Why is Nesmith glued to the bench?

[Csfan1984]

I feel Teague and Semi are ahead of him in rotation. Currently I see things as starters then depth of players as ...

Walker, JB, JT, Theis, TT

6th Smart
7th TL
8th Pritchard (3rd guard)
9th Semi (main backup wing)
10th Teague  (4th guard)

If Teague and Semi are playing well we probably won't see any Nesmith or Langford. Once Smart is back there will be a lot more DNPs

[Sophomore]

I feel Teague and Semi are ahead of him in rotation. Currently I see things as starters then depth of players as ...

Walker, JB, JT, Theis, TT

6th Smart
7th TL
8th Pritchard (3rd guard)
9th Semi (main backup wing)
10th Teague  (4th guard)

If Teague and Semi are playing well we probably won't see any Nesmith or Langford. Once Smart is back there will be a lot more DNPs

And then there’s Langford...

[Csfan1984]

I feel Teague and Semi are ahead of him in rotation. Currently I see things as starters then depth of players as ...

Walker, JB, JT, Theis, TT

6th Smart
7th TL
8th Pritchard (3rd guard)
9th Semi (main backup wing)
10th Teague  (4th guard)

If Teague and Semi are playing well we probably won't see any Nesmith or Langford. Once Smart is back there will be a lot more DNPs

And then there’s Langford...

I stopped at 10 because that is usually about as far a team would go before big again, which is GW at 11. If I had to slot specificly it would be a huge tie at 12 depending on need.

11 GW
12a Green (SG/SF)
12b Langford (SG)
12c Edwards (PG/SG)
12d Nesmith (SF)
16 Tacko (6th big and only a center)
17 Waters (5th PG option)

[wdleehi]

I am most curious as to what the rotation will look like after the all-star break when there will be some time for practice and returning players.


I also think that because of the record and schedule, Stevens has ended the experimental portion of the season and is looking at who is both playing well and know their roles.   

[nickagneta]

I am most curious as to what the rotation will look like after the all-star break when there will be some time for practice and returning players.


I also think that because of the record and schedule, Stevens has ended the experimental portion of the season and is looking at who is both playing well and know their roles.

A very astute observation and most likely, right on the money. TP.

[Vermont Green]

I am most curious as to what the rotation will look like after the all-star break when there will be some time for practice and returning players.


I also think that because of the record and schedule, Stevens has ended the experimental portion of the season and is looking at who is both playing well and know their roles.

This could be true.  The rotation from last night (Clippers game) could well be an indicator.  Starters were:

Walker-Brown-Tatum-Theis-Thompson

and the bench was Ojeleye, RWilliams, Teague, and Pritchard.  GWilliams, Nesmith and some others didn't get on the court.  Smart will bump Teague when he is back and there may be room for Langford or a Vet addition but it does seem we are going to be seeing less of GWilliams, Nesmith, Green and so on.

I see plenty of promise for Nesmith but he is not quite ready for prime time.

[td450]

I feel Teague and Semi are ahead of him in rotation. Currently I see things as starters then depth of players as ...

Walker, JB, JT, Theis, TT

6th Smart
7th TL
8th Pritchard (3rd guard)
9th Semi (main backup wing)
10th Teague  (4th guard)

If Teague and Semi are playing well we probably won't see any Nesmith or Langford. Once Smart is back there will be a lot more DNPs

I understand that Semi has the strength to cover power forwards, so either you play him or Grant Williams some minutes. I prefer Williams because I haven't given up on him evolving, but Semi is fully baked, and is never going to amount to much.

Playing Teague after it's clear that he's cooked makes no sense whatsoever.

It seems to me that it is critically important for the C's to push the development of Langford and Nesmith, even if it has some early costs. You can give Ainge and Stevens the benefit of the doubt on some of their decisions, but Teague, Javonte Green and Semi are not going to be the future, and they haven't separated themselves on the court at all.

Not playing Nesmith is hard to accept. They better not make the same mistake with Langford.

[GreenWarrior]

Why is Nesmith glued to the bench?

Because the pressure is on and we're limited in the players we can trust and stevens is going to go with guys he knows what he's going to get out of them.


Which goes back to the fact that we should not have been drafting players the past couple seasons.

 Danny strayed from the plan, probably overplayed his hand by wanting way too much in return and now we're sunk because this specific reason.

Is it a fireable offense? I don't know, but I just can't believe he'd be so stupid after all that work in acquiring all those assets, even going so far as to refer to all those draft picks as assets and not pull the trigger???

I don't know if he needs to be fired but he needs to go sit in a corner for a day or two and think about what he's done... Maybe go to bed with no supper.

A great woman once said - "sometimes when you lose you actually win".

[nickagneta]

Why is Nesmith glued to the bench?

Because the pressure is on and we're limited in the players we can trust and stevens is going to go with guys he knows what he's going to get out of them.


Which goes back to the fact that we should not have been drafting players the past couple seasons.

 Danny strayed from the plan, probably overplayed his hand by wanting way too much in return and now we're sunk because this specific reason.

Is it a fireable offense? I don't know, but I just can't believe he'd be so stupid after all that work in acquiring all those assets, even going so far as to refer to all those draft picks as assets and not pull the trigger???

I don't know if he needs to be fired but he needs to go sit in a corner for a day or two and think about what he's done... Maybe go to bed with no supper.

A great woman once said - "sometimes when you lose you actually win".

It takes two to make a trade. It sometimes takes three in sign and trades when you include the player has the power in those types of trades.

No one traded out of the top 15 picks last year. So there was no consolidation trade to get a higher pick. That seems to be a common critique of Ainge, why he didn't consolidate picks to get higher picks, but those types of trades do not happen very often as teams would rather have one top 10 pick than 3 picks from 14 and lower

The same thing happened the year he grabbed Yabusele and Zizic. Danny didn't want those picks but couldn't find takers and had a roster crunch due to the number of guaranteed contracts on the team.

I have no problem being critical of picks and trades Danny does make, but it's hard to criticize trades he didn't make as we are clueless if:

A.) They were even available to make

Prime example: the 2020 draft consolidation trade to move up from #14. No one trade down in the top 15. The trade most likely simply was not there.

B.) We don't know if they will even work.

Prime examples of B: Hayward was that offseason's best free agent and Danny landed him. Great signing. 5 minutes into the first season with Hayward, he snaps his leg and suddenly that signing looks terrible given the team lost prime Gordo for 2 years.

Another. Danny pulls off the trade for Kyrie. Trade looks brilliant, especially that first year. Then Kyrie returned to being head case Kyrie and then 2018-19 happens, Kyrie leaves in free agency and the trade looks terrible.

[cltc5]

Why is Nesmith glued to the bench?

Because the pressure is on and we're limited in the players we can trust and stevens is going to go with guys he knows what he's going to get out of them.


Which goes back to the fact that we should not have been drafting players the past couple seasons.

 Danny strayed from the plan, probably overplayed his hand by wanting way too much in return and now we're sunk because this specific reason.

Is it a fireable offense? I don't know, but I just can't believe he'd be so stupid after all that work in acquiring all those assets, even going so far as to refer to all those draft picks as assets and not pull the trigger???

I don't know if he needs to be fired but he needs to go sit in a corner for a day or two and think about what he's done... Maybe go to bed with no supper.

A great woman once said - "sometimes when you lose you actually win".

So why play Pritchard?  Is he setting the world on fire with his play?  Why draft nesmith at 14 if you’re not gonna play him.  Do we not need a 3 and d guy?  Has his d not been good?  Is brad not this great developer of talent? 

[Vermont Green]

I know this has all been hashed and rehashed but except for this year, every rookie who was not recovering from some injury had summer league and preseason to get ready for their rookie year.  Nesmith had neither.  In spite of this, he has had his opportunities and in those opportunities, he has shown promise but also a lack of confidence or general comfort.  He is tense and uncertain on offense.

Next season, he will likely get a full summer league and a full preseason.  That is going to make a huge difference.  I actually hope he doesn't play that much more this season as we make our push for the playoffs.  It will be a positive for the team if we can play Smart for example instead.  I also hope we get a nice vet wing or swing to push Nesmith further down the depth chart.  And Langford may also emerge as a better option.

Let's just chalk this up as a red shirt COVID season for him.  We saw enough of him to get a sense of his ability but this is not the time or place to try to develop him further.   This is the time to get your core unit playing together and making a push for playoff positioning.

[Vermont Green]

So why play Pritchard? 

Pritchard has clearly shown more.  Pritchard has played better than Teague for example.  It could be that Pritchard is 23 and Nesmith is only 21, but for whatever reason, Pritchard has been a solid back up PG.  When Nesmith is 23, I predict is will be playing regularly.

[wdleehi]

Why is Nesmith glued to the bench?

Because the pressure is on and we're limited in the players we can trust and stevens is going to go with guys he knows what he's going to get out of them.


Which goes back to the fact that we should not have been drafting players the past couple seasons.

 Danny strayed from the plan, probably overplayed his hand by wanting way too much in return and now we're sunk because this specific reason.

Is it a fireable offense? I don't know, but I just can't believe he'd be so stupid after all that work in acquiring all those assets, even going so far as to refer to all those draft picks as assets and not pull the trigger???

I don't know if he needs to be fired but he needs to go sit in a corner for a day or two and think about what he's done... Maybe go to bed with no supper.

A great woman once said - "sometimes when you lose you actually win".

So why play Pritchard?  Is he setting the world on fire with his play?  Why draft nesmith at 14 if you’re not gonna play him.  Do we not need a 3 and d guy?  Has his d not been good?  Is brad not this great developer of talent?

Because he showed he knew his role and has filled it well enough.   


And since when is every draft pick ready to play?   

[GreenWarrior]

Why is Nesmith glued to the bench?

Because the pressure is on and we're limited in the players we can trust and stevens is going to go with guys he knows what he's going to get out of them.


Which goes back to the fact that we should not have been drafting players the past couple seasons.

 Danny strayed from the plan, probably overplayed his hand by wanting way too much in return and now we're sunk because this specific reason.

Is it a fireable offense? I don't know, but I just can't believe he'd be so stupid after all that work in acquiring all those assets, even going so far as to refer to all those draft picks as assets and not pull the trigger???

I don't know if he needs to be fired but he needs to go sit in a corner for a day or two and think about what he's done... Maybe go to bed with no supper.

A great woman once said - "sometimes when you lose you actually win".

So why play Pritchard?  Is he setting the world on fire with his play?  Why draft nesmith at 14 if you’re not gonna play him.  Do we not need a 3 and d guy?  Has his d not been good?  Is brad not this great developer of talent?

Limited with the players we have available, and from what we've heard pritchard has shown since training camp that he has shown to be trustworthy at the very least.

Again both of these guys shouldn't even be an option, we shouldn't be developing players, we should not have been participating in the past 2 drafts. This team was in a position to concern themselves with post season positioning, now we're not.

[GreenWarrior]

Why is Nesmith glued to the bench?

Because the pressure is on and we're limited in the players we can trust and stevens is going to go with guys he knows what he's going to get out of them.


Which goes back to the fact that we should not have been drafting players the past couple seasons.

 Danny strayed from the plan, probably overplayed his hand by wanting way too much in return and now we're sunk because this specific reason.

Is it a fireable offense? I don't know, but I just can't believe he'd be so stupid after all that work in acquiring all those assets, even going so far as to refer to all those draft picks as assets and not pull the trigger???

I don't know if he needs to be fired but he needs to go sit in a corner for a day or two and think about what he's done... Maybe go to bed with no supper.

A great woman once said - "sometimes when you lose you actually win".

It takes two to make a trade. It sometimes takes three in sign and trades when you include the player has the power in those types of trades.

No one traded out of the top 15 picks last year. So there was no consolidation trade to get a higher pick. That seems to be a common critique of Ainge, why he didn't consolidate picks to get higher picks, but those types of trades do not happen very often as teams would rather have one top 10 pick than 3 picks from 14 and lower

The same thing happened the year he grabbed Yabusele and Zizic. Danny didn't want those picks but couldn't find takers and had a roster crunch due to the number of guaranteed contracts on the team.

I have no problem being critical of picks and trades Danny does make, but it's hard to criticize trades he didn't make as we are clueless if:

A.) They were even available to make

Prime example: the 2020 draft consolidation trade to move up from #14. No one trade down in the top 15. The trade most likely simply was not there.

B.) We don't know if they will even work.

Prime examples of B: Hayward was that offseason's best free agent and Danny landed him. Great signing. 5 minutes into the first season with Hayward, he snaps his leg and suddenly that signing looks terrible given the team lost prime Gordo for 2 years.

Another. Danny pulls off the trade for Kyrie. Trade looks brilliant, especially that first year. Then Kyrie returned to being head case Kyrie and then 2018-19 happens, Kyrie leaves in free agency and the trade looks terrible.

Ok I think you're missing the point.

We should not have been participating in the past 2 drafts. Weather it was moving up or not. We should not be concerning ourselves with so and so panning out - we're past that point.

If that meant at worst rolling the picks over every yr. then so be it.

This started when we didn't move rozier at the deadline. We should have been looking to move him and any number of picks for either veterans or 2030 draft picks.

The very last thing we should be doing at this point is drafting guys to play them.

Danny painted us into a corner and now the only option is to rely on the draft and the players we pick.

Bad, bad, bad roster and asset management.