any type of equal to NBA play. Pro basketball outside the NBA compares way more favorably to NCAA experience than NBA experience.

And, I just don't believe playing high level NCAA basketball or pro basketball outside the NBA makes you ready to contribute right away once in the NBA.

[mobilija]

Reading thru this thread.... oooof.....we have a log jam at the wing spot, no traditional playmakers, and a bunch of marginal bigs.

Tons of youth to sort out. Gonna have to give them some playing time to develop and pray they can fill a role.

Team will really have to work together off a bunch of movement to create shots or they will turn back into last years squad of iso-junkies.

Some people relying on Porrier to start, others relegating him to 3rd or 4th string center...yikes...that’s a big range of unknown.

It’s gonna be interesting. Stevens best coaching job is gonna need to show up for this to work. Danny might have to pull a rabbit out of his hat too.