I have a couple of questions/thoughts with how Ime shakes everything out with the rotation and schemes that are kind of all inter-connected.
1. 5th starter and trickle-down thoughts on rotation:
It appears that Smart/Brown/Tatum/Timelord will start. I still have no idea who Ime will tab as the 5th starter. You can make legitimate arguments for any of Horford/Schroder/Richardson/Nesmith/Romeo/Juancho/Pritchard. That is a crazy 7 players that would not shock me if Ime chose them as a 5th starter. From reading the tea leaves in the preseason, I believe Ime wants to bring Schroder and Richardson off the bench. That still leaves 5 options (Horford/Nesmith/Romeo/Juancho/Pritchard). My hunch is that Ime will start the season bigger with Horford or Juancho as he has talked a lot about size, switchability on defense, and taking advantage of size advantages on offense. Personally, I would prefer starting Nesmith or even Pritchard as I think a catch-and-shoot player at the 2 around our core 4 starters is the greatest need. Nesmith ideally could thread the needle between providing off-ball shooting and having enough size to still switch a ton. I will be fascinated to see the choice for that 5th starter, and if Ime actually does commit to one choice for a long time (he says he wants too, but we seem to have a roster where that 5th spot could be very fluid).
2. Opportunities and performance of young players:
In my opinion, we have 7 "veterans" (more than 3 years of experience in the league) that will all be a consistent part of the rotation (Smart/Brown/Tatum/Timelord/Horford/Schroder/Richardson). After that, I view Kanter as a spot rotation player who will pinch-hit in the rotation when Timelord or Horford are out for whatever reason. Juancho is a swing vet -- I could see him as a 5th starter. I could also see him completely out of the rotation.
Then we have our 4 young players who at least have a shot at rotation minutes (Nesmith/Pritchard/Romeo/Grant). I think it's hard to get more than 9 players significant (16+) minutes in an NBA rotation. That means there is only room for 2 of these 4 young players to get rotation minutes. If Juancho is in the rotation, there is only room for 1 young player to get significant rotation minutes. Again, how this competition shakes out will be fascinating to watch. My opinion is that Pritchard is the "best", most productive player right now. However, he is also the hardest fit on defense to pair with other bench players. If he plays with both Schroder and Richardson off the bench, we would be ridiculously small. Honestly, he fits best with "starter" lineups around Smart/Brown/Tatum, but can Ime find Pritchard those minutes if he doesn't actually start?
Nesmith is the easiest two-way fit on the roster with the vets (due to his shooting potential, off-ball skillset, and size to switch defensively) and would likely be my choice for a 5th starter if I were coaching.
Romeo would appear to be in direct competition with Nesmith/Pritchard. Again, I think there is time for 2 of them but not all 3. While Pritchard is the best offensive fit around the vets, Romeo is the best defensive fit, and Nesmith could be that best 2-way fit.
Grant has a harder path to rotation minutes in my mind. He would have to not only beat out Juancho at his own position, but he would also have to outplay 2 of Pritchard/Nesmith/Romeo to get into a top 9 rotation. I think his best hope is outplay Juancho to the point where he earns spot minutes or fringe rotation minutes when other players are hurt or resting.