Has our roster reached the tipping point?

[__ramonezy__]

Amongst the excitement of signing Al Horford, being the #2 consideration for KD and seeing the progression of players such as Rozier, Brown, Nader, Yab, etc it's easy to be very excited about our future... and I am!!! (just so that the post isn't considered trolling)

Our roster as it stands consists of:
Ball Handlers: Rozier, IT, Jackson, Smart
Swings: Bradley, Crowder, Green, Brown, Hunter
Bigs: Horford, AJ, JJ, KO, Mickey, Bentil

Our projected starting lineup is solid: IT, Bradley, Crowder, KO, Horford... and our bench is downright scary recently ranking 3rd best by a CBS Sports poll.

Which brings me to my main question, "Has our roster finally reached its tipping point?"

If the Nets pick is Top-3 and like this off-season, no star is available for trade, what position would we pick? The top players are PGs, but we already have IT. There is also some amazing wing talent, but we just invested in Brown and already have Crowder. If we pick Harry Giles (he's who I want) or Jonathan Isaac as a big, we have essentially nullified our first round draft picks this year. Virtually any draft pick we make essentially boots off another piece that has potential.

[action781]

... any draft pick we make essentially boots off another piece that has potential.

If that's a problem, then that's a very good problem to have. 

Be patient.  A deal will come across eventually.  And if not by next draft, then we draft the best available (even if it is a PG).  That would make IT expendable via trade or not handicap us to overpaying him in his next contract.  Teague just got traded for the #12 overall pick in the draft and I think IT might be able to command back a little better than that.

[Moranis]

The back court is pretty full, but the front court has a lot of holes and needs a lot of help.

[__ramonezy__]

... any draft pick we make essentially boots off another piece that has potential.

If that's a problem, then that's a very good problem to have. 

Be patient.  A deal will come across eventually.  And if not by next draft, then we draft the best available (even if it is a PG).  That would make IT expendable via trade or not handicap us to overpaying him in his next contract.  Teague just got traded for the #12 overall pick in the draft and I think IT might be able to command back a little better than that.

But that move will essentially mean we are no longer in "win now" mode and make signing 30-year old Horford a waste... no rookie PG will come in and perform better than IT...

[Raul C]

Jonathan Isaac is my pick - I think he's crazy talented.  Luckily he's going to play in the ACC this season so we can see what he does against elite talent and elite opposing coaches.

[Evantime34]

If the Nets pick is Top-3 and like this off-season, no star is available for trade, what position would we pick? The top players are PGs, but we already have IT. There is also some amazing wing talent, but we just invested in Brown and already have Crowder. If we pick Harry Giles (he's who I want) or Jonathan Isaac as a big, we have essentially nullified our first round draft picks this year. Virtually any draft pick we make essentially boots off another piece that has potential.

You pick the best player available regardless of position. Recently the Celtics have targeted players that can guard multiple positions, one of the benefits in doing that is two similar guys can play at the same time.

If we draft a guy like Josh Jackson, he could conceivably play next to Brown or Crowder. Same can be said about a pg like Fultz, since he is 6'4 and can probably guard the 1 and 2 you could play him with any of Bradley, Smart, Thomas or Rozier. If one player from that group gets pushed out of the rotation, that player can be traded to fill another need.

[HuskerCeltic]

What position would we pick?

That is the wrong question!!!!

The BKN pick needs to represent a potential franchise player, not a complimentary role player. I'm not saying that we will get the "transcendent" player that we are looking for but that is the goal. Find the next superstar that everyone else will fit around.

If this is not the goal, then what the hell are we thinking??

[td450]

... any draft pick we make essentially boots off another piece that has potential.

If that's a problem, then that's a very good problem to have. 

Be patient.  A deal will come across eventually.  And if not by next draft, then we draft the best available (even if it is a PG).  That would make IT expendable via trade or not handicap us to overpaying him in his next contract.  Teague just got traded for the #12 overall pick in the draft and I think IT might be able to command back a little better than that.

But that move will essentially mean we are no longer in "win now" mode and make signing 30-year old Horford a waste... no rookie PG will come in and perform better than IT...

Think back one year, and consider how differently the league views the C's, first after stepping forward and winning 48 games, and second after signing Horford. Consider the impact of the team being competitive on the young players.

Being a very good team opens up options for Ainge, and changes how players view Boston as a destination. If Horford and IT  aren't here when we win the next title, they will still help get us there 4+ years ahead.

[PhoSita]

I'm not sure where the excessive confidence about the bench comes from.

Smart is a nice defensive role player, but is unreliable at best offensively.  Terry Rozier has yet to really play much or produce at the NBA level.  Jaylen Brown is a raw teenager.  Gerald Green is an itchy-trigger-finger shooter who shot below 33% from deep last year.  Jonas Jerebko is a solid jack-of-all-trades combo forward, an acceptable plug-in who doesn't do anything especially well.  Kelly Olynyk is a useful and versatile PF/C with range, but he will still be recovering from shoulder surgery for the first part of the season.  Tyler Zeller is a matchup-dependent backup center.

The talent on the bench is remarkable.  But there are a lot of question marks.

[walker834]

I think Ainge usually takes who he feels is the best player for the celtics and does what he feels is best regardless.  Taking the bpa is kind of a misnomer that way.  That is so subjective. There's a bigger picture involved than that. And no we aren't at the tipping point.  If we were we would be but we aren't.  We still have room to maneuver.  We have players stashed overseas and have loaded our roster with quality players where we can still makes moves to pair down.  I don't think DA is feeling any extra pressure today than he was to do that though.   Our roster is set up well enough and has improved where I think we can go into the season as constituted.  There are a few guys i don't think he wants to cut though so a deal may be made before the season starts.  He doesn't have to deal though. There are things he can do with Nader where we can still keep Hunter on the roster.   I don't think we are at the tipping point no..  The way Ainge manages I'm not sure we will ever be either.  He's usually pretty good at managing things that way.

I think come next offseason if we have to lose Green or a couple other guys to bring in draft picks Ainge will probably find a way to manage it too.    Or make a trade.  We do have players stashed though where it's work.

I think Nader and Hunter and Young is the only overflow we have right now. We can only keep one on the roster as it stands I think if I'm not mistaken.

Right now we are fine.  When we have to pair down to 15 we are going to have to do something there.

We still own all the rights on all these guys and have roster space.  Some of these questions are silly to me. 

[walker834]

We have a lot of guys where being able to play them all is a bit of a challenge too but our roster is still set up pretty well and has improved where players can play whether it's in roles or in the d-league or overseas.  I don't see our roster like tipping over.  David Lee was kind of that.  He wanted to play and there wasn't room for him to do that here last year so we dealt him.  It worked out too and was a good move for Ainge to get him that way to get rid of Wallace's contract and pick up a draft pick.

I think our roster makes sense right now.  I don't see any issue with it overly.  Some of these young guys as they improve are we are going to have to pick and choose a bit ultimately.

This is where Ainge is a smart drafter though and doesn't always pick the bpa. He takes who is best for the celtics and who fits roles on this team.

Taking bpa does not work. I've been saying that for a long time though. You have to play them all.  You have to pay them all.  You end up with a cluster****.   It doesn't work that way.

This is where I question some fans too. It's not real love.  It's not understanding what the celtics are trying to do.  It's fans thinking about themselves and what they think is best regardless of the team they are supposedly rooting for which they'd end up destroying.

There's a difference between taking the bpa for the celtics and taking the bpa period. That is silly. Sometimes that is the bpa but ultimately  it's about taking the bpa for the celtics or a player where we can trade and get the bpa for the celtics.

[Ilikesports17]

If we pick a point gaurd it would create a really difficult situation for a year, but that would be alleviated the next season as wed be able to(have to) let Isaiah or Marcus walk. If we pick Jackson, wed be in a bit of a pinch as hes a 2/3, but this would again be easily alleviated the next season by letting Smart or Bradley walk.

Giles would be absolutely perfect. We are already probably losing Kelly Jonas and Amir. He would not be "blocking" anyone. In fact even with Horford Giles Mickey Zizic and Yabu on the roster Id be concerned about our big rotation.

[hardlyyardley]

Quality will win out and solve the "problem"

[OldSchoolDude]

Jonathan Isaac is my pick - I think he's crazy talented.  Luckily he's going to play in the ACC this season so we can see what he does against elite talent and elite opposing coaches.

He's my pick too. I said as much in other posts.

I really think that our starters are place holders until the real player comes along.  IT, Bradley, and Crowder are good but they've proven they are not good enough. I think their contracts were done so that when they expire the banner 18 starter will take their place.  Smart and Brown, as # 6 and 3 picks, need to step up and replace someone.   I'd like to get Jonathan Isaac next year, but if Smart or even Rozier doesn't step up at PG, we may need to draft a PG.  I do not see a team with a 5'9 point guard wining it all.  Irving shot over IT at will when Cleveland swept us.

Absent trades and with loto luck I'd like to see the roster mature into something like this for 2019-2020 season.

PG: Smart / IT / Jackson
SG: Brown / Bradley / Rozier
SF: Jonathan Isaac (2017)/ Crowder / JJ
PF: Horford / E.J. Montgomery (2019) / Yabusele
C: DeAndre Ayton (2018) / Zizic / KO

 

[TheBig3]

The back court is pretty full, but the front court has a lot of holes and needs a lot of help.

Not sure I agree that we have a lot of holes in the front court. Can it be improved? Definitely, what are the big holes you are referencing?