Your future 9-player rotation!

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Looks like here's what we've got going so far as the future looks right now:

Rondo/Bradley/Lee at the guard spots (JET retired)

Green/Joseph
Sullinger/Bass at the F spots (Pierce retired)

Darko/Melo at the C spot (KG retired)

Now, of course there'll be changes, trades, drafts, signings, and possibly other things, but...

How does this group look in 3 years?  Project their development (or decline), chemistry, fit, etc.!

[Rondo2287]

I think that Rotation is a lottery team

[rondohondo]

That team would be mediocre at best winning maybe 40-45 games.

For a championship team the c's would need a 20 ppg scorer at the sg who can get his own shot whenever needed and can be a finisher like Paul Pierce. They would also have to add a defensive force at one of the big man positions to anchor the defense.

I believe Rondo could be the man on a championship team and Jeff Green the 3rd or 4th best player on a championship team, but like I said they would need a legit scorer and defensive anchor(Josh Smith?)

[Rondo2287]

Personally I think Danny is restocking the farm with talent to go out and make another Big 3 like move.  But Im sure that would be contingent on Rondo staying past his current contract.

[celtsfan84]

As it stands, that's a pretty bad team, even assuming reasonable development levels.  The backcourt is pretty nice, the frontcourt is full of question marks and it is pretty optimistic to think all of them would pan out.

The departures of KG, Pierce, and Terry would free up some flexibility and there is time to build and acquire additional pieces until then.  For now, I'd say we have a contender today and an 8/9/10 seed for the future.

EDIT: Geez, does anyone really see our roster minus three of our best players as a contender? We should win the championship in a sweep this year.  Imagine adding KG, Paul, and Jason Terry to a contender!

[edwardjkasche]

Personally I think Danny is restocking the farm with talent to go out and make another Big 3 like move.

This!

It seems pretty obvious with all of the tremendous contracts he got.  Danny is not going to let this team simply fade away.  As long as he has trade-able assets, he'll be an aggressive GM. 

As for your bare bones squad above, I love our guard group - Rondo, Bradley, Lee.  It needs another pure scorer, but it's a solid start.  The forwards need to be added to.  Green, Bass, and Sully aren't enough, though they each bring something different to the team.  Melo is the only center, but isn't this becoming a center-less league?  Eliminate Darko from your squad.  He's only here for the current run.  He probably won't be here next season.

In the next year or two, Danny will trade what he has to to get a game-changing player*.

*Josh Smith is not that player.

[billysan]

As long as we havent overpaid any of the '9' the OP mentions, we will easily have cash to sign a big name. The position he plays really doesnt matter. All our guys are capable of being effective role players behind a top 3-5 talent.

None however, including Rondo, are capable of carrying a team alone.

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As it stands, that's a pretty bad team, even assuming reasonable development levels.  The backcourt is pretty nice, the frontcourt is full of question marks and it is pretty optimistic to think all of them would pan out.

The departures of KG, Pierce, and Terry would free up some flexibility and there is time to build and acquire additional pieces until then.  For now, I'd say we have a contender today and an 8/9/10 seed for the future.

EDIT: Geez, does anyone really see our roster minus three of our best players as a contender? We should win the championship in a sweep this year.  Imagine adding KG, Paul, and Jason Terry to a contender!

Yeah, I think to believe in that roster, you have to look positively at each piece in the best imaginable light:

Rondo a solid star (he is),
Lee/Bradley as solid contender-level role players (they are)
JGreen as a star SF (Gay/Granger level)
Sully as a star and 20/10 guy in 3 years (quite possible)
Melo/Darko providing solid defense in the pivot

And you have a team with a puncher's chance at the ECF.  In other words, making it out of the 2nd round.

Possible?

Does that put them 1 piece away?

[ianboyextreme]

lets say this happens
Jeff Green averages 17 ppg and 6 boards
Avery Bradley averages 15 ppg
Sully averages 16 and 9
Rondo averages 15 and 12
Melo turns into a more athletic version of Perk and averages say 9 and 7 with around 2 blocks per game

Lee averages like 10 ppg
Joseph averages around 10 ppg
Bass averages around 10 ppg

Thats a pretty well balanced team that can lock you down, has a paint protector, can run the floor, and rebound the ball.

I would say that team could win 50 games and after a couples of years together, if they really mesh, could be an underdog title contender, like, say, the Nuggets.

[ianboyextreme]

I think that Rotation is a lottery team

You need to take another look at some of the league's lottery teams.

[sofutomygaha]

What that is is a team with money left over for 1-2 more elite players.

You are imagining 2014, I think, so ok... let's replace KG and PP with, say, Pau Gasol and Danny Granger. Sure, I like a team of Rondo, Sullinger, Gasol, Granger, and Bradley  to contend.

[sofutomygaha]

*Josh Smith is not that player.

Awwwww.... c'mon.....

[celtsfan84]

As it stands, that's a pretty bad team, even assuming reasonable development levels.  The backcourt is pretty nice, the frontcourt is full of question marks and it is pretty optimistic to think all of them would pan out.

The departures of KG, Pierce, and Terry would free up some flexibility and there is time to build and acquire additional pieces until then.  For now, I'd say we have a contender today and an 8/9/10 seed for the future.

EDIT: Geez, does anyone really see our roster minus three of our best players as a contender? We should win the championship in a sweep this year.  Imagine adding KG, Paul, and Jason Terry to a contender!

Yeah, I think to believe in that roster, you have to look positively at each piece in the best imaginable light:

Rondo a solid star (he is),
Lee/Bradley as solid contender-level role players (they are)
JGreen as a star SF (Gay/Granger level)
Sully as a star and 20/10 guy in 3 years (quite possible)
Melo/Darko providing solid defense in the pivot

And you have a team with a puncher's chance at the ECF.  In other words, making it out of the 2nd round.

Possible?

Does that put them 1 piece away?

Even with a very optimistic outlook for some of those players (I'd say the entire frontcourt), I don't see that projection making us a whole lot better than what Memphis, the Clippers, or Atlanta are at the moment.  I don't consider any of them to be contenders.

For an optimistic example, consider Jeff Green to be Rudy Gay, Sullinger to be Zach Randolph, Lee/Bradley to be Tony Allen/Mayo from last season, Rondo is a good amount better than Conley (though Conley is pretty good), Melo/Darko is plenty worse than Gasol.  On balance, that makes us worse than Memphis, IMO, who wasn't a true contender.

[ianboyextreme]

What that is is a team with money left over for 1-2 more elite players.

You are imagining 2014, I think, so ok... let's replace KG and PP with, say, Pau Gasol and Danny Granger. Sure, I like a team of Rondo, Sullinger, Gasol, Granger, and Bradley  to contend.

You like a team with a 35 year old Pau Gasol? hmm

[ianboyextreme]

As it stands, that's a pretty bad team, even assuming reasonable development levels.  The backcourt is pretty nice, the frontcourt is full of question marks and it is pretty optimistic to think all of them would pan out.

The departures of KG, Pierce, and Terry would free up some flexibility and there is time to build and acquire additional pieces until then.  For now, I'd say we have a contender today and an 8/9/10 seed for the future.

EDIT: Geez, does anyone really see our roster minus three of our best players as a contender? We should win the championship in a sweep this year.  Imagine adding KG, Paul, and Jason Terry to a contender!

Yeah, I think to believe in that roster, you have to look positively at each piece in the best imaginable light:

Rondo a solid star (he is),
Lee/Bradley as solid contender-level role players (they are)
JGreen as a star SF (Gay/Granger level)
Sully as a star and 20/10 guy in 3 years (quite possible)
Melo/Darko providing solid defense in the pivot

And you have a team with a puncher's chance at the ECF.  In other words, making it out of the 2nd round.

Possible?

Does that put them 1 piece away?

Even with a very optimistic outlook for some of those players (I'd say the entire frontcourt), I don't see that projection making us a whole lot better than what Memphis, the Clippers, or Atlanta are at the moment.  I don't consider any of them to be contenders.

For an optimistic example, consider Jeff Green to be Rudy Gay, Sullinger to be Zach Randolph, Lee/Bradley to be Tony Allen/Mayo from last season, Rondo is a good amount better than Conley (though Conley is pretty good), Melo/Darko is plenty worse than Gasol.  On balance, that makes us worse than Memphis, IMO, who wasn't a true contender.

Good point but I think Bradley could be much better than Tony and we also have Doc.