Celtics current Roster

[KG Living Legend]

Queta, Amari williams, Tilman
Hauser, Niang
Brown, Hugo, Walsh
Simons, Scheierman
White, Prichard, Davidson

 That's 13 players.  Am I missing anyone. How many wins can this roster attain,  assuming no injuries.  If Brown gets hurt we might be looking at a high pick in a loaded draft.

[letsgoblue86]

That?s a 25 win team right there

[Roy H.]

Queta, Amari williams, Tilman
Hauser, Niang
Brown, Hugo, Walsh
Simons, Scheierman
White, Prichard, Davidson

 That's 13 players.  Am I missing anyone. How many wins can this roster attain,  assuming no injuries.  If Brown gets hurt we might be looking at a high pick in a loaded draft.

I think Williams will be on a two-way.  I think the rest are who are under contract currently, yes.

[tazzmaniac]

Queta, Amari williams, Tilman
Hauser, Niang
Brown, Hugo, Walsh
Simons, Scheierman
White, Prichard, Davidson

 That's 13 players.  Am I missing anyone. How many wins can this roster attain,  assuming no injuries.  If Brown gets hurt we might be looking at a high pick in a loaded draft.

Tatum.  He's not playing but he takes a roster spot.  And as someone else posted Williams will be on a 2-way contract. 

[Birdman]

Win 30 games be surprise

[DefenseWinsChamps]

42 win team if they were trying to win.

[jambr380]

As of now, without any additional major moves, I see the team moving Niang into an exception. That would put the them around $12.5M under the 2nd apron. If they are serious about competing, they could still re-sign Horford and Kornet for around taxpayer MLE money and then sign another player using the taxpayer MLE. Since those roster slots are already accounted for with $2.3M salaries, that would only add between $9-10M, still leaving them slightly below the 2nd apron. So maybe the team would like something like this:

White/Pritchard
Simons/Scheierman
Brown/Hugo/Walsh
Hauser/MLE FA/Craig
Horford/Kornet/Queta

With Tatum, that is 14 roster spots filled, which is what I think they'll go into the season with. They'll also have Shulga, Williams, and either Norris or Peterson on two-ways. Maybe they even convert Peterson and don't resign Craig (or sign a different vet min altogether).

I'm not sure Davison makes the cut, but it looks like our guard rotation is a little light, so maybe the MLE FA or vet min goes to another guard. Either way, I think this is the framework of what we should be looking at this season, which is still a competitive team. And a very competitive team if Tatum comes back. In short, I don't think this is a tanking team.

EDIT: And right after I write this, I see an article from The Athletic/NYT that the Celtics are looking at shedding more salary and are exploring the idea of trading Simons. If that happens, then I guess it doesn't look like we are trying to be all that competitive, especially if the goal is to get under the tax.

[Who]

That?s a 25 win team right there

I am thinking low to mid 30s win-wise. 30-35 win team.

[Who]

Queta, Amari williams, Tilman
Hauser, Niang
Brown, Hugo, Walsh
Simons, Scheierman
White, Prichard, Davidson

 That's 13 players.  Am I missing anyone. How many wins can this roster attain,  assuming no injuries.  If Brown gets hurt we might be looking at a high pick in a loaded draft.

Even a good minimum contract center like Mason Plumlee would add a lot to this group. He'd start ahead of Queta. Queta could be the backup big. The other guy, the 2nd round pick, shouldn't be anywhere near an NBA rotation as a rookie.

That alone would take Boston up to a .500 team.

[tazzmaniac]

Queta, Amari williams, Tilman
Hauser, Niang
Brown, Hugo, Walsh
Simons, Scheierman
White, Prichard, Davidson

 That's 13 players.  Am I missing anyone. How many wins can this roster attain,  assuming no injuries.  If Brown gets hurt we might be looking at a high pick in a loaded draft.

Even a good minimum contract center like Mason Plumlee would add a lot to this group. He'd start ahead of Queta. Queta could be the backup big. The other guy, the 2nd round pick, shouldn't be anywhere near an NBA rotation as a rookie.

That alone would take Boston up to a .500 team.

Why is winning more games next season good?  I don't think Tatum is coming back at the end of the season so I don't think a miracle playoff run is on the table.  The Robison-less Spurs should be the path taken.  Tank for one season to add a young talent to the roster.  Mavs showed the benefit of just being in the lottery rather than an early out playoff team. 

[Birdman]

Who is top 5 draft prospects for next season? Celtics May get one

[Who]

Queta, Amari williams, Tilman
Hauser, Niang
Brown, Hugo, Walsh
Simons, Scheierman
White, Prichard, Davidson

 That's 13 players.  Am I missing anyone. How many wins can this roster attain,  assuming no injuries.  If Brown gets hurt we might be looking at a high pick in a loaded draft.

Even a good minimum contract center like Mason Plumlee would add a lot to this group. He'd start ahead of Queta. Queta could be the backup big. The other guy, the 2nd round pick, shouldn't be anywhere near an NBA rotation as a rookie.

That alone would take Boston up to a .500 team.

Why is winning more games next season good?  I don't think Tatum is coming back at the end of the season so I don't think a miracle playoff run is on the table.  The Robison-less Spurs should be the path taken.  Tank for one season to add a young talent to the roster.  Mavs showed the benefit of just being in the lottery rather than an early out playoff team.

I don't mind tanking if you can get a top 5 pick. That team is too good to get a top 5 pick. They would need to be freakishly lucky in the draft lottery like Dallas were to get one.

I have no interest in watching a horrible product for a year only to end up with odds that low of getting a high draft pick. I'd rather a solid team go to work.

[Who]

Queta, Amari williams, Tilman
Hauser, Niang
Brown, Hugo, Walsh
Simons, Scheierman
White, Prichard, Davidson

I am thinking low to mid 30s win-wise. 30-35 win team.

If we look at the East right now. There 3-4 horrid teams in the Conference.

We have a very poor Washington Wizards team. A very poor Brooklyn Nets team. A poor Charlotte team with an injury prone franchise player in LaMelo Ball. Boston, even with that team above, should finish ahead of all 3 teams.

Then we have Miami.

G: T Herro, Davion Mitchell
G: D Robinson, K Jakucionis
F: A Wiggins, Highsmith, P Larsson
F: Bam, Slow-Mo, J Jaquez
C: Ware, K-Love

You could debate who is worse between Miami and Boston.

And then there is Toronto

G: Quickley, J Shead
G: RJ Barrett, Ja'Kobe Walter
F: B Ingram, G Dick, C Murray-Boyles
F: S Barnes, C Boucher
C: J Poeltl, J Mogbo

I think the Raptors have the best talent of the three teams but they have also underachieved relative to their talent every year of S Barnes career. The got a lot of me-first guys and questionable on-court chemistry.

Boston on the other hand has quality team guys and good on-court chemistry and are likely to overachieve. As is Miami. So I am not sure I am ready to put Toronto ahead of either team.

Anyway, of these 3 teams, Boston / Miami / Toronto, one of them is going to be a play-in team. The other 3 mentioned as the start will be at the bottom of the conference. Then these 3 will fight it out for the final play-in spot.

That is a Boston team without any added reinforcements. No Horford. No Kornet. No minimum contract signings to add to the rotation. Just what we currently have. If they do make any signings, they will move ahead of both teams.

Then we have a not so great Chicago team right ahead of this group and could easily fall back into this pack. Giving Boston a 2 out of 4 chance of being a play-in team with this group.

They are not bad enough to bottom out. More pieces will have to be subtracted from the team and replaced with non-NBA talent to fill the rotation like Amari Williams is here. Have multiple guys like that coming off the bench. That will subtract wins even from quality on-court play by stars like Jaylen & D White.

With this BOS team above, I'd say we are looking at a pick in the 8-12 range.

[Who]

With this BOS team above, I'd say we are looking at a pick in the 8-12 range.

2025 Draft

#8 - Egor Demin
#9 - Collin Murray-Boyles
#10 - Khaman Maluach
#11 - Cedric Coward
#12 - Noa Essengue


(1) You punt a whole season for that? For that talent?

(2) Or for the miserable odds in the draft lottery of moving up from #8-#12 to a top 3 pick?

(3) How different is that from having a pick in the #13-17 range?

#13 - Derrick Quinn
#14 - Carter Bryant
#15 - Thomas Sorber
#16 - Hansen Yang
#17 - Joan Beringer


Is the opportunity to add talent that much better that is worth putting up with a miserable season of tanking?

[Who]

The 1996-97 David Robinson Spurs

(1) They were not trying to tank to start the season. It was just the way the season went. D Robinson got hurt early, came back, got hurt again around early January and was out for the season.

(2) Their starting PF Charles Smith was plagued by injuries in 1996-97 that ended up ending his career early. He was a huge difference maker for the Spurs in 1995-96 and helped spur that 17-0 March win streak after his midseason acquisition. They were 31-15 without him and finished the season 28-8 with him. San Antonio was having trouble at the PF position after trading Rodman to Chicago. Charles Smith fixed that problem. However, injuries took him away from the Spurs. Only 17 ineffectual games for them in 1996-97 before he was forced to retire.

(3) Their 2nd option and an All-Star the previous season Sean Elliott only played half a season. 39 games played. Another injury riddled key player.

(4) They signed Dominique Wilkins to be the difference maker on the team and help them get over the hump from a 60 win regular season team to a squad that makes the Finals and wins a Title. They signed him around the start of the season.

This was not a team that was trying to tank from Day One.

----------------------------

The Celtics have only lost Jayson Tatum for the season. They still have the makings of a good squad without him. This is a 55-60 win team with a healthy Tatum. It is still around a 45 win team without him.

Now if things start to go wrong during the season, like they did for the 1997 Spurs, you can always change directions midseason and start to tank then. Say Jaylen Brown misses half a season like Sean Elliott did. Or one of D White / Pritchard / A Simons ends up out for the year like Charles Smith was.

But at this point, this is not a team that should be tanking. There is still too much talent on the roster. Even if you let Horford & Kornet go without replacing them. You will have to pare down the roster more in order to make tanking more worthwhile. Trade established talent for picks / raw prospects. Try to lose more games that way. Then tanking in the regular season with the aim of getting a top 5 pick in next year's draft.