I think that Vincent Poirier needs a fair opportunity to show what can he do to help the team.We are talking about a 7'1 center with good mobility and who was the leading rebounder in the Euroleague.
Well, he is injured and still expected out for several more weeks. Also, he has shown to be clearly inferior to Theis, Kanter and Robert Williams so, not sure he is even deserving of minutes
Again ,How can you say he is inferior than the other centers if he doesn't play ? First you have to give him a fair time of play( not 2 minutes of garbage time )Then you can judge if he is good or not.I can stand to see Grant Williams playing 20 minutes and grabbing 2 rebounds ,while Poirier is on sitting on the bench,Grant Williams is not a center,and anybody can see that.
I can say that because:
1. In every minute he has played in this season and preseason he has looked completely lost defensively and vastly inferior to Theis, Kanter and Williams on defense. Also, all three have shown that they have more to offer offensively than Poirier.
2. The coaches have almost never given Poirier any meaningful rotation minutes. Stevens has even decided that an ultra small lineup with Grant Williams, a rookie, at center is better than what Poirier, who has the size of a more "normal" center, can provide. So the coaching staff feels there are 4 guys ahead of Poirier in the center rotation. Unlike some, I trust this coaching staffs player evaluations and when and how to use players. I am not one to call for some end of bench player to get minutes simply because I need to see more video on a player to come to the same conclusion as the coaching staff that the player deserves to not get minutes.
3. I have seen bunches of vids of Poirier from his time in Europe and even over there he showed next to no offensive talent(other than dunking) and limited upside as a player. I can feel confident saying that once Poirier's Celtic contract is over I think he will head back to Europe because he just doesn't look or seem like an NBA talent.
Your point number 2 validates my point...2 The coaches have almost never given Poirier any meaningful rotation minutes.That is exactly what I am saying and by the way you are wrong because I have seen Poirier playing 6 minutes and grabbing 5 rebounds with 3 assists and 2 blocks and a plus 10.Grant Williams will need at least 4 games to get 5 rebounds.Stevens and his staff love to have new players on the bench and we have the examples of Jaylen Brown,Robert Williams, Brad Wanamaker and even Daniel Theis.If he is such a bad player that even doesn't decerve an opportunity why they tried to bring him last year and sign him to a 2 year contract, nobody gives 2 plus millions and a 2 year contract and more important a roster spot to a lousy player.
I don't know how the coaches deciding that Poirier isn't better than Theis, Kanter, Robert Wiliiams and Grant Williams validates your point. He doesn't get rotational minutes because the coaches, who saw him all summer, at every practice, all preseason and in season have determined he isn't good enough to get those minutes.
As I said, I do not need for the coaches to play players that haven't earned minutes because they are not good enough, simply to prove to me or the fanbase that their determination is correct. But apparently, you do. Well, that isn't happening.
You also seem fixated on rebounding. Well, the Celtics are a top ten rebounding team in both total rebounding percentage and offensive rebounding percentage. It's not like plugging in Poirier is going to propel the Celtics into a much better rebounding team.
And though Grant Williams might not be a good rebounder he still provides excellent passing, excellent defensive versatility, very good overall defense, great ball handling and what looks like, the ability to stretch the floor and hit threes. That us why he gets minutes, because as an actual basketball player, Grant Williams is the much better player.
Also, you realize that a 2 year $5 million guarantee is nothing in the NBA and $1-2 million a year contracts are very normal for players that are the 14th or 15th players in the rotation, right?