Is Stevens forcing more minutes for Nesmith and/or Pritchard?

[Big333223]

I don't think we'll see Pritchard.

I firmly believe this move was to shore up the PG spot with two big PGs who can play defense and facilitate their defensive game-plan. To avoid teams targeting our undersized PGs (Isaiah, Kemba, Schroder, Pritchard).

This was a move to stop Pritchard from playing. Not to open up playing time for him.

At the same time, now there are two larger PGs that Pritchard could play next to and be a shooter.

Agreed. I bet that’s the plan. White and Smart can guard the 2 while Pp guards the other teams PG.

Yeah, that allows Pritchard to do what he does best.

If Nesmith can't get some minutes out of this then he is a lost cause.

[ozgod]

I guess I'm in the minority since everyone is crapping on Romeo, but I think we should have kept Langford and included Nesmith if possible.  Romeo's numbers are improving while Nesmith is going the other way.  Romeo plays much better D, shoots better from 3, can create his own shot more effectively, rebound some....what I am missing?

Probably Popovich came to the same conclusion as you and decided he wanted Romeo and not Nesmith and it wasn't worth it to Brad to argue the point and end up potentially torpedoing the deal.

Also I don't know about Brad forcing minutes on anyone...he could basically just sit down with Ime and tell him his thoughts, but from everything I've observed about Brad I think he respects Ime's right to make his own decisions since he will be held accountable by Brad for his decisions. It would be an interesting performance review at the end of the season when he reviews Ime's performance while forcing his own decisions on him.

[Vermont Green]

I don't think this is about a GM trying to force anything on a coach but the moves are going to result in some rethinking of roles and the core line up.  We traded our back up PG, our back up 2/3 wing, and Langford who had a lesser but some back up role.  We added White (Combo Guard) and Theis (a combo 4/5 big).

Our core 8 was starters plus Schroder, Richardson, GWill, now it looks like it will be starters plus White, GWill, Theis.  I think they will play White at both the point and SG so I am not so sure that this changes much for Pritchard.  Maybe a little more opportunity.

I think there is more question about the back up wing role that Richardson had.  That could be kind of shared between White and GWill but neither is a natural SF and I think that would result in some bad match ups for us.  I think the result will be that Nesmith gets more opportunity in that role.

I think this may actually result in less time for GWill.  Theis should assume that role as back up 4/5 big or he may even start (although I suspect not).  GWill has good versatility which is valuable in a bench player but I don't think he is as good a big as Theis or as good a wing as Nesmith so he may lose out.

[slamtheking]

I guess I'm in the minority since everyone is crapping on Romeo, but I think we should have kept Langford and included Nesmith if possible.  Romeo's numbers are improving while Nesmith is going the other way.  Romeo plays much better D, shoots better from 3, can create his own shot more effectively, rebound some....what I am missing?

I agree. Romeo could fill J Rich's minutes better than Nesmith.  I would not be surprised if Spurs preferred Romeo over Nesmith, but will probably never know.  Neither really earned the right to get a lot of minutes here.

I think Romeo would have been the better one to keep based on his D and his developed 3 point shot (and his ability to drive to the basket from the corner).  kid got his nose dirty on the boards too.   Nesmith hustles but he gets beat on D quite a bit and his 3-point shot is just gone this year.  he was showing some life inside the arc but outside of it, nada.

I have no doubt Romeo's going to look really good playing for the Spurs next year. 

[Surferdad]

I guess I'm in the minority since everyone is crapping on Romeo, but I think we should have kept Langford and included Nesmith if possible.  Romeo's numbers are improving while Nesmith is going the other way.  Romeo plays much better D, shoots better from 3, can create his own shot more effectively, rebound some....what I am missing?

What you are missing is that there's a decision to be made this upcoming off-season on Langford.  Has he earned that $5.6M team option?  Seems kind of doubtful in spite of his decent defensive prowess and he seems to have a better "feel" for the game than Nesmith (my personal opinion). Better rebounder too.  At least with Nesmith you have more time to decide.

Romeo also had a couple of truly awful trips to the FT line in the last couple of games, including an air-ball....didn't help himself there.

[ozgod]

I don't think this is about a GM trying to force anything on a coach but the moves are going to result in some rethinking of roles and the core line up.  We traded our back up PG, our back up 2/3 wing, and Langford who had a lesser but some back up role.  We added White (Combo Guard) and Theis (a combo 4/5 big).

Our core 8 was starters plus Schroder, Richardson, GWill, now it looks like it will be starters plus White, GWill, Theis.  I think they will play White at both the point and SG so I am not so sure that this changes much for Pritchard.  Maybe a little more opportunity.

I think there is more question about the back up wing role that Richardson had.  That could be kind of shared between White and GWill but neither is a natural SF and I think that would result in some bad match ups for us.  I think the result will be that Nesmith gets more opportunity in that role.

I think this may actually result in less time for GWill.  Theis should assume that role as back up 4/5 big or he may even start (although I suspect not).  GWill has good versatility which is valuable in a bench player but I don't think he is as good a big as Theis or as good a wing as Nesmith so he may lose out.

Yes sometimes we can exaggerate the impact that fringe players have on the team overall...as you say the only real change is that we now have Theis and White coming off the bench with Gwill instead of Schroder and Richardson. Theis can play the 5 in those small ball lineups allowing Gwill to play on the wing more, and White can cover the ball handling spot or slide to play off the ball if needed. The entire 8 man rotation remains very switchable so it's just a matter of White and Theis (re)familiarizing themselves with the defensive patterns. Romeo hadn't been playing much with our team finally healthy so his loss doesn't really move the needle.

I do think Gwill is ahead of Nesmith on the depth chart even at wing because a) his shooting is better and b) he has better BBIQ and has taken on a bigger role in organizing the defense in calling out switches and rotations. Nesmith is definitely a more prototypical wing but after 2 years there still seems to be times he doesn't know where he is supposed to be in rotation, or is late closing out, or he overhelps on someone. End of day I doubt these changes will all of a sudden lead Ime to have an epiphany and start playing certain players ahead of other established rotation players when he's had the chance to do that all season.

The wildcard is injuries and inability to synthesize White and Theis into the team. That's where you need deep bench. Then we may end up seeing a lot more of PP and Nesmith, and that's where the shallow depth could be a problem. The caveat is we don't know who they will get in the buyout market, but again most players end up in the buyout market for a reason, and it's usually not a good one, so I'm not pinning all my hopes on it.

[timpiker]

Pritchard yes, Nesmith no. 

[Who]

I think this may actually result in less time for GWill.  Theis should assume that role as back up 4/5 big or he may even start (although I suspect not).  GWill has good versatility which is valuable in a bench player but I don't think he is as good a big as Theis or as good a wing as Nesmith so he may lose out.

I see Theis as better at C but G-Will better at PF. More skilled offensively particularly with the outside shooting.

[Roy H.]

Jay King @ByJayKing
1 hour ago
Brad Stevens said there should be opportunities for Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith now in the new-look bench. Stevens said the Celtics will add a couple of players today "and go from there" while building the end of the bench.

[liam]

The Coach controls the minutes. The GM controls who we have.

[Vermont Green]

I think this may actually result in less time for GWill.  Theis should assume that role as back up 4/5 big or he may even start (although I suspect not).  GWill has good versatility which is valuable in a bench player but I don't think he is as good a big as Theis or as good a wing as Nesmith so he may lose out.

I see Theis as better at C but G-Will better at PF. More skilled offensively particularly with the outside shooting.

Up to this point, it has been a 3-man big rotation with RWill (30 min), Horford (28 min), GWill (23 min).  Now Theis is going to be getting minutes (call them C call them PF, doesn't really matter I don't think) and I don't see Horford and RWill minutes going down much if any.  So the net has to be less minutes in this big rotation for GWill.  He may pick up some minutes playing a pseudo-SF but I see his minutes going down and that is fair.  I think overall, Theis is a little better.  He can't sit in the corner and hit a 3 but better overall.

As to Theis vs. Grant, Theis can defend better at either position.  He seems better in pick situations, better for general ball movement, but Grant can hit the 3.  They both have been playing around 22-23 min per game.  They both can't continue to play that many minutes.  I am sure there will be mixing and matching to various line ups.

[liam]

I think this may actually result in less time for GWill.  Theis should assume that role as back up 4/5 big or he may even start (although I suspect not).  GWill has good versatility which is valuable in a bench player but I don't think he is as good a big as Theis or as good a wing as Nesmith so he may lose out.

I see Theis as better at C but G-Will better at PF. More skilled offensively particularly with the outside shooting.

Up to this point, it has been a 3-man big rotation with RWill (30 min), Horford (28 min), GWill (23 min).  Now Theis is going to be getting minutes (call them C call them PF, doesn't really matter I don't think) and I don't see Horford and RWill minutes going down much if any.  So the net has to be less minutes in this big rotation for GWill.  He may pick up some minutes playing a pseudo-SF but I see his minutes going down and that is fair.  I think overall, Theis is a little better.  He can't sit in the corner and hit a 3 but better overall.

As to Theis vs. Grant, Theis can defend better at either position.  He seems better in pick situations, better for general ball movement, but Grant can hit the 3.  They both have been playing around 22-23 min per game.  They both can't continue to play that many minutes.  I am sure there will be mixing and matching to various line ups.

Grant is the best shooter of those four and he should see time just based on that.

[Celtics2021]

Jay King @ByJayKing
1 hour ago
Brad Stevens said there should be opportunities for Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith now in the new-look bench. Stevens said the Celtics will add a couple of players today "and go from there" while building the end of the bench.

They’ll probably be the 7th and 8th men tonight, so yeah, there will be opportunities!

[Kuberski33]

As far as PP's Celtics career is concerned, it's now or never because the coach isn't convinced that he fits. He gets first shot but he has to produce consistently.

[nickagneta]

I think this may actually result in less time for GWill.  Theis should assume that role as back up 4/5 big or he may even start (although I suspect not).  GWill has good versatility which is valuable in a bench player but I don't think he is as good a big as Theis or as good a wing as Nesmith so he may lose out.

I see Theis as better at C but G-Will better at PF. More skilled offensively particularly with the outside shooting.

Up to this point, it has been a 3-man big rotation with RWill (30 min), Horford (28 min), GWill (23 min).  Now Theis is going to be getting minutes (call them C call them PF, doesn't really matter I don't think) and I don't see Horford and RWill minutes going down much if any.  So the net has to be less minutes in this big rotation for GWill.  He may pick up some minutes playing a pseudo-SF but I see his minutes going down and that is fair.  I think overall, Theis is a little better.  He can't sit in the corner and hit a 3 but better overall.

As to Theis vs. Grant, Theis can defend better at either position.  He seems better in pick situations, better for general ball movement, but Grant can hit the 3.  They both have been playing around 22-23 min per game.  They both can't continue to play that many minutes.  I am sure there will be mixing and matching to various line ups.

If all three of Grant, Al and Timelord play their minutes, that's 81 minutes. That still leaves 15 minutes per game for Theis, which seems right for the fourth big in this rotation. So, I don't necessarily see anyone's minutes being cut.