Minutes distribution when KO returns from injury

[SCeltic34]

Kelly Olynyk is set to return soon, likely sometime this week per Chris Forsberg of ESPN:

BOSTON -- Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens said that rookie forward/center Kelly Olynyk went through an individual workout on Friday and could return to game action next week.

"From what I’ve been told, [Olynyk] went through an individual workout [Friday]," said Stevens. "He is going to, hopefully, feel good [Saturday] and go light in practice tomorrow. He’ll probably be out Sunday [vs. the New York Knicks]. He’ll be day-to-day starting next week. Tuesday might be a stretch, it might not be. I don’t know. But he’s close to being back."

During KO's absence, we've gone 5-2.  Hump has been getting KO's minutes and has been terrific for us.  The question is, when KO returns, does Hump still get those minutes?  Forsberg writes that even Stevens is unsure how KO will fit back into the rotation when he's healthy enough to play.

The stats so far this season:
KO (22.6 minutes per game): 7.5 pts, 5.4 rebs, .389 fg%, .455 TS%, .407 eFG%, 16.8% defensive rebound percentage
KO per 36 mins: 11.9 pts, 8.6 rebs

Hump (14.1 minutes per game): 5.4 pts, 4.3 rebs, .522 fg%, .571 TS%, .522%, 26.6% defensive rebound percentage
Hump per 36 mins: 13.7 pts, 10.8 rebs

Unfortunately, I don't have other stats available (such as offensive and defensive rating when Hump or KO are on the floor).  However, even ignoring statistics altogether, I'm confident that few with disagree with me when I say that Humphries is clearly the superior player at this point of their respective careers.  He has deserved every minute of playing time he has gotten thus far, and it could be argued that he deserves even more minutes.

Hump has been getting 17.7 mpg in the last 7.  In my opinion, if the objective truly is to give the C's the best chance of winning on a nightly basis, Stevens should continue to give Hump his minutes.  The negative side of this, of course, is a likely decrease in KO's minutes which may in turn hinder his development.

So what should Stevens do with the minutes distribution when KO comes back?  I'm certain KO will get nightly minutes, but probably not as much.  A sample minutes distribution I could live with:

Center: Hump 20 mins/Sully 20 mins/KO and Vitor - fill in mins as needed
PF: Bass 26 mins/Sully 10 mins/KO 10-12 mins

This setup cuts back on KO's and Faverani's minutes.  Obviously there's some mixing and matching you can do.

I'm curious as to what other die-hard C's fans think.

- Give KO back his minutes (22.6 mpg) so that he can continue his rookie development, and decrease Humps minutes?

- Continue to give Hump his 17+ mpg while reducing KO's minutes to give the C's the best chance of winning on a nightly basis? (The fact that whether this applies is obviously debatable, but I'd argue that Hump's contributions are one of the reasons for our 5-2 record over the past 7 games)

- Decrease Vitor's minutes (16.4 mpg) in favor of KO and Hump?

- Decrease Bass' (29 mpg) minutes in favor of KO and/or Hump?

- Decrease Sully's minutes (25.3 mpg) in favor of KO and Hump? (I'm certainly against this one)

- Trade Bass for a bag of peanuts to clear up the PF logjam? (alright, I'm kidding on this one, Bass has been solid this season and appears to be underappreciated around here).

All opinions and thoughts are welcome.

[Birdman]

if the Celtics want to keep winning or at least staying close, I keep the same lineup that's been doing good..Humphries can still play...KO just have to wait

[BudweiserCeltic]

We'll see. I'd like to see Humphries still getting playing time. I'd like to say reduce Bass' minutes, but he's been rebounding well... though there's room to cut his minutes a bit. So, Faverani more than anyone at the moment should be the one to get benched... as might be Olynyk himself, we'll have to see.

[satch]

Be patient. There will be more injuries.

[PhoSita]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

[coco]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No more than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

[SCeltic34]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

I mostly agree.  If we're looking to put our best basketball lineups on the floor and shoot for the best record possible, I think Hump needs minutes.

On the other hand, the future is what's most importance since we aren't going far this year, playoffs or not.  I like when Sully, KO, and Vitor get a lot of minutes.  Sully is a keeper.  KO will start knocking down his jumpers sooner or later, we know he's capable of it.  And Vitor was a great pickup for 2 mil per year for 3 years, he certainly belongs in the NBA and is a serviceable backup.

The original post was rather lengthy, but it was basically asking what Stevens should allocate the minutes to - maximizing our chances of winning with Hump getting more minutes?  Or giving the rooks (specifically KO since it's his minutes that Hump is taking) more playing time to develop? 

I'd definitely agree at this point that development is more important.

[SCeltic34]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No Marie than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

There's also the issue of maintaining/boosting our players trade value.  Like Hump, Bass likely isn't in our long term plans, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Bass traded.  Fortunately he's played well this year and is on a reasonable contract.  He needs his minutes to keep his value up.

[coco]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No Marie than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

There's also the issue of maintaining/boosting our players trade value.  Like Hump, Bass likely isn't in our long term plans, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Bass traded.  Fortunately he's played well this year and is on a reasonable contract.  He needs his minutes to keep his value up.

Ok, but not more mins than Kelly

[jade88]

I'm just not a KO fan. His production has been very underwhelming, even if he's done a few things that don't show up on the statline. Hump is so much better to watch and he's far superior. I'm not one of the tankers, i want to win as many games as possible. Play Hump!


Sullinger on the other hand came into the NBA ready to produce right away, love Sully. Even this Jan when he was getting 4 whistles in 10 minutes lol. Dude was producing.

KO can't get his shot to fall, his frame is too small for his position, and his defense and rebounding are mediocre at best. I wanted Dennis Schroder.

[jade88]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No more than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

Bass is a very good NBA player. I have no problem saying Sully is better or will be better, but KO and Hump is a stretch. Bass and his play are no reason to throw up. He does many things above average. Ko would be lucky ever defend half as good.

[coco]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No more than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

Bass is a very good NBA player. I have no problem saying Sully is better or will be better, but KO and Hump is a stretch. Bass and his play are no reason to throw up. He does many things above average. Ko would be lucky ever defend half as good.

Well I hope you are wrong cause if Bass is the present and future... Heaven help us. 
I rather lose developing KO and see what we've got than going to the playoff with Bass as our premier big.

[jade88]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No more than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

Bass is a very good NBA player. I have no problem saying Sully is better or will be better, but KO and Hump is a stretch. Bass and his play are no reason to throw up. He does many things above average. Ko would be lucky ever defend half as good.

Well I hope you are wrong cause if Bass is the present and future... Heaven help us. 
I rather lose developing KO and see what we've got than going to the playoff with Bass as our premier big.

Premier big? No thanks. But he's pretty awesome to bring off the bench. KO would be very lucky to ever be as good, and he's a likely bench player himself.

Bass could be a starter next to D12 or on Miami in place of Haslem. Not a bad player at all!

[coco]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No more than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

Bass is a very good NBA player. I have no problem saying Sully is better or will be better, but KO and Hump is a stretch. Bass and his play are no reason to throw up. He does many things above average. Ko would be lucky ever defend half as good.

Well I hope you are wrong cause if Bass is the present and future... Heaven help us. 
I rather lose developing KO and see what we've got than going to the playoff with Bass as our premier big.

Premier big? No thanks. But he's pretty awesome to bring off the bench. KO would be very lucky to ever be as good, and he's a likely bench player himself.

Bass could be a starter next to D12 or on Miami in place of Haslem. Not a bad player at all!

I think we value KO and Bass differently.  If am rebuilding I want KO to get the lions share of the minutes between the two.  I appreciate Bass, but in the end, we are rebuilding and Playing KO isn't going to lose you more games.  KO's offense will come

[jade88]

Sullinger: 32
Bass: 24-30
Faverani: 15-20
Olynyk: ~20


This season is about development.  The future is what matters.  Humphries has no future here, thus he has no place in the rotation.  Olynyk has shown enough in the past that he's earned his spot.

Agreed.  And the same goes for Bass.  No more than 20 mins for Bass please....or I am going to throw up

Bass is a very good NBA player. I have no problem saying Sully is better or will be better, but KO and Hump is a stretch. Bass and his play are no reason to throw up. He does many things above average. Ko would be lucky ever defend half as good.

Well I hope you are wrong cause if Bass is the present and future... Heaven help us. 
I rather lose developing KO and see what we've got than going to the playoff with Bass as our premier big.

Premier big? No thanks. But he's pretty awesome to bring off the bench. KO would be very lucky to ever be as good, and he's a likely bench player himself.

Bass could be a starter next to D12 or on Miami in place of Haslem. Not a bad player at all!

I think we value KO and Bass differently.  If am rebuilding I want KO to get the lions share of the minutes between the two.  I appreciate Bass, but in the end, we are rebuilding and Playing KO isn't going to lose you more games.  KO's offense will come

Fair enough, in that context i understand completely.

I'm just not in full on rebuild mode. I'm in grab another late 20's superstar and a center so we can get another 5 year window mode lol. Winning now and looking like a good destination that is only a big piece or two away could entice someone like Carmelo etc. to come here.

So it's easy to agree to disagree, we just have different ideas on where we would like to see the team go.