Is Horford a top-25 PF?

[Erik]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

[Vermont Green]

If Smart or Brogdon is playing SF, the Celtics are in trouble.

I agree, but what is the alternative when one of Tatum or Brown is out?

Gallanari, Grant, Houser?

So if Tatum is out for rest or whatever, Brown will likely start at SF (which is perfectly fine) with Brogdon staring as the SG.  But at some point, Brown will have to rest and we really don't have another SF to play at that point other than Hauser.  I don't see Gallinari or Grant as viable options.

What will happen is that we will end up playing with more guards and no SF.  Not the end of the world if it is a limited basis but this will be more of an issue if Tatum or Brown miss a week or a month.

What do you mean? If Tatum is out, Brown will play SF; if Brown is out, Tatum will play SF (and he will anyway, since we run a 2-big line-up). Do you mean if both are out? If that's the case, then we are in trouble anyway.

Brown and Tatum don't play 48 mpg. Brown is Tatum's backup.
When one is out there are at least 12 mpg to fill at the SF position.

That is exactly the point.  Last season, Tatum and Brown averaged 24 min/gm playing at the same time over 61 games.  I am guessing that for the other 24 min of those games that each played about 12 min while the other rested (neither played quite 36 min exactly but this is ball park).  That means there were 21 games where one or both were not available and Nesmith or Richardson or someone would have filled in.

We can get by playing for 12 min without a SF when one of Tatum or Brown are out a game here and there.  Play Brogdon in that roll, maybe Hauser.  But if this goes on for an extended period, we could be in more trouble.

It is a soft spot in the roster/rotation.  In my opinion, we have a need for a back up SF (a forward who can play as a wing) who would slot on the depth chart between Tatum and Hauser.  A back up level player for insurance but with more of a track record than Hauser who to date has been not much more than a 2-way level player.

Hauser is pretty good, maybe he will have improved and he can handle that role.  No one is going to step in and replace an all star, you can't expect that, but you hope to be able to hold down the fort.  I don't see Gallinari or Grant playing that role.  Gallinari has trouble defending bigs due to quickness, can't see it going well if he is trying to defend a SF.  Grant is the same, he played some (very limited) in that role last season and it wasn't pretty.

[sgrogan]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

I don't think it was in the original article, but it's very relevant to the recent discussion. Last year our starting "PF" was our backup "C" and our starting "SG" was our backup "SF"

If the C's were fully healthy they could have a rotation like;
Smart 32, White 16
Brown 16, Brogdon 32
Tatum 32, Brown 16
G. Williams 24, Gallanari 24
GWIII 24, Horford 24

With Pritchard, Kornet, Houser, Thomas, Davison, Kabengele, Vonleh, and Caboclo 
It's position-less but Pritchard isn't going to replace GWII.

[Vermont Green]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

I don't think it was in the original article, but it's very relevant to the recent discussion. Last year our starting "PF" was our backup "C" and our starting "SG" was our backup "SF"

If the C's were fully healthy they could have a rotation like;
Smart 32, White 16
Brown 16, Brogdon 32
Tatum 32, Brown 16
G. Williams 24, Gallanari 24
GWIII 24, Horford 24

With Pritchard, Kornet, Houser, Thomas, Davison, Kabengele, Vonleh, and Caboclo 
It's position-less but Pritchard isn't going to replace GWII.

I completely agree with this.  I think Horford ends up being our back up C even if they end up closing games with Horford and RWill, if that continues to be the best big combination like is was last season.  To make the minutes work, you need to have GWill and Gallinari play some minutes together, play one big for some minutes, play Vonleh for a few minutes, or some combination of all of that.

As to the guard/SF rotation, I agree but will nit pick that I don't think we want to push Brogdon to 32 min for durability reasons.  You can back him off to 24 min and play White as the SG for 8 minutes.  I think Brogdon is better and come playoff time, it might be different, but no need to overwork Brogdon through the regular season.  We have the depth to manage his minutes and that is what we should do.

The caveat was "when fully healthy" which we won't be all the time.  If Brogdon, Smart, or White miss time, Pritchard is there.  That is solid, no concern with Pritchard stepping in when needed.  If a big misses time, Vonleh will be there.  That is not quite solid but I expect it to be fine.  If Brown or Tatum miss time, it is likely Hauser will need to play.  I am not real comfortable with that.

Vonleh is not a lock as an "insurance" back up but in 2019/20 for the Knicks, he played 68 games, starting 57, and put up 8 pts and 8 rebs in 25 min.  All we need him to do is replicate that and he will more than useful as a back up insurance big.  But at least that is some level of actual NBA track record,  Hauser does not have that.

[sgrogan]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

I don't think it was in the original article, but it's very relevant to the recent discussion. Last year our starting "PF" was our backup "C" and our starting "SG" was our backup "SF"

If the C's were fully healthy they could have a rotation like;
Smart 32, White 16
Brown 16, Brogdon 32
Tatum 32, Brown 16
G. Williams 24, Gallanari 24
GWIII 24, Horford 24



With Pritchard, Kornet, Houser, Thomas, Davison, Kabengele, Vonleh, and Caboclo 
It's position-less but Pritchard isn't going to replace GWII.

I completely agree with this.  I think Horford ends up being our back up C even if they end up closing games with Horford and RWill, if that continues to be the best big combination like is was last season.  To make the minutes work, you need to have GWill and Gallinari play some minutes together, play one big for a some minutes, play Vonleh for a few minutes, or some combinaion of all of that.

As to the guard/SF rotation, I agree but will nit pick that I don't think we want to push Brogdon to 32 min for durability reasons.  You can back him off to 24 min and play White as the SG for 8 minutes.  I think Brogdon is better and come playoff time, it might be different, but no need to overwork Brogdon through the regular season.  We have the depth to manage his minutes and that is what we should do.

The caveat was "when fully healthy" which we won't be all the time.  If Brogdon, Smart, or White miss time, Pritchard is there.  That is solid, no concern with Pritchard stepping in when needed.  If a big misses time, Vonleh will be there.  That is not quite solid but I expect it to be fine.  If Brown or Tatum miss time, it is likely Hauser will need to play.  I am not real comfortable with that.

Vonleh is not a lock as an "insurance" back up but in 2019/20 for the Knicks, he played 68 games, starting 57, and put up 8 pts and 8 rebs in 25 min.  All we need him to do is replicate that and he will more than useful as a back up insurance big.  But at least that is some level of actual NBA track record,  Hauser does not have that.

I think we are more or less in agreement.
I have way less confidence in a Gallanari/Grant big line-up, maybe Vonleh is better than Freedom. we'll see.

For the rest I agree, Maybe Moranis can say if he'd prefer Houser over Brogdon in the "SF" role.
I think we are going to see lineups with Grant as the nominal "SF", we'll see how effective they are.

These are first world problems. We're talking the difference between 50 and 60 wins, third in the east or homecourt throughout. Bring on Banner 18!

[Vermont Green]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

I don't think it was in the original article, but it's very relevant to the recent discussion. Last year our starting "PF" was our backup "C" and our starting "SG" was our backup "SF"

If the C's were fully healthy they could have a rotation like;
Smart 32, White 16
Brown 16, Brogdon 32
Tatum 32, Brown 16
G. Williams 24, Gallanari 24
GWIII 24, Horford 24



With Pritchard, Kornet, Houser, Thomas, Davison, Kabengele, Vonleh, and Caboclo 
It's position-less but Pritchard isn't going to replace GWII.

I completely agree with this.  I think Horford ends up being our back up C even if they end up closing games with Horford and RWill, if that continues to be the best big combination like is was last season.  To make the minutes work, you need to have GWill and Gallinari play some minutes together, play one big for a some minutes, play Vonleh for a few minutes, or some combinaion of all of that.

As to the guard/SF rotation, I agree but will nit pick that I don't think we want to push Brogdon to 32 min for durability reasons.  You can back him off to 24 min and play White as the SG for 8 minutes.  I think Brogdon is better and come playoff time, it might be different, but no need to overwork Brogdon through the regular season.  We have the depth to manage his minutes and that is what we should do.

The caveat was "when fully healthy" which we won't be all the time.  If Brogdon, Smart, or White miss time, Pritchard is there.  That is solid, no concern with Pritchard stepping in when needed.  If a big misses time, Vonleh will be there.  That is not quite solid but I expect it to be fine.  If Brown or Tatum miss time, it is likely Hauser will need to play.  I am not real comfortable with that.

Vonleh is not a lock as an "insurance" back up but in 2019/20 for the Knicks, he played 68 games, starting 57, and put up 8 pts and 8 rebs in 25 min.  All we need him to do is replicate that and he will more than useful as a back up insurance big.  But at least that is some level of actual NBA track record,  Hauser does not have that.

I think we are more or less in agreement.
I have way less confidence in a Gallanari/Grant big line-up, maybe Vonleh is better than Freedom. we'll see.

For the rest I agree, Maybe Moranis can say if he'd prefer Houser over Brogdon in the "SF" role.
I think we are going to see lineups with Grant as the nominal "SF", we'll see how effective they are.

These are first world problems. We're talking the difference between 50 and 60 wins, third in the east or homecourt throughout. Bring on Banner 18!

Exactly, our core 9-10 players are rock solid.  What we are trying to analyze here is what if someone gets hurt, who do we have 11-15 to fill in.

I guess we have strayed from the question of whether Horford is a top 25 PF.  The question seems to be is Horford a PF.

[sgrogan]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

I don't think it was in the original article, but it's very relevant to the recent discussion. Last year our starting "PF" was our backup "C" and our starting "SG" was our backup "SF"

If the C's were fully healthy they could have a rotation like;
Smart 32, White 16
Brown 16, Brogdon 32
Tatum 32, Brown 16
G. Williams 24, Gallanari 24
GWIII 24, Horford 24



With Pritchard, Kornet, Houser, Thomas, Davison, Kabengele, Vonleh, and Caboclo 
It's position-less but Pritchard isn't going to replace GWII.

I completely agree with this.  I think Horford ends up being our back up C even if they end up closing games with Horford and RWill, if that continues to be the best big combination like is was last season.  To make the minutes work, you need to have GWill and Gallinari play some minutes together, play one big for a some minutes, play Vonleh for a few minutes, or some combinaion of all of that.

As to the guard/SF rotation, I agree but will nit pick that I don't think we want to push Brogdon to 32 min for durability reasons.  You can back him off to 24 min and play White as the SG for 8 minutes.  I think Brogdon is better and come playoff time, it might be different, but no need to overwork Brogdon through the regular season.  We have the depth to manage his minutes and that is what we should do.

The caveat was "when fully healthy" which we won't be all the time.  If Brogdon, Smart, or White miss time, Pritchard is there.  That is solid, no concern with Pritchard stepping in when needed.  If a big misses time, Vonleh will be there.  That is not quite solid but I expect it to be fine.  If Brown or Tatum miss time, it is likely Hauser will need to play.  I am not real comfortable with that.

Vonleh is not a lock as an "insurance" back up but in 2019/20 for the Knicks, he played 68 games, starting 57, and put up 8 pts and 8 rebs in 25 min.  All we need him to do is replicate that and he will more than useful as a back up insurance big.  But at least that is some level of actual NBA track record,  Hauser does not have that.

I think we are more or less in agreement.
I have way less confidence in a Gallanari/Grant big line-up, maybe Vonleh is better than Freedom. we'll see.

For the rest I agree, Maybe Moranis can say if he'd prefer Houser over Brogdon in the "SF" role.
I think we are going to see lineups with Grant as the nominal "SF", we'll see how effective they are.

These are first world problems. We're talking the difference between 50 and 60 wins, third in the east or homecourt throughout. Bring on Banner 18!

Exactly, our core 9-10 players are rock solid.  What we are trying to analyze here is what if someone gets hurt, who do we have 11-15 to fill in.

I guess we have strayed form the question of whether Horford is a top 25 PF.  The question seems to be is Horford a PF.

Horford is a top 10 PF when he pays with RWIII, problem is he plays C 60% of his minutes.

[#1P4P]

Last season’s starting lineup was the best 5-player lineup in the NBA. It worked against traditional and non-traditional lineups and it isn’t changing. Udoka had one or both at all times last season and unless Grant or Danilo can be as effective as them, it’ll be repeated.

Al is one of the select few players that guards 4s and 5s in the post, switches onto 1-5 on the perimeter, defends the paint, and secures defensive rebounds all at an elite level.

He’s a player that is undervalued until he’s bot on the roster and you have John Collins or Tobias Harris trying to replicate and you go “oh, look at how easy Embiid/Giannis/KD/Jimmy score against this guy.”

He also shot over 40% from 3 in the playoffs and 60% in the Finals! If we’re saying right now or projecting to next season, Al’s a top 10 PF.

[Moranis]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

I don't think it was in the original article, but it's very relevant to the recent discussion. Last year our starting "PF" was our backup "C" and our starting "SG" was our backup "SF"

If the C's were fully healthy they could have a rotation like;
Smart 32, White 16
Brown 16, Brogdon 32
Tatum 32, Brown 16
G. Williams 24, Gallanari 24
GWIII 24, Horford 24



With Pritchard, Kornet, Houser, Thomas, Davison, Kabengele, Vonleh, and Caboclo 
It's position-less but Pritchard isn't going to replace GWII.

I completely agree with this.  I think Horford ends up being our back up C even if they end up closing games with Horford and RWill, if that continues to be the best big combination like is was last season.  To make the minutes work, you need to have GWill and Gallinari play some minutes together, play one big for a some minutes, play Vonleh for a few minutes, or some combinaion of all of that.

As to the guard/SF rotation, I agree but will nit pick that I don't think we want to push Brogdon to 32 min for durability reasons.  You can back him off to 24 min and play White as the SG for 8 minutes.  I think Brogdon is better and come playoff time, it might be different, but no need to overwork Brogdon through the regular season.  We have the depth to manage his minutes and that is what we should do.

The caveat was "when fully healthy" which we won't be all the time.  If Brogdon, Smart, or White miss time, Pritchard is there.  That is solid, no concern with Pritchard stepping in when needed.  If a big misses time, Vonleh will be there.  That is not quite solid but I expect it to be fine.  If Brown or Tatum miss time, it is likely Hauser will need to play.  I am not real comfortable with that.

Vonleh is not a lock as an "insurance" back up but in 2019/20 for the Knicks, he played 68 games, starting 57, and put up 8 pts and 8 rebs in 25 min.  All we need him to do is replicate that and he will more than useful as a back up insurance big.  But at least that is some level of actual NBA track record,  Hauser does not have that.

I think we are more or less in agreement.
I have way less confidence in a Gallanari/Grant big line-up, maybe Vonleh is better than Freedom. we'll see.

For the rest I agree, Maybe Moranis can say if he'd prefer Houser over Brogdon in the "SF" role.
I think we are going to see lineups with Grant as the nominal "SF", we'll see how effective they are.

These are first world problems. We're talking the difference between 50 and 60 wins, third in the east or homecourt throughout. Bring on Banner 18!

I prefer none.  There is a reason I was harping big time about using the Fournier TPE.  The team just isn't very deep and doesn't have great roster construction.  There is no pure PG on the roster.  There are just 2 guys you could trust to play SF (Tatum and Brown are awesome, but they are going to miss some games - especially Brown based on history).  The only 2 centers you could trust to play meaningful minutes in meaningful games are unlikely to make it through the season healthy.  Boston needs to fill several spots with guys that can actually play.  That is why I wanted to use the Fournier TPE and feel like the fact that we didn't was a huge mistake.  It is also why I think the last few spots should go to guys like Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, and guys of that ilk.  You need someone that you can trust to play big minutes for several game stretches throughout the course of the year. 

If the C's enter the playoffs healthy, they could beat anyone, but the regular season is going to be tough this year and they can't play an 8 or 9 man rotation all season like they did the end of last year.  It will wear them down and lead to injuries, especially for the older and more fragile players.  They need guys that can play big minutes at points during the year and still have the team perform ok.  If guys like Hauser have to play big minutes, the C's are in trouble.  If the C's have to go super small with a lineup of Smart, White, Brogdon then the C's are going to be in trouble.  If Grant Williams is forced to play SF more than spot minutes here or there, the team is going to be in trouble.

[Vermont Green]

Last season’s starting lineup was the best 5-player lineup in the NBA. It worked against traditional and non-traditional lineups and it isn’t changing. Udoka had one or both at all times last season and unless Grant or Danilo can be as effective as them, it’ll be repeated.

Al is one of the select few players that guards 4s and 5s in the post, switches onto 1-5 on the perimeter, defends the paint, and secures defensive rebounds all at an elite level.

He’s a player that is undervalued until he’s bot on the roster and you have John Collins or Tobias Harris trying to replicate and you go “oh, look at how easy Embiid/Giannis/KD/Jimmy score against this guy.”

He also shot over 40% from 3 in the playoffs and 60% in the Finals! If we’re saying right now or projecting to next season, Al’s a top 10 PF.

If you look at last years playing time numbers, Horford and RWill each played about 30 min/gm with about 15 min/gm on the court together.  The 15 min together is enough to start the game and end the game together.  The only other reliable big we had last season was Grant.  He played about 25 min per game.  That adds up to about 85 of the 96 big minutes.  Theis, Freedom, and a few others, some 1-big, filled in the rest.

I doubt that the Celtics want to play Horford and RWill for 30 min each again this season but I agree that they will probably be the top pairing again.  I would not be surprised to see Gallinari or Grant start but Horford finish.   If nothing else, Gallinari will allow the minutes to be shared with 4 instead of just 3, reducing the load on everyone.

If Horford played about half his minutes at C last season, when the only other viable PF we had was Grant, I would expect Horford to play more at C now that we have Gallinari also, certainly not less.  But assuming that Al has more or less the same production this season as last, I do expect he will be on the floor to close games.

[#1P4P]

Last season’s starting lineup was the best 5-player lineup in the NBA. It worked against traditional and non-traditional lineups and it isn’t changing. Udoka had one or both at all times last season and unless Grant or Danilo can be as effective as them, it’ll be repeated.

Al is one of the select few players that guards 4s and 5s in the post, switches onto 1-5 on the perimeter, defends the paint, and secures defensive rebounds all at an elite level.

He’s a player that is undervalued until he’s bot on the roster and you have John Collins or Tobias Harris trying to replicate and you go “oh, look at how easy Embiid/Giannis/KD/Jimmy score against this guy.”

He also shot over 40% from 3 in the playoffs and 60% in the Finals! If we’re saying right now or projecting to next season, Al’s a top 10 PF.

If you look at last years playing time numbers, Horford and RWill each played about 30 min/gm with about 15 min/gm on the court together.  The 15 min together is enough to start the game and end the game together.  The only other reliable big we had last season was Grant.  He played about 25 min per game.  That adds up to about 85 of the 96 big minutes.  Theis, Freedom, and a few others, some 1-big, filled in the rest.

I doubt that the Celtics want to play Horford and RWill for 30 min each again this season but I agree that they will probably be the top pairing again.  I would not be surprised to see Gallinari or Grant start but Horford finish.   If nothing else, Gallinari will allow the minutes to be shared with 4 instead of just 3, reducing the load on everyone.

If Horford played about half his minutes at C last season, when the only other viable PF we had was Grant, I would expect Horford to play more at C now that we have Gallinari also, certainly not less.  But assuming that Al has more or less the same production this season as last, I do expect he will be on the floor to close games.

Al played 30 MPG, 87% of games (including playoffs), and the only playoff game he missed was because of a failed COVID test. Rob substantially increased his minutes last season, he will be more micromanaged throughout the season.

Horford and RWIII’s minutes might be reduced to 26-28 MPG, but I don’t see the team limiting them more than that when they’re healthy and available. Any playing reduction will likely be more rest days in between games including less back to backs instead of reducing minutes.

The Gallinari-Grant duo will get a shot to play the 4-5 together and if one of the other bench players can handle 8-16 of the backup 5 minutes or spot starts (I’m high on Caboclo), it will really open the doors to resting them throughout the season.

[pokeKingCurtis]

With this discussion on position, I checked the roster on the Celtics "official" website and they had players categorized with the following positions:

G      Smart, Brogdon, White, Pritchard, Thomas, Davison
G-F   Brown
F-G   Tatum
F       Gallinari, Grant, Hauser
C-F    RWill, Horford, Kornet
C       Kabengele

Both Horford and RWill are listed as C-F.  Since Brown is G-F and Tatum is F-C I am guessing this implies that Brown is more G than F and that Tatum is more F than G (which makes sense).  By that logic, they have both Horford and RWill as more C than F so if Hoopshype followed that, they would list them as Centers.  Apparently we don't have any F-C (I would say that this would apply to Gallinari for example).

One thing that stands out when you see it this way is we have a lot of Guards.

Well Brogdon and Smart can almost definitely play 3, and White can at times too. 3/4 of these dudes are just huge guards (the fourth being Pritchard).

I don't disagree that Smart and Brogdon "can" play forward or SF but that is not their natural position.  I think the Celtics want to paly with two wings.  That was their most used and most successful line up last season (with Brown and Tatum).  I expect that when one of Brown or Tatum is out, Brogdon will be on the court as that second wing but he is really more guard than forward.  A line up of say:

Smart
Brogdon
Brown
Horford
RWill

...is really 3 guards and two bigs.  It is not the end of the world but Brogdon is more of a combo guard than a wing so the line up is not 2 wings.  I believe that there will be times when the Celtics will wish they had another established forward who can play as a wing.  We can get by with playing our guards in that role but Brown and Tatum will miss games along the way and we will be thin for that role.  Right now, Sam Hauser is the back up to Tatum at the traditional small forward position.  I am not sure that Hauser is quite ready for even a fill in role.  At best there is no track record for him as anything but a garbage time NBA player.  Hauser was behind Nesmith last season.

Again, I do not view this as a fatal flaw or anything terribly serious, just a soft spot in the roster that I hope they are able to address.

Oh I thought you were trying to say we are small. That we are not, since while we have 4 guards, the 3 who will play huge playoff minutes are massive

Maybe slightly thin. Though Jayson is backed up by Jaylen, and teams can only dream of having Smart or Brogdon as their third string 3.

[SparzWizard]

Bring back the days of having traditional position lineups...

PG - Marcus Smart
SG - Jaylen Brown
SF - Jayson Tatum
PF - Al Horford
C - Robert Williams III

Got some decent depth with Brogdon, Gallinari, White, G-Will, Pritchard and some foreign players/end of the bench folks that Brad signed. Dominate.

[Surferdad]

Bring back the days of having traditional position lineups...

PG - Marcus Smart
SG - Jaylen Brown
SF - Jayson Tatum
PF - Al Horford
C - Robert Williams III

Got some decent depth with Brogdon, Gallinari, White, G-Will, Pritchard and some foreign players/end of the bench folks that Brad signed. Dominate.

You mean way, way back in May/June 2022?    That was their starting playoff lineup.

[Hoopvortex]

Brown and Tatum are natural SFs, but forced to play other "positions" since we play positionless basketball. Not sure if that was part of the consideration for this sub-par article.

I don't think it was in the original article, but it's very relevant to the recent discussion. Last year our starting "PF" was our backup "C" and our starting "SG" was our backup "SF"

If the C's were fully healthy they could have a rotation like;
Smart 32, White 16
Brown 16, Brogdon 32
Tatum 32, Brown 16
G. Williams 24, Gallanari 24
GWIII 24, Horford 24

With Pritchard, Kornet, Houser, Thomas, Davison, Kabengele, Vonleh, and Caboclo 
It's position-less but Pritchard isn't going to replace GWII.

I completely agree with this.  I think Horford ends up being our back up C even if they end up closing games with Horford and RWill, if that continues to be the best big combination like is was last season.  To make the minutes work, you need to have GWill and Gallinari play some minutes together, play one big for a some minutes, play Vonleh for a few minutes, or some combinaion of all of that.

As to the guard/SF rotation, I agree but will nit pick that I don't think we want to push Brogdon to 32 min for durability reasons.  You can back him off to 24 min and play White as the SG for 8 minutes.  I think Brogdon is better and come playoff time, it might be different, but no need to overwork Brogdon through the regular season.  We have the depth to manage his minutes and that is what we should do.

The caveat was "when fully healthy" which we won't be all the time.  If Brogdon, Smart, or White miss time, Pritchard is there.  That is solid, no concern with Pritchard stepping in when needed.  If a big misses time, Vonleh will be there.  That is not quite solid but I expect it to be fine.  If Brown or Tatum miss time, it is likely Hauser will need to play.  I am not real comfortable with that.

Vonleh is not a lock as an "insurance" back up but in 2019/20 for the Knicks, he played 68 games, starting 57, and put up 8 pts and 8 rebs in 25 min.  All we need him to do is replicate that and he will more than useful as a back up insurance big.  But at least that is some level of actual NBA track record,  Hauser does not have that.

In my view, Boston needs a third big - maybe they can pick up Daniel Theis at the deadline!

In this scheme, Pritchard is out of the rotation; but that's unlikely, since you can pair him so easily with one of Boston's big ballhandlers, including Brogdon.

I have way less confidence in a Gallanari/Grant big line-up, maybe Vonleh is better than Freedom. we'll see.

I'm not entirely clear what you mean by a Gallinari/Grant big lineup, as neither of them are bigs. I'd call them swings. Having said that, Grant did impressive work guarding bigs last season; briefly he even had the nickname Batman for the job he did on the Joker. But if those two are playing together for any extended minutes without a proper big then there's a size/defense/rim protection issue. And if they're together with a big, that means that one of them probably has to guard a wing, which is sub-optimal.

Grant virtually never appeared in any lineups alongside two bigs last season.

For the rest I agree, Maybe Moranis can say if he'd prefer Houser over Brogdon in the "SF" role.

Unlikely that you'll see Houser in a rotation role. On the other hand, Brogdon played routinely last year in lineups with Halliburton and Duarte; or Halliburton and Hield. Brogdon (who weighs 229) would guard the bigger wing in those lineups. So if anyone was the "small forward", it was Brogdon. Notice also that he was not the primary ballhandler in those groups; this is likely what the Celtics have in mind for him also. Brad said that they needed scoring off the bench, and Brogdon will play the role of secondary ballhandler/scorer.

I think we are going to see lineups with Grant as the nominal "SF", we'll see how effective they are.

I do not. Boston has added depth, not lost it; and since they didn't play Grant with two bigs last year the likelihood of them using him in a "small forward" role this season is even smaller.