Will he count as a roster spot if we sign him even though he'll spend time in the D-League?
If not, I would be willing to let Pressey go for Holmes. He fits the mold of a stretch 4 who could play 3 if needed, so he fills a need. All out effort and a non stop motor. I'd love to have him.
He counts as a roster spot if you sign him to a NBA contract and assign him to the D-League. It's beyond frustrating that people continually ask about such a simple concept.
If you let Pressey go, you still have 12 players under guaranteed contract, 2 first round picks who will have guaranteed contract, and one roster spot to be fought over by Mickey and Holmes and whoever else. In the absence of a trade, Holmes' best shot of making the roster is to play well enough that the Celtics would rather waive Jordan Mickey.
I think some people in this thread do not understand that Holmes is not a pure SF, he's more of an undersized PF who may be capable of playing some minutes at SF, but he may be a bit of a project as a SF. He's not a potential replacement for Evan Turner. He's more of a guy who may let you trade Jae Crowder for something useful at a different position in a couple of years.
I think a pretty strong argument can be made that Holmes is a better prospect than Young (for us versus China/Turkey/Spain).
You can't ignore that Young is on a guaranteed contract, even with the cap going up.
Of course, but if he's waived we pay the cost while opening up a roster spot, correct? I may be wrong, by no means an expert here...
Unless I've missed it, the team has not picked up Young's option for next year yet (they have until October to do so). If Holmes outplays Young (and PJ3 in camp), and looks like the better long-term option, I see no reason to not cut bait on both of them and go with Holmes. If Young is released, he won't be a cap hit next year, and Jones is already an expiring.
Of course, I would be disappointed in Young if he were to be outplayed by Holmes, but the Celtics have a gazillion picks next year anyway -- if Young can't beat out an undrafted rookie for a roster spot this year, he was going to have a tough time when there are a lot more rookies looking for roster spots and playing time. The pick in Young is a sunk cost -- if it doesn't pan out, that's life, and the C's shouldn't make further bad decisions hoping it works out if they know it won't.