The Celtics have a loaded Front Court. Wait, What? Poll.

[sofutomygaha]

We have THREE full bench rotations but only 1-2 starters (and our best one usually comes off the bench).

I wonder if we're going to see some kind of running press style with hockey lines for a little while. Literally the only player we have who isn't suited to it is Sullinger.

[ThaPreacher]

I see a bunch of guys I'd be thrilled to have coming off the bench.

Great thing about this is effort! Got to think these guys will be giving maximum effort on their short time on the floor!

[knuckleballer]

They don't have any all stars, but they have too many guys who deserve playing time.  They need to make a trade to thin out the front court. I'm sure Danny is working on it.

[Hardwood Harry]

 A nice Mix of Veterans and youth and seemingly everyone has talent and different skills to bring to the table. Still no dominant seven foot center on the team, but it's getting harder to complain now. Stevens has real options at his disposal, and we can play a variety of ways with all these options and skill sets.
 
 Amir, Zeller, Mickey, Kelly Olynyk
 David Lee, Sulllinger, Jerebko, Perry Jones

 That's up two eight NBA rotation Bigs to pick and choose from. I like how this is taking form.

First, let's take out Mickey, who will likely be buried at the end of the bench this year, and Perry Jones, who is far more likely to play SF.

So at the PF / C spots there's Amir, Zeller, Olynyk, Lee, Sullinger and Jerebko. There's certainly a lot of flexibility there, a lot of fouls to give and a lot of different strengths (and weaknesses). There's scoring, rebounding, defense, energy...Brad will be able to create match up problems with many teams.

The major struggle is how to divide the minutes. There's only 96 minutes for these 6 guys. There are simply not enough minutes to go around. Even a guy like Jerebko is used to getting 15mpg. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, especially if a guy like Sullinger comes into camp  slim and motivated enough and takes that "next step". Or if a guy like Lee finds the fountain of youth and can recreate his 18/9 form from two years ago.

Stevens is a Defense 1st coach. Mickey will DEFINITELY earn minutes as the season goes on. Splinters will not be poking this kid arse for long!

[biggs]

Um, our "loaded" rotation is non-existant. A bunch of undersized PF's and Zeller are not a "Loaded Front Court." Call me when we get a 7 footer; and don't tell me the league is evolving to small ball. Last year was a fluke. I don't think GS even makes the finals next year, nor do we make the playoffs, if your thinking of emulating those shenanigans.

Loaded? Ummm, please pass that $#!+

What team were you watching?

Edit- sorry, that was kind of mean. I'm just tired of the excitement of certain fans that think they're in good hands with this ownership and team.

They are in good hands.

Disagree with the moves all you want, but you really can't deny that the Celtics are one of the model organizations in the NBA as far as the front office, culture and coaching staff go.

Say what you will about Ainge, but it's not really up for debate that he's one of the best GM's in basketball. Id MUCH rather have Ainge, Stevens and Co over a vast majority of what the other teams have.

I don't have a problem with Danny, it's the ownership I have a bone to pick with. They pushed for the Isaiah trade, which launched us into a territory that makes them money, but will never give us a championship. LA/MIN/MIL all have better cores than us moving forward, and L.A only started the "rebuild" to load up on trade bait; and even LA, with a better hand than us couldn't land Cousins with trade bait, nor could they land a free agent with a more desirable location than us.

But, at least LA has two lottery picks moving forward. We have 1 and "experience." Oh yeah, a "loaded front court."   

I wish I could see through your green kool-aid colored glasses. Have you plugged into the matrix perhaps?

And to your point- yes, obviously we are in better hands than many organizations in the league, but not able to reach the top. That is the literal definition of NBA purgatory. Just good enough to make $ for the owners (playoffs in a weak East) and just bad enough to never make the finals. You are looking at the Thib's Bulls 2.0, only we're still waiting for not only our alpha dog (Rose/#1pick), but also our diamond in the rough with a mid lottery pick in Butler. Oh yeah, they had Noah in his prime too.

Just think-injuries aside, CHI could never win with that squad and that coach, and it took them years to rebuild that core.

Can you say that our team will ever even scratch the surface of that CHI team that has never won with the assetts we have?

I cannot.

So, to continue along with your mantra: at least we're not Charlotte.

[colincb]

Um, our "loaded" rotation is non-existant. A bunch of undersized PF's and Zeller are not a "Loaded Front Court." Call me when we get a 7 footer; and don't tell me the league is evolving to small ball. Last year was a fluke. I don't think GS even makes the finals next year, nor do we make the playoffs, if your thinking of emulating those shenanigans.

Loaded? Ummm, please pass that $#!+

What team were you watching?

Edit- sorry, that was kind of mean. I'm just tired of the excitement of certain fans that think they're in good hands with this ownership and team.

One hit and you calmed right down. Don't Bogart it.

[Guardian of The Truth]

"That is the literal definition of NBA purgatory. Just good enough to make $ for the owners (playoffs in a weak East) and just bad enough to never make the finals."

Thanks for the reality check.  Watching the Summer League and seeing the roster evolve, I was starting to get excited about the Celtics again.  Now I am depressed.  Mediocrity is the worst state to be in.

[Tr1boy]

Zeller , sully and turner sb traded asap

I rather open a roster spot for Holmes and give  mickey, hunter, rozier some min on the court

[biggs]

"That is the literal definition of NBA purgatory. Just good enough to make $ for the owners (playoffs in a weak East) and just bad enough to never make the finals."

Thanks for the reality check.  Watching the Summer League and seeing the roster evolve, I was starting to get excited about the Celtics again.  Now I am depressed.  Mediocrity is the worst state to be in.

Ha! Sorry to be all doom and gloom, (if that's not sarcasm) 

I do like this team and I think they're moving in the right direction, I just think we kind of jumped the gun on our rebuild.

And I apologize to all cbloggers, I've been very pessimistic lately.

To try and be positive- I think that our best hope is for one of our draft picks to emerge into a star.  It's just less likely with the picks we have.

[biggs]

 "One hit and you calmed right down. Don't Bogart it."

 

[Evantime34]

"That is the literal definition of NBA purgatory. Just good enough to make $ for the owners (playoffs in a weak East) and just bad enough to never make the finals."

Thanks for the reality check.  Watching the Summer League and seeing the roster evolve, I was starting to get excited about the Celtics again.  Now I am depressed.  Mediocrity is the worst state to be in.

NBA purgatory is similar to real life purgatory in that you are trapped there and can't go anywhere else. With a slew of draft picks and young players I don't think purgatory applies to the Celtics.

In my mind purgatory is something you get when your team has maxed out its potential but not a championship contender and has no way to get better. The C's have a lot of avenues for getting better.

These days everyone wants to say a team is treadmill or a purgatory team if they are a low playoff seed. It is only purgatory if you are a low playoff seed with no possible ways to get better, that isn't the case for the C's.