2 roster spots left

[AB_Celtic]

Joseph is a lock to make the team.
Add him on your lists.
I'd take Pietrus and Xmas and one more big.
Cut xmas if a big comes out on waivers.

That's 17 players.
Rondo, Terry, Dooling
Lee, Bradley, Christmas, Pietrus
Pierce, Green, Joseph
Bass, Sullinger
Garnett, Wilcox, Collins, Melo, (one more big)

[bfrombleacher]

Marquis for the min? He's a versatile defender and player in general.

[saltlover]

Marquis for the min? He's a versatile defender and player in general.

We've got a lot of versatility.  I'd prefer a pure point guard, so that if Rondo misses any time, especially before Bradley gets back, Jet doesn't have to play 48 minutes.

I think Joseph is a virtual lock, based on his draft status and performance in summer league.  The let Smith, Christmas, and the other camp invites compete for the last roster spot, and take the best player regardless of position.  I know I'll get pilloried, but I'd love to bring Adam Morrison in for a camp invite.  He played with a chip on his shoulder in Vegas, and was the best player on the floor pretty much every game he played.

[bfrombleacher]

Marquis for the min? He's a versatile defender and player in general.

We've got a lot of versatility.  I'd prefer a pure point guard, so that if Rondo misses any time, especially before Bradley gets back, Jet doesn't have to play 48 minutes.

I think Joseph is a virtual lock, based on his draft status and performance in summer league.  The let Smith, Christmas, and the other camp invites compete for the last roster spot, and take the best player regardless of position.  I know I'll get pilloried, but I'd love to bring Adam Morrison in for a camp invite.  He played with a chip on his shoulder in Vegas, and was the best player on the floor pretty much every game he played.

Behind Pierce is Jeff Green. Behind Jeff Green is no-one. Quite a few have pointed that out.

I'm not sure Courtney Lee being a primary SF is a good idea in the worst case scenario.

[the_Bird]

Marquis for the min? He's a versatile defender and player in general.

We've got a lot of versatility.  I'd prefer a pure point guard, so that if Rondo misses any time, especially before Bradley gets back, Jet doesn't have to play 48 minutes.

I think Joseph is a virtual lock, based on his draft status and performance in summer league.  The let Smith, Christmas, and the other camp invites compete for the last roster spot, and take the best player regardless of position.  I know I'll get pilloried, but I'd love to bring Adam Morrison in for a camp invite.  He played with a chip on his shoulder in Vegas, and was the best player on the floor pretty much every game he played.

Behind Pierce is Jeff Green. Behind Jeff Green is no-one. Quite a few have pointed that out.

I'm not sure Courtney Lee being a primary SF is a good idea in the worst case scenario.

I've been saying this quite a bit in recent days; I really think we need another option at SF, other than Kris Joseph.  If you look at the stats at 82games (which aren't perfect, I grant you), Courtney Lee has played hardly any minutes at small forward.  For his career, probably 95% of his minutes played are at the 2-guard.  He's got good size for a SG, but he's really undersized for SF, and he's nowhere near a good enough rebounder for that position.

If Pierce gets hurt, we're going to be struggling for production from the SF spot outside of Jeff Green. 

We has three roster spots left.  One goes to Dooling, to solidify the PG positon.  One goes to the better of Joseph or Christmas (let them fight it out), and the last goes to someone who can be a legit depth SF; Pietrus (if he doesn't get a better offer elsewhere), maybe Quis (I'd prefer going in another direction), or someone else at the vet min.

We seem to have enough depth in the frontcourt.  We're good at SG (particularly if Dooling is around).  Add Dooling, and the PG position is filled.  But, I only see two players on the roster (plus a completely unproven rookie) who can play SF. 

[bfrombleacher]

One goes to Dooling, to solidify the PG positon.  One goes to the better of Joseph or Christmas (let them fight it out) 

I hope it's Joseph then. Ceiling is higher with him.

I wouldn't be surprised if Ainge doesn't do a move though. It wouldn't be the worst thing and I wouldn't be too sad.

[mctyson]

I think the C's are holding out hope that Pietrus re-ups.

[saltlover]

Marquis for the min? He's a versatile defender and player in general.

We've got a lot of versatility.  I'd prefer a pure point guard, so that if Rondo misses any time, especially before Bradley gets back, Jet doesn't have to play 48 minutes.

I think Joseph is a virtual lock, based on his draft status and performance in summer league.  The let Smith, Christmas, and the other camp invites compete for the last roster spot, and take the best player regardless of position.  I know I'll get pilloried, but I'd love to bring Adam Morrison in for a camp invite.  He played with a chip on his shoulder in Vegas, and was the best player on the floor pretty much every game he played.

Behind Pierce is Jeff Green. Behind Jeff Green is no-one. Quite a few have pointed that out.

I'm not sure Courtney Lee being a primary SF is a good idea in the worst case scenario.

I've been saying this quite a bit in recent days; I really think we need another option at SF, other than Kris Joseph.  If you look at the stats at 82games (which aren't perfect, I grant you), Courtney Lee has played hardly any minutes at small forward.  For his career, probably 95% of his minutes played are at the 2-guard.  He's got good size for a SG, but he's really undersized for SF, and he's nowhere near a good enough rebounder for that position.

If Pierce gets hurt, we're going to be struggling for production from the SF spot outside of Jeff Green. 

We has three roster spots left.  One goes to Dooling, to solidify the PG positon.  One goes to the better of Joseph or Christmas (let them fight it out), and the last goes to someone who can be a legit depth SF; Pietrus (if he doesn't get a better offer elsewhere), maybe Quis (I'd prefer going in another direction), or someone else at the vet min.

We seem to have enough depth in the frontcourt.  We're good at SG (particularly if Dooling is around).  Add Dooling, and the PG position is filled.  But, I only see two players on the roster (plus a completely unproven rookie) who can play SF. 

I don't see the need for another SF.  If/when Pierce gets hurt, Jeff Green should play 36-40 minutes a game, since that's what he's getting paid for.  Some combination of Joseph and Lee should be able to handle the other 8-12 minutes.  Another SF wouldn't be bad, but it's more a luxury item than a necessity.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I'm kind of torn. I want Pietrus back, because he's such a team player, loves the Celtics, and is a useful and versatile defender; I also think he'd be better on offense this season after healing up during the summer. He has, however, been injury prone the past couple of seasons, and I hesitate to lose out on the potential of a young guy such as Joseph. Then again, we're in "win now" mode, and Pietrus is probably the better fit for that ...

You see what I mean? 

I hope Dooling is back, because I believe we need a third PG, and a mentor to Rondo.

I'm also wondering if we should grab another big. I think our current six-man big rotation is great, but if there's a key injury in there somewhere ...

I do like the idea of saving the BAE for the trade deadline, since it might give us an advantage over other contenders in scooping up a key player midseason.

Part of me thinks it doesn't matter much who fills those last three spots, because they're probably not gonna play much anyway, but if we have a repeat of last year's injury woes, some or all of those last three could end up playing critical minutes. For my money, though, I'd go with:

* Dooling (solid third PG, Rondo mentor, Flexer extraordinaire)
* Another vet big (you can never have too many bigs, IMO)
* Joseph (less of an injury risk than Pietrus, and possibly part of our future)

[the_Bird]

See, I feel a little better about our frontcourt depth because we aren't counting as much on guys who we KNEW were going to miss a lot of games due to injury (JO, Shaq, and to some extent Perk).  Wilcox is the biggest question because of the heart ailment, but if he's been cleared we have to assume that he'll be 100%.  Sully's back might be a concern at some point, but doesn't seem to be an issue now.  KG seems to be in great shape.  Bass hasn't had injury issues to speak of, nothing chronic.  Collins, I don't think he's had major issues. 

And, while it's less than ideal Jeff Green *can* slide over and play a little PF, if we do have injury issues.  He has a lot more experience at PF than Courtney Lee does at SF. 

Now, if we could sign Chris Anderson, I'd go for that because he's a big man who could make a tangible difference to the team. 

But, if it's a question of resigning Pietrus or signing the equivalent of another Jason Collins, I'd go with Pietrus.

[celticinorlando]

14. dooling
15. xmas

[jay]

14. Dooling
15. Wing player

Losing three players from the same position, Pietrus, Daniels, and Pavlovic I think limits our versatility. Joseph replaces one of them, but he isnt ready to play a lot.

I would go after Carlos Delfino first, then make Pietrus and Christmas my 2nd and 3rd options. 

[kozlodoev]

If Pierce gets hurt, we're going to be struggling for production from the SF spot outside of Jeff Green. 

And if Rondo gets hurt, we're going to be strugging for production from the entire team. Therefore, we need to trade for Chris Paul now...

[AB_Celtic]

If Pierce gets hurt, we're going to be struggling for production from the SF spot outside of Jeff Green.  

And if Rondo gets hurt, we're going to be strugging for production from the entire team. Therefore, we need to trade for Chris Paul now...

Garnett is old and frail (sorry KG). I'd love to get Aldridge and K.Love to back him up.

[Vermont Green]

If Bradley was healthy to start the season it may be different but I think an additional PG is the top priority.  Until Bradley is back, we really only have one and a half PGs (I am counting Jason Terry as half a PG).  That is not sufficient especially considering that Rondo does get banged up and misses games.

Based on this, we need Dooling or someone like him, at least until Bradley is back and fully up to speed.  Once Bradley is back, there will probably be some other need we didn't expect so we can address that.

If there is a vet min veteran SF or SG that is enough of an upgrade over Joseph, then we take him and cut Joseph (or Christmas if he is still on the roster), but I don't see us spending the BAE on either of those slots.

As far as bigs, we have 6 and all project to be healthy.  I don't see the vet min producing an upgrade there.