Will the Celtics again have too many mouths to feed?

[RodyTur10]

One of the biggest problems of this season was lack of chemistry. And that was mostly caused by not having a clear hierarchy. Multiple players thought they needed more minutes/shots than they got, which caused friction. Especially the starting line-up worked a lot better when Smart was inserted (a low volume guy) and even great when Baynes got in there as well.

From this season main rotation players as Smart, Brown, Tatum and Hayward will be back. I think it's safe to assume that this group wants more opportunities, with Brown and Tatum developing and Hayward (hopefully) returning to the offensive threat like he was in Utah.

Apart from character, Irving and Walker are very similar players. Horford is more or less replaced by Kanter, who takes more shots per minute. Then of the bench we don't have Rozier anymore, but Edwards and Langford are both shoot-first guys as well. Baynes minutes will be filled by Robert Williams and/or Theis, so that won't make much difference. Then we only have Morris left, who's minutes will go to either Grant Williams or Semi Ojeleye, so that frees up some shots.

But overall I think we'll have the same problem next year that there are too many players who thrive in a high-volume role. Brown and Tatum will be relieved that Irving is gone, but will soon learn that Walker main skill isn't supplying them good shots either. Let's assume that Hayward gets back on track, then the question becomes if there's actually room for his role to be expanded.

A lot of people assume we're going to start Walker/Brown/Tatum/Hayward/Kanter. That looks like a bad fit to me, even if we ignore the potential massive defensive problems.

[PhoSita]

Not unless they find that they really can't afford to have Hayward and/or Tatum spend significant minutes at the 4.


As it stands, one of those guys will need to play a good number of minutes every night at the 4.

[KeepBigAl]

I wouldnt worry about that for these reasons...

-Kemba doesn't need to dominate the ball much as Kyrie

-A black hole (Morris) and a chucker (Rozier) are gone

-We don't need to worry about rookies - they'll get only what they earn

[Phantom255x]

I'm honestly getting sick of this notion that we're "taking shots away" from folks by adding players.

Why don't we just renounce the entire team so the Jays + Hayward can each take 40 shots a game 

Replacing Rozier & Kyrie with Walker + Langford IMO will be great for team chemistry going forward, and while losing Horford is tough, replacing him with Kanter, hopefully Theis + another big should still keep our frontcourt somewhat formidable.

Also, part of the reason Kemba had a high usage was because, lets be real, he was basically Charlotte's ONLY true scoring threat for a long time (besides those few years with prime-Batum).

[GreenCoffeeBean]

Hopefully we have mouths that eat wins rather than personal stats

[jambr380]

I wouldnt worry about that for these reasons...

-Kemba doesn't need to dominate the ball much as Kyrie

-A black hole (Morris) and a chucker (Rozier) are gone

-We don't need to worry about rookies - they'll get only what they earn

This is a really succinct post that says it all - TP. Don't get me wrong, Morris and Rozier has their moments, but their departures will open up more shots for the guys that were already here (Hayward, Tatum, Brown).

If anything, I would say roles will be much better defined this season and that should help alleviate a lot of the uneasiness with guys wanting to get theirs.

[ozgod]

I would hope that everyone learned from last year, that nobody is entitled to anything, nothing is given and everything is earned. Including shot attempts, minutes and opportunities. And by helping your teammates be successful you yourself become successful. If they learn that this year then last year was at least useful as a learning experience. If they haven't learned, then ship them out ASAP.

[rondofan1255]

-A black hole (Morris) and a chucker (Rozier) are gone

This. TP.

[LilRip]

I wouldnt worry about that for these reasons...

-Kemba doesn't need to dominate the ball much as Kyrie

-A black hole (Morris) and a chucker (Rozier) are gone

-We don't need to worry about rookies - they'll get only what they earn

Historically, isn’t Kemba more ball dominant than Kyrie?

Agreed on the other 2 points though.

My biggest concern is Brown wanting his max contract and playing like it.

[jambr380]

I would hope that everyone learned from last year, that nobody is entitled to anything, nothing is given and everything is earned. Including shot attempts, minutes and opportunities. And by helping your teammates be successful you yourself become successful. If they learn that this year then last year was at least useful as a learning experience. If they haven't learned, then ship them out ASAP.

I don't think this will be a problem at all and seems much more specific to last year's team. The young guys were fresh off of a game 7 ECF appearance and couldn't handle a recent All-Star in Hayward getting any minutes ahead of them or Kyrie taking back control of the wheel. I absolutely hate how Kyrie handled the situation, but the whole thing was doomed from the start. We might be looking at a team of Kyrie, AD, Horford, Brown, and Hayward right now if the Bucks had just knocked off the Cs in the 1st round.

Developing players get minutes, players coming off injuries get minutes. It's the way of the world in the NBA - just not the way of the 2018-19 Celtics apparently.

[hpantazo]

I wouldnt worry about that for these reasons...

-Kemba doesn't need to dominate the ball much as Kyrie

-A black hole (Morris) and a chucker (Rozier) are gone

-We don't need to worry about rookies - they'll get only what they earn

We also lost one of our top 4 offensive threats in Horford, although he kept the ball moving a lot too

[mctyson]

-A black hole (Morris) and a chucker (Rozier) are gone

This. TP.

[dreamgreen]

-A black hole (Morris) and a chucker (Rozier) are gone

This. TP.

Don't forget Mr. pound the air out of the ball KI!

Honestly it could be a problem again. This is where Brad has to define roles better and have good substitution patterns.

[PAOBoston]

Morris/Rozier/Horford combined for roughly 30 shots a game. Those will be redistributed between Tatum/Hayward/Brown/Kanter.

[action781]

The way I look at it...

Our starting 5 changes from Kyrie / Brown / Tatum / Morris / Horford to Kemba / Brown / Tatum / Hayward / Kanter.  So lets see the change in fga for the PG, PF, and C positions.

Last season, those players averaged in fga/100:
Kyrie 27.0, Kemba 28.6
Morris 19.6, Hayward 16.4
Kanter 20.1, Horford 17.7

I think Kemba won't have a problem dipping down to 27.0 since he seems to want to not be relied upon so heavily.  Perhaps even less since it seems Kyrie's 27.0 is higher usage than CBS was drawing up for him.

But aside from that, it looks like there still could be a too many mouths to feed problem.  Unless CBS mixes up the lineups a lot to not have a first string and second string that way each of these players get mixed in with bench lineups where we currently have lower usage players.