Poll: 15th Roster Spot - El Hombre Indestructible or Dwight Powell

[hardlyyardley]

Watched Powell several times over his career at Stanford....liked his game a lot!!!

Was hoping they would buy a second round pick and he was one of the targets for that pick

[Alleyoopster]

I was impressed with Powell the first couple games.  However, the game against the Knicks showed me he doesn't want it bad enough.  He should have been all over Anthony...hacking him if need be, ticking him off with his aggressiveness.  Instead, he was as passive as possible.  Sure, Anthony would have driven right by him if he guarded him too closely.  And, Carmelo is an elite player that few players can guard successfully. 

Powell should know that successfully guarding players like Anthony are his lunch ticket.  Even if he couldn't stop him, he needed to let Anthony know that there was no difference between Powell and his own shadow. 

[LooseCannon]

I think his 2nd year (the current year) is non guaranteed so he'll be praying they keep him.
Faverani can take a year off and them come to Boston as a back up big man in a few years when we're contenders again.

This season is guaranteed.  Next season isn't.

[DesertDweller]

It would make it an easy decision if Vitor played every night like he did in the clip but I'm afraid he's too up and down. I gotta go with Powell on this one.

we can't start piling up people that are not going to be starting the season on this roster.

[Mencius]

Fwiw, Danny is sounding like Faverani's still part of the plan (which I'm hoping is true) ... per Mark Murphy article today:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/10/celtics_notebook_injured_vitor_faverani_in_danny_ainge_s

Vitor Faverani’s knee surgery led to speculation that the Celtics, currently bridled with 16 guaranteed contracts, might consider waiving the Brazilian center.

However, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge shot down that notion yesterday, saying his goal is to have Faverani back on the floor later in the upcoming season.

“We like Vitor,” Ainge said. “The thing we want right now is to get him healthy. We thought he would be ready for the start of training camp, but he had a little setback.”

[...]

An MRI taken of the knee prior to surgery was inconclusive, and Ainge admitted he still hasn’t heard details of what was found in the knee during surgery.

The Celts also have rookie forward Dwight Powell under contract for next season. Though coach Brad Stevens has been intrigued by Powell’s athleticism and versatility, the team also has to cut down to 15 players by the start of the season.

“We have things we can do before we waive someone,” said Ainge, leaving the door open for another trade.

[saltlover]

Fwiw, Danny is sounding like Faverani's still part of the plan (which I'm hoping is true) ... per Mark Murphy article today:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/10/celtics_notebook_injured_vitor_faverani_in_danny_ainge_s

Vitor Faverani’s knee surgery led to speculation that the Celtics, currently bridled with 16 guaranteed contracts, might consider waiving the Brazilian center.

However, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge shot down that notion yesterday, saying his goal is to have Faverani back on the floor later in the upcoming season.

“We like Vitor,” Ainge said. “The thing we want right now is to get him healthy. We thought he would be ready for the start of training camp, but he had a little setback.”

[...]

An MRI taken of the knee prior to surgery was inconclusive, and Ainge admitted he still hasn’t heard details of what was found in the knee during surgery.

The Celts also have rookie forward Dwight Powell under contract for next season. Though coach Brad Stevens has been intrigued by Powell’s athleticism and versatility, the team also has to cut down to 15 players by the start of the season.

“We have things we can do before we waive someone,” said Ainge, leaving the door open for another trade.

No reason for him not to be at this point.  We're 10 days into  pre-season games, and a number of players have gone down.  There's sure to be a few more, and trade opportunities will certainly present themselves.  The Celtics have generally a very flat roster in terms of talent, all of it very near NBA average.  While that's not good for winning, it is good for having a lot of players teams are interested in to shore up holes in the rosters.  For example, now the Pistons will be without Jodie Meeks for a couple of months at least as he recovers from a stress fracture in his back.  They have about $7 million in cap space -- maybe they'd like Marcus Thornton for a small (maybe non-guaranteed if they have any) contract.  (Not trying to start a "Trade Thornton/Keep Thornton" thread.  Just noting the latest injury and how the Celtics have a player who can fill the void should it need filling.)

[Celtics18]

I'm a big fan of Vitor Faverani.  I thought he showed some very good things when he was healthy last year.

Hopefully, this knee injury heals up and he'll be able to return to the Celtics before the end of the calendar year.

I guess it would be nice if we could keep Dwight Powell as well, but if it came down to one of the two of them, I'd absolutely keep Vitor. 

[greece66]

The only good thing about Faverani is that he makes Zeller look like a good choice.
Since we are re-building anyway, I prefer keeping Powell, there are more chances he will develop into a useful player in the future. But to be honest, I think the best player to cut is Joel Anthony.

Interesting, never even considered that as option. I actually like Joel, last night I thought he did an alright job of matching up with Quincy Acey's all out hustle. He could be a valuable chip to move at the trade deadline if a contender need's a veteran defender on a short contract.

  Well, it looks like the trade with Detroit was made precisely with this in mind: we trade Anthony for Bynum (who is cheaper), then cut him, and keep both El Hombre Self-Destructible and Powell.