Rondo/Bradley vs. Smart/Thornton

[gar]

Training Camp will be interesting with lots of very tight battles at almost every position except perhaps PG. However, when you look at back courts it gets more complicated. Rondo and Bradley have always been undersized and there has been a lack of consistent scoring (shooting) although Bradley has made strides in this area. Enter Smart and Thorton. Smart gives you legit size at either position and Thornton can light it up when he gets hot.

To be honest, I have trouble seeing Rondo/Bradley as the defacto starters. Rondo's defense and scoring are not what they were and Bradley has yet to prove he can be a consistent offensive threat. Throw Evan Turner into the mix and it gets even less clear. I personally am not a big Thornton fan; but both Turner and Thornton has gotten my attention as fantasy assets. Turner for his across the board performance and Thornton for his scoring.

Given the size issue, I don't see Rondo / Bradley as the back court of the future and am wondering how much we will see the two of them on the court together this season. Will be a very interesting October. Can't Wait.

Two on two my money would be on Smart / Thornton.

[Donoghus]

I think you'll see Rondo/Bradley start the season together with Smart being a Sixth Man.  I don't see much PT for Thornton unless the team wants to try and do the pump & dump with him. 

Wouldn't be shocked to see Smart start some games by mid-season, though, taking Bradley's spot. 

[slamtheking]

I don't see Thornton as anything more than roster filler/trade asset.  he's not part of the future.  he might make a good pairing with Smart off the bench this year provided he's not traded sooner.

Thornton as not done well so far in a bench role for other teams.  he'll need to shake that problem if he wants to land a good contract next year otherwise he's looking at partial MLE if he's lucky

[csfansince60s]

I like the Rondo/Thornton and Smart/Bradley combos better, although I think that they are unlikely given how $$$ committed we are to Bradley.

Thornton is a scorer, and Rondo can facilitate Thornton's offense better than Smart can.

With Smart/Bradley, Smart can bring the ball up  since Bradley plays off the ball. That's a good inside (taking it to the hole) threat in Smart and a decent outside threat in Bradley.

With Smart/Bradley, on D, Bradley takes the pg and Smart takes the sg. Smothering D!!

I think those pairings are better balanced both offensively and defensively.

[LooseCannon]

Thornton looks like he deserves MarShon Brooks minutes.

[D.o.s.]

Thornton looks like he deserves MarShon Brooks minutes.

Yeah I think so. My guess is that Rondo and AB will start, with Smart getting 10-15 minutes of playing time.

[Csfan1984]

Thornton and Bass should be traded to playoff teams. Babb cut.
PG- Rondo, Smart, Pressey
SG-AB, Young, CJ, Bogans
SF- Green, Turner, Wallace
PF- Sully, Olynyk
C- Zeller, Anthony,  Vitor

If Young goes to DL for half the year then Turner and Smart can get some minutes at the 2 backing AB.
 

[Fafnir]

Thornton looks like he deserves MarShon Brooks minutes.

Yeah I think so. My guess is that Rondo and AB will start, with Smart getting 10-15 minutes of playing time.

Smart will also have his minutes bounce around a fair amount probably, depending on how he's playing the game or stretch of games based on how Stevens handled Sullinger/Olynyk.

[mmmmm]

As things stand right now, I don't foresee any reality where Rondo & Bradley aren't the starters, barring trade or injury.   They have history that shows them to be a very effective back-court duo that has proven to be successful in the NBA.  They are also very complementary skill-wise on both ends of the court.

I'd expect them to each play on the order of 30-36 minutes (again, barring injury).

That will leave 24-36 minutes at the PG & SG spots for Smart/Thornton/Turner/Pressey/Young/Johnson/Babb/Bogans to all fight over.

Obviously more than likely the last three names won't really be in the picture.   So the fight is really more likely with just Smart, Thornton, Turner, Pressey and maybe Young.

Unless he has a strong training camp and pre-season, I expect Young will likely get at least some time in Maine, which helps alleviate a bit of the crunch.  Plus, if he grows a little, he projects long term at SF.   For now, let's leave him out of the picture (even though he's likely to get SOME big club time at some point).

Smart and Pressey are the only true 'PG' options among those guys while all the others are much better options at SG than Pressey, so by position, you are looking at the following for bench depth:

PG:  Smart, Pressey
SG:  Smart, Thornton, Turner

It should be possible for Smart to end up with the lion's share of those bench minutes, probably about 15 mpg.  That would put him on line for about 1100-1200 minutes, which is very good for a non-starting rookie.   Probably too few to get him ROY consideration though.

Obviously, any injuries or trades could shake things up.

[SHAQATTACK]

Will be interesting to see how the pecking order shapes out.  I see Turner muscling his way past Thornton for the most playing time,

Sure Rondo and AB get the starting guard pair node to begin with....not sure it will last more than 12-15 games.

I m out on limb .....predicting a huge step up or increase in Evan Turners game.....his back is kinda against the wall. IMO......soooo
I'm guessing Rondo and Turner  eventually run together   ...with Smart at PG and Bradley second team SG.

[vjcsmoke]

I feel that Thornton and Bass are trade bait.  They won't be in Boston long.

Personally I feel that a Marcus Smart + Gary Harris backcourt would have been a compelling guard duo for the future, not to mention shutdown.  Harris also has a little more length than Bradley so he could have been a good successor/insurance plan in case Bradley gets hurt.

I really don't see James Young contributing as soon as Harris would.  I'm hoping he realizes his upside but he might be a Gerald Green, ie he won't impact in the NBA until his 2nd or 3rd team.