Russell is not even CLOSE to a bust yet. I'd trade Hunter for him and I am a huge RJ Hunter guy (I wanted the Celtics to trade up for him). Russell's value is still almost exactly what it was on draft night.
As for roster cuts, I think we go into training camp with 16, possibly 17 if we give Holmes some money to keep him from signing with another team before camp.
I think the tiering of likely chops goes as follows:
1) Perry Jones
- Unless he really lights the world on fire my guess is he is the casualty. Thanks for bringing a pick as a housewarming gift though, Perry.
2a) Sully
2b) Olynyk
- If the C's want to keep Holmes I think one of these two get dumped even if its only for a 2nd rounder. With Lee, Johnson, Jerebko, and Holmes there would be plenty of redundancy in for Sully/KO's skill set to be replaced. In fact, I think Holmes is a bit of Sully insurance. If he shows up to camp fat i think he's the guy who gets traded, or he might just get outright cut.
3) James Young
- Since he is so young, and can play a position we have less depth at i think James gets another year in green at least. However, if he still looks completely lost in camp, and PJIII and Holmes are blowing up, I could see the C's possibly stepping away from James already. I doubt it happens, but it is not an impossibility.