Celtics Roster Rotation (7/1)

[boscel33]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

I think so also

but it can't be like this past season

no more experiments.  Hayward needs to be back to at least 85-90 percent of his old self. Otherwise come off the bench again

C - Kanter
F- Hayward
F- Tatum
G- Brown
G- Walker

C- Timelord
F- Gwilliams
F- Semi
G- Smart
G- Edwards

Extras

Yabu
Langford
Waters

I don't see Langford as an extra.  I think he get's decent minutes.

[Vermont Green]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

Yeah, saw these proclamations all last season too and then Hayward came off the bench for most of the season.  I am the opposite.  I hate the idea of playing Tatum out of position (he is not a PF and should not be forced to play PF).  If it means Hayward comes of the bench (or Brown or Tatum off the bench) so be it.  I would actually rather have Tatum off the bench than starting at PF (assuming Hayward plays so well he beats him out).  We could ruin Tatum by trying to force him to be a PF.

I am going to go another direction here; Morris is still available to us through Bird rights.  He is probably the best PF available to us at this point (I know he is more of a swing but has proven to be a capable starting PF).  I am going to assume we sign Morris and Hayward comes off the bench:

Walker
Brown
Tatum
Morris
Kanter

Smart
Hayward
Semi
Theis
Williams

Yabusele
Rookies
Other min. pick ups

Yes, a step back from Irving and Horford but we have to hope there is enough improvement with Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Smart and others to offset this.  Hard to be overly excited about this team but they will compete and who knows, if Brown and Tatum make leaps and Hayward really comes back, we could be as good as the team that made the ECF just two seasons ago.
 

[dreamgreen]

I am mostly worried about our bench right now.  With Kanter as our starting Center at least we can put out an NBA level starting lineup.  Not so convinced about the bench yet.

If you assume that Smart is the 6th man, you have him and Semi and maybe Theis as the only rotation worthy players right now.  Hopefully we can pick up someone to score off the bench.

Right there man, you nailed it! 8 deep that's it. Sure some guys will get garbage minutes here and there but when you go more than 8 deep you don't have depth, you have bad starters!

[dreamgreen]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

I think so also

but it can't be like this past season

no more experiments.  Hayward needs to be back to at least 85-90 percent of his old self. Otherwise come off the bench again

C - Kanter
F- Hayward
F- Tatum
G- Brown
G- Walker

C- Timelord
F- Gwilliams
F- Semi
G- Smart
G- Edwards

Extras

Yabu
Langford
Waters

I don't see Langford as an extra.  I think he get's decent minutes.

So are you saying Langford is going to be a really good player that Brad will be forced to find minutes for? Because right now I could pencil in every minute of the SG/SF to Brown, Tatum and Hayward than you have to get Smart some of those minutes which will probably come from Hayward playing 10-12 mpg at PF. So there are no free minutes to hand out he's going to have to come out and earn them. Don't get me wrong I'd be giddy if he's the steal of the draft but right now I see him heading to Maine!

[Jiri Welsch]

I don’t think I want Morris, simply because he’s a volume scorer.

I recognize he was our best player in the playoffs against Milwaukee. But with the direction our team wants to head in the next few years it might be in the Celtics’ interest to let him go elsewhere.

[blink]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

Yeah, saw these proclamations all last season too and then Hayward came off the bench for most of the season.  I am the opposite.  I hate the idea of playing Tatum out of position (he is not a PF and should not be forced to play PF).  If it means Hayward comes of the bench (or Brown or Tatum off the bench) so be it.  I would actually rather have Tatum off the bench than starting at PF (assuming Hayward plays so well he beats him out).  We could ruin Tatum by trying to force him to be a PF.

I am going to go another direction here; Morris is still available to us through Bird rights.  He is probably the best PF available to us at this point (I know he is more of a swing but has proven to be a capable starting PF).  I am going to assume we sign Morris and Hayward comes off the bench:

Walker
Brown
Tatum
Morris
Kanter

Smart
Hayward
Semi
Theis
Williams

Yabusele
Rookies
Other min. pick ups

Yes, a step back from Irving and Horford but we have to hope there is enough improvement with Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Smart and others to offset this.  Hard to be overly excited about this team but they will compete and who knows, if Brown and Tatum make leaps and Hayward really comes back, we could be as good as the team that made the ECF just two seasons ago.

Is there any chance that Morris is interested in coming back here?  I guess it depends on what offers he gets.  I haven't seen his name in many rumors.

[seancally]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

Yeah, saw these proclamations all last season too and then Hayward came off the bench for most of the season.  I am the opposite.  I hate the idea of playing Tatum out of position (he is not a PF and should not be forced to play PF).  If it means Hayward comes of the bench (or Brown or Tatum off the bench) so be it.  I would actually rather have Tatum off the bench than starting at PF (assuming Hayward plays so well he beats him out).  We could ruin Tatum by trying to force him to be a PF.

I am going to go another direction here; Morris is still available to us through Bird rights.  He is probably the best PF available to us at this point (I know he is more of a swing but has proven to be a capable starting PF).  I am going to assume we sign Morris and Hayward comes off the bench:

Walker
Brown
Tatum
Morris
Kanter

Smart
Hayward
Semi
Theis
Williams

Yabusele
Rookies
Other min. pick ups

Yes, a step back from Irving and Horford but we have to hope there is enough improvement with Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Smart and others to offset this.  Hard to be overly excited about this team but they will compete and who knows, if Brown and Tatum make leaps and Hayward really comes back, we could be as good as the team that made the ECF just two seasons ago.

Tatum, Brown, Hayward all play the 3. So you play three small forwards, a point guard and a big. What's wrong with that?

[Th3M2n]

That’s Stevens game.  He doesn’t know what this mysterious position called a “PF” is nor does he care that we keep trying to figure out which one of his “wings” will play it

[moiso]

Compared with how I felt a week ago I'm absolutely thrilled with this team.  Everything was going bad- losing two allstars, unsexy draft picks, a lot of negativity.  Now with additions of Walker and Kanter things are looking up.  We could be about as good as we were last year.  The atmosphere should be happier, Walker and Kanter are excellent additions, and the young guys should be able to thrive this year due to some player subtractions.  Hayward should be better... I'm now really looking forward to the next season rather than kind of dreading it.

[heyvik]

That’s Stevens game.  He doesn’t know what this mysterious position called a “PF” is nor does he care that we keep trying to figure out which one of his “wings” will play it

Not true...Morris was the protypical productive PF for the C's last year. Horford started some games as PF, but moved to C after Baynes went to the Bench.

In the 2019-20 iteration of the Celtics, we don't have someone like Morris. A legit 3 point threat AND can legit play and bang with the big boys.
Having a SF play PF is fools gold and will get Stevens nowhere.

[slamtheking]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

I think so also

but it can't be like this past season

no more experiments.  Hayward needs to be back to at least 85-90 percent of his old self. Otherwise come off the bench again

C - Kanter
F- Hayward
F- Tatum
G- Brown
G- Walker

C- Timelord
F- Gwilliams
F- Semi
G- Smart
G- Edwards

Extras

Yabu
Langford
Waters

not that I'm into minute assignments but in light of the current roster, I fully expect Hayward, Tatum, Brown and Smart to eat all the minutes at SF, 90% of the minutes at SG and probably 60-75% of the minutes at PF.  Kanter and Kemba will take up likely over 30 minutes apiece at C and PG respectively.  I don't see much time for anyone off the bench not named Smart --  at least not based on the current roster.  G-Will and Timelord might get some time but not likely if  Theis resigns here.  Edwards might get a sniff at a guard spot as might Langford but I suspect that unless an injury occurs, those 2 will barely get any time as rookies.

[jambr380]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

Yeah, saw these proclamations all last season too and then Hayward came off the bench for most of the season.  I am the opposite.  I hate the idea of playing Tatum out of position (he is not a PF and should not be forced to play PF).  If it means Hayward comes of the bench (or Brown or Tatum off the bench) so be it.  I would actually rather have Tatum off the bench than starting at PF (assuming Hayward plays so well he beats him out).  We could ruin Tatum by trying to force him to be a PF.

I am going to go another direction here; Morris is still available to us through Bird rights.  He is probably the best PF available to us at this point (I know he is more of a swing but has proven to be a capable starting PF).  I am going to assume we sign Morris and Hayward comes off the bench:

Walker
Brown
Tatum
Morris
Kanter

Smart
Hayward
Semi
Theis
Williams

Yabusele
Rookies
Other min. pick ups

Yes, a step back from Irving and Horford but we have to hope there is enough improvement with Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Smart and others to offset this.  Hard to be overly excited about this team but they will compete and who knows, if Brown and Tatum make leaps and Hayward really comes back, we could be as good as the team that made the ECF just two seasons ago.

Is there any chance that Morris is interested in coming back here?  I guess it depends on what offers he gets.  I haven't seen his name in many rumors.

Not unless he wants to take the minimum. His cap hold needs to come off the books to sign Kemba. The same would have happened with Rozier if we weren't doing a s&t with him to CHA.

Everybody needs to realize that barring some miraculous turn of events where a s&t with Horford or Irving happens, all we will have to fill out the roster in the FA market is the vet minimum.

[Th3M2n]

Stevens has 3 positions

Ball handlers
Wings
Bigs

he mixes and matches assignments based on matchups.  He does not play a “PF” and hasn’t for the past 2 years or so

[Vermont Green]

Tatum, Brown, Hayward all play the 3. So you play three small forwards, a point guard and a big. What's wrong with that?

Based on what I saw last season, plenty, and that was with Horford as the lone big.  Now the lone big would be Kanter.  I know I am in the minority but I think we need two bigs or at a minimum, a true Big-Wing swing like Morris.

I think part of the problem is that you don't need 3 offensive minded wings on the court with Walker.  There is a diminishing return.  The third wing is redundant and exposes other defensive and rebounding weaknesses.  I can't be more specific than that.  It is just the way that I see it.

[blink]

You don't pay 31 million for Hayward to be a 6th man. He will start.

Yeah, saw these proclamations all last season too and then Hayward came off the bench for most of the season.  I am the opposite.  I hate the idea of playing Tatum out of position (he is not a PF and should not be forced to play PF).  If it means Hayward comes of the bench (or Brown or Tatum off the bench) so be it.  I would actually rather have Tatum off the bench than starting at PF (assuming Hayward plays so well he beats him out).  We could ruin Tatum by trying to force him to be a PF.

I am going to go another direction here; Morris is still available to us through Bird rights.  He is probably the best PF available to us at this point (I know he is more of a swing but has proven to be a capable starting PF).  I am going to assume we sign Morris and Hayward comes off the bench:

Walker
Brown
Tatum
Morris
Kanter

Smart
Hayward
Semi
Theis
Williams

Yabusele
Rookies
Other min. pick ups

Yes, a step back from Irving and Horford but we have to hope there is enough improvement with Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Smart and others to offset this.  Hard to be overly excited about this team but they will compete and who knows, if Brown and Tatum make leaps and Hayward really comes back, we could be as good as the team that made the ECF just two seasons ago.

Is there any chance that Morris is interested in coming back here?  I guess it depends on what offers he gets.  I haven't seen his name in many rumors.

Not unless he wants to take the minimum. His cap hold needs to come off the books to sign Kemba. The same would have happened with Rozier if we weren't doing a s&t with him to CHA.

Everybody needs to realize that barring some miraculous turn of events where a s&t with Horford or Irving happens, all we will have to fill out the roster in the FA market is the vet minimum.

ok gotcha.  probably wouldn't have been a good fit either way, but still odd that no MM news out there.

MM isn't taking the min to come back to boston