Time to talk about the bench guys!

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Two guys I'm keeping an eye on:

Chuma Okeke from the Magic
Precious Achiuwa from the Raptors

Both guys have about 4 guys ahead of them in their team's rotation. Both are in a contract year wanting to prove something. Neither has been able to earn consistent minutes. Both show some promise as a versatile 4 with high energy.

I'm not seeing many others that I'm excited about that fit in that TPE.

[jay]

Precious Achiuwa is a good one. I think Nick Richards would be good. Maybe Dwight Powell?

[jay]

I really like the idea of trading Pritchard, Hauser, and Blake (or Kornet) for Alex Caruso. Would a couple of 2nds make it work? I really can't tell what Chicago is doing.

Caruso would be a great 7th man and an upgrade over Pritchard for defense. Plus Svi might be a Hauser replacement anyway.

A 4 man bench of Al (4/5) Brissett (3/4), Caruso (1/2), and then go sign Bullock (2/3) isn't bad.

Then all these guys like Walsh, Svi, Lamar Stevens, and Gabriel are the deep bench.

[cman88]

Our bench is pretty mediocre.

Not sure who we have who can score. Unless our plan is to always of 2 of Jrue/brown/Tatum/KP on the floor at all times.

Maybe Hauser/Pritchard step up. I expect some trade deadline moves imo

[jpotter33]

Our bench is pretty mediocre.

Not sure who we have who can score. Unless our plan is to always of 2 of Jrue/brown/Tatum/KP on the floor at all times.

Maybe Hauser/Pritchard step up. I expect some trade deadline moves imo

There's absolutely no reason why there should ever be less than two of those guys on the floor at a time when all are healthy.

That was the thing about the Warriors with KD and the others in their prime. For me what made them so unstoppable wasn't necessarily when they were all playing together, but the fact that they could legitimately have 2-3 All Stars playing at all times during a game. There was no drop off at all, as with one to two of the stars sitting it allowed the playing stars to get more attention and touches.

That's what I'm most excited about. We've been elite when Tatum has been playing but atrocious when Tatum sits the last few years. That shouldn't be a problem this year when we can have two legitimate offensive options on the floor at all times.

[jay]

I really like having 4 out of our top 6 guys in at all times. Rotate that 5th spot between (insert 6'7" guy for the situation)

Need defense? Put Lamar Stevens in

Need shooting?  Hauser

Need a ball handler?  Banton

Need a small ball 4?  Brissett

Need someone who can do a little of everything?  Walsh

Obviously they will start and end the games with 5 starters. And start the 2nd half that way.  But in the middle sections of the game, might not be a bad strategy

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I really like having 4 out of our top 6 guys in at all times. Rotate that 5th spot between (insert 6'7" guy for the situation)

Need defense? Put Lamar Stevens in

Need shooting?  Hauser

Need a ball handler?  Banton

Need a small ball 4?  Brissett

Need someone who can do a little of everything?  Walsh

Obviously they will start and end the games with 5 starters. And start the 2nd half that way.  But in the middle sections of the game, might not be a bad strategy

I definitely agree with this. We have good bench versatility. I'd just like one more guy with a bit of size.

[Kuberski33]

I really like having 4 out of our top 6 guys in at all times. Rotate that 5th spot between (insert 6'7" guy for the situation)

Need defense? Put Lamar Stevens in

Need shooting?  Hauser

Need a ball handler?  Banton

Need a small ball 4?  Brissett

Need someone who can do a little of everything?  Walsh

Obviously they will start and end the games with 5 starters. And start the 2nd half that way.  But in the middle sections of the game, might not be a bad strategy

Getting through the regular season with a healthy core is the prime directive and given Joe's tendency to overuse guys last year I think we have every reason to be concerned. If Horford's playing 30 minutes most nights like he did last season, that's cause for firing Joe right there.

They've got enough scoring. Joe would be wise to use a 9 man rotation the first half of the season with a 10th guy getting minutes on nights on nights where core players are getting rested.

Once we get to mid February trim that down to 8 + 1.  Who the extra guys are, we'll have to find out. None of them can really be counted on save for maybe Brissett who I'm hoping will be a regular.

[Roy H.]

Here's a list of all the centers in the NBA, by salary:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/2023-24/cap-hit/center/

And, all of the power forwards:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/2023-24/cap-hit/power-forward/

We've got a trade exception worth $6.2 million.  Happy shopping.

[ozgod]

Our bench is pretty mediocre.

Not sure who we have who can score. Unless our plan is to always of 2 of Jrue/brown/Tatum/KP on the floor at all times.

Maybe Hauser/Pritchard step up. I expect some trade deadline moves imo

There's absolutely no reason why there should ever be less than two of those guys on the floor at a time when all are healthy.

That was the thing about the Warriors with KD and the others in their prime. For me what made them so unstoppable wasn't necessarily when they were all playing together, but the fact that they could legitimately have 2-3 All Stars playing at all times during a game. There was no drop off at all, as with one to two of the stars sitting it allowed the playing stars to get more attention and touches.

That's what I'm most excited about. We've been elite when Tatum has been playing but atrocious when Tatum sits the last few years. That shouldn't be a problem this year when we can have two legitimate offensive options on the floor at all times.

This is really what it is. We're not going to have a situation where we'll have hockey subs where we pull off all the starters and replace them with all bench...our top six is all starter caliber. Then we have a talent drop off with Payton and Hauser, then again after that with Brissett, Mykhailiuk, Kornet, Banton, Walsh...but ideally we would only have 3 of those guys in with 2 all star caliber players at any given time.

[Celtics2021]

Here's a list of all the centers in the NBA, by salary:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/2023-24/cap-hit/center/

And, all of the power forwards:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/2023-24/cap-hit/power-forward/

We've got a trade exception worth $6.2 million.  Happy shopping.

I’ve been asking for Kenrich Williams for years.  Now that Brad has given you Jrue, maybe he can get me Kenrich.

[Roy H.]

Here's a list of all the centers in the NBA, by salary:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/2023-24/cap-hit/center/

And, all of the power forwards:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/rankings/2023-24/cap-hit/power-forward/

We've got a trade exception worth $6.2 million.  Happy shopping.

I’ve been asking for Kenrich Williams for years.  Now that Brad has given you Jrue, maybe he can get me Kenrich.

Or, he can spend that money on my two remaining binkies, Andre Iguodala and DeMarcus Cousins.  Lol.

[wdleehi]

Do the Celtics wait until they see how their depth play before deciding which way to go using the TPE and draft picks?   

I think a lot of their depth is fine for regular season depth, but a problem in the playoffs.

[PAOBoston]

Do the Celtics wait until they see how their depth play before deciding which way to go using the TPE and draft picks?   

I think a lot of their depth is fine for regular season depth, but a problem in the playoffs.

Feel like this is the way to go to start off the season at least. From the group they have signed, you figure one of those guys pans out at least.

[Roy H.]

Do the Celtics wait until they see how their depth play before deciding which way to go using the TPE and draft picks?   

I think a lot of their depth is fine for regular season depth, but a problem in the playoffs.

I can see them waiting through the early regular season.

I don't want them to wait *too* long, though.  We can't aggregate anybody we use the TPE on until two months after the trade.  So, if we hope to bundle whoever we get from the TPE + some minimum deals, we should do it relatively early.