Rotation Predictions

[Bostoncelticsforlife7]

I can not sleep. I'm in one of those phases where I literally cannot stop thinking about basketball. Here's what I think the rotation will be on opening night:

Kyrie (35) Smart (30) Larkin (0)
Brown (26) Rozier (18) Allen (0)
Hayward (35) Tatum (23) Ojeleye (0)
Morris (31) Theis (0) Nader (0)
Horford (32) Baynes (10) Yabusele (0)

What do you guys think? Personally I'm not the biggest Aron Baynes fan, I think he's a scrub, but Stevens might be able to turn him into a legit back up center. I don't know much about Theis, but I think he will fight for the last rotation spot along with Baynes and Yabusele during preseason.
 
I'm still not to thrilled about Horford being our full time center again this year, but I think we will be a little better at rebounding this year compared to last year considering we got rid of Olynyk and Amir who were probably never taught how to box out in their life. But I feel like we did get noticeably taller across the board by getting rid of Isaiah and Crowder, who we used a lot as an undersized 4. Our starting lineup is a lot taller than last year, assuming brown starts at the 2, so that will help. Not to mention, Tatum is a very underappreciated rebounder and could help us out some in that area.

This roster is so different from last years (6 rookies!!!), I'm so excited for training camp. I was probably most excited to see Zizic play partly because he replied to my instagram DMs but its ok. Anyways, how would you change the rotation? Who is the first guy off the bench is someone gets injured? Should Tatum get more minutes than Brown?

[Somebody]

I think Rozier is a scrub if Baynes is one, he's a very serviceable center that should start for us. He has played in very good systems and has won (Spurs), loves to muck it up inside, can shoot FTs well and midrange jumpers, sets mean screens, can alter shots in the paint with him being great at playing vertical and has some post moves. Only thing that makes him not great is that he has lobster hands, but I think Brad will solve that by putting him in situations where his hands aren't in play as much.
Rotation:
Kyrie (32) Rozier (10) Larkin (0)
Brown (28) Smart (28) Nader (0)
Hayward (32) Tatum (24) Semi (0)
Horford (32) Morris (20) Yabu (5)
Baynes (24) Theis (5)
A lot is subject to change though. I think Danny will sign a vet min C to shore up the center spot in case of injury, I'm leaning towards Lavoy Allen or Andrew Bogut.

[Bostoncelticsforlife7]

Ya maybe I can't really say much about Baynes since I haven't watch him play a lot, but as of right now, I like Yabusele better for the 3rd big off the bench.

[TheSundanceKid]

Kyrie (32) Smart (28) Larkin (2)
Brown (26) Rozier (18) Allen (0)
Hayward (32) Tatum (18) Ojeleye (2)
Morris (26) Theis (15) Nader (2)
Horford (30) Baynes (18) Yabusele (1)

I actually see Theis as the starter after training camp but the popular opinion is Baynes, filling the Amir role.
Yab will spend the majority of the year in Maine, he's right at the back of the depth chart. I imagine one of Semi and Nader will join him every now and then. I also think we keep the 15th roster spot open and find a vet later in the year.

I think no-one will play over 32 minutes and there is no reason to. We are 10 deep in terms of experienced players and Brad will utilise it across the regular season. Kyrie is going to be a lot more rested for the playoffs this year.

[Celtics4ever]

Brown (26) Rozier (18) Allen (0)

I think Bird will be ahead of Allen as far as SG depth goes.   He outplayed him in Summer League in almost every possible way.

[RLewis35]

We really need another guard who can shoot and another big.

[nebist]

Depth Chart
1- Irving (34) / Rozier (14)
2- Brown (18) / Smart (30)
3- Hayward (34) / Brown ( / Tatum (6)
4- Morris (28) / Tatum (16)
5- Horford (32) / Baynes (20)
Deep Bench:
1- Larkin / (Allen)
2- (Bird)
3- Ojeleye / Nader
4- Theis / Yabusele
5-

Players 10-12 (Ojeleye/Theis/?) will get some spot minutes, but I stuck with a 9-man core rotation here for simplicity.  I think Brown starts but Smart ends up playing more minutes and closing.  I think the closers will be. Kyrie/Smart/Hayward/Horford and then one of Morris/Brown/Tatum depending on need.

[The Oracle]

I don't think Horford is going to be starting at center even though he is much better there than PF.  Brad isn't going to have him banging with starting centers for the entire regular season and beat him up.  I would expect Horford to start at PF and move to C in small ball lineups against benches and to end halves, Irving at PG, Hayward at SF and Baynes at C.  The SG spot between Smart and Brown. 

[No Nickname]

I can not sleep. I'm in one of those phases where I literally cannot stop thinking about basketball. Here's what I think the rotation will be on opening night:

Kyrie (35) Smart (30) Larkin (0)
Brown (26) Rozier (18) Allen (0)
Hayward (35) Tatum (23) Ojeleye (0)
Morris (31) Theis (0) Nader (0)
Horford (32) Baynes (10) Yabusele (0)

What do you guys think? Personally I'm not the biggest Aron Baynes fan, I think he's a scrub, but Stevens might be able to turn him into a legit back up center. I don't know much about Theis, but I think he will fight for the last rotation spot along with Baynes and Yabusele during preseason.
 
I'm still not to thrilled about Horford being our full time center again this year, but I think we will be a little better at rebounding this year compared to last year considering we got rid of Olynyk and Amir who were probably never taught how to box out in their life. But I feel like we did get noticeably taller across the board by getting rid of Isaiah and Crowder, who we used a lot as an undersized 4. Our starting lineup is a lot taller than last year, assuming brown starts at the 2, so that will help. Not to mention, Tatum is a very underappreciated rebounder and could help us out some in that area.

This roster is so different from last years (6 rookies!!!), I'm so excited for training camp. I was probably most excited to see Zizic play partly because he replied to my instagram DMs but its ok. Anyways, how would you change the rotation? Who is the first guy off the bench is someone gets injured? Should Tatum get more minutes than Brown?

So you're predicting the game will go to quadruple-overtime?  Obviously kidding, but your first set of minutes for point guard had me laughing.

[Vermont Green]

All of these proposed rotations reveal the problem.  We don't have enough bigs.  I don't believe that Tatum is going to see minutes at PF, or if he does, we are going to get killed.  As it stands now, Theis and Yabusele are going to have to play more minutes at C/PF than we would want.  Or I guess they could run Baynes out there for 32 minutes and have a 3 man big rotation, at least at first.  I expect more moves to balance out the roster.  Looking just at bigs:

Horford     C    32 minutes
Baynes     C    16 minutes

Morris     PF     32 minutes
? ? ? ?     PF     16 minutes

The ? ? ? ? could be more of Baynes or Theis/Yabusele (but hopefully not Tatum).   More likely it is a player still be be obtained.  It would not be the end of the world to see Baynes getting more like 24 minutes while things play out some and then fill in the rest with Theis/Yabusele or small ball.

[Evantime34]

All of these proposed rotations reveal the problem.  We don't have enough bigs.  I don't believe that Tatum is going to see minutes at PF, or if he does, we are going to get killed.  As it stands now, Theis and Yabusele are going to have to play more minutes at C/PF than we would want.  Or I guess they could run Baynes out there for 32 minutes and have a 3 man big rotation, at least at first.  I expect more moves to balance out the roster.  Looking just at bigs:

Horford     C    32 minutes
Baynes     C    16 minutes

Morris     PF     32 minutes
? ? ? ?     PF     16 minutes

The ? ? ? ? could be more of Baynes or Theis/Yabusele (but hopefully not Tatum).   More likely it is a player still be be obtained.  It would not be the end of the world to see Baynes getting more like 24 minutes while things play out some and then fill in the rest with Theis/Yabusele or small ball.

In general I agree with your breakdown, but Baynes will probably play more minutes, Horford will probably still play some minutes at the 4 (maybe even split his minutes between the two positions).

I think one of Theiss, Yabu or Semi could grab 15 minutes a game. I also think you will see times where Hayward or Jaylen will defend 4's. Both Jaylen and Hayward are 230+ and with other teams going small there will be opportunities for those two to grab minutes at the 4.

I expect the C's to add a big to fill their last spot, but I think the player who is going to get the minutes you alluded to is already on the team.

[Bostoncelticsforlife7]

I can not sleep. I'm in one of those phases where I literally cannot stop thinking about basketball. Here's what I think the rotation will be on opening night:

Kyrie (35) Smart (30) Larkin (0)
Brown (26) Rozier (18) Allen (0)
Hayward (35) Tatum (23) Ojeleye (0)
Morris (31) Theis (0) Nader (0)
Horford (32) Baynes (10) Yabusele (0)

What do you guys think? Personally I'm not the biggest Aron Baynes fan, I think he's a scrub, but Stevens might be able to turn him into a legit back up center. I don't know much about Theis, but I think he will fight for the last rotation spot along with Baynes and Yabusele during preseason.
 
I'm still not to thrilled about Horford being our full time center again this year, but I think we will be a little better at rebounding this year compared to last year considering we got rid of Olynyk and Amir who were probably never taught how to box out in their life. But I feel like we did get noticeably taller across the board by getting rid of Isaiah and Crowder, who we used a lot as an undersized 4. Our starting lineup is a lot taller than last year, assuming brown starts at the 2, so that will help. Not to mention, Tatum is a very underappreciated rebounder and could help us out some in that area.

This roster is so different from last years (6 rookies!!!), I'm so excited for training camp. I was probably most excited to see Zizic play partly because he replied to my instagram DMs but its ok. Anyways, how would you change the rotation? Who is the first guy off the bench is someone gets injured? Should Tatum get more minutes than Brown?

So you're predicting the game will go to quadruple-overtime?  Obviously kidding, but your first set of minutes for point guard had me laughing.

Why? IT and Smart last year averaged a total of 64 minutes.

[Evantime34]

I can not sleep. I'm in one of those phases where I literally cannot stop thinking about basketball. Here's what I think the rotation will be on opening night:

Kyrie (35) Smart (30) Larkin (0)
Brown (26) Rozier (18) Allen (0)
Hayward (35) Tatum (23) Ojeleye (0)
Morris (31) Theis (0) Nader (0)
Horford (32) Baynes (10) Yabusele (0)

What do you guys think? Personally I'm not the biggest Aron Baynes fan, I think he's a scrub, but Stevens might be able to turn him into a legit back up center. I don't know much about Theis, but I think he will fight for the last rotation spot along with Baynes and Yabusele during preseason.
 
I'm still not to thrilled about Horford being our full time center again this year, but I think we will be a little better at rebounding this year compared to last year considering we got rid of Olynyk and Amir who were probably never taught how to box out in their life. But I feel like we did get noticeably taller across the board by getting rid of Isaiah and Crowder, who we used a lot as an undersized 4. Our starting lineup is a lot taller than last year, assuming brown starts at the 2, so that will help. Not to mention, Tatum is a very underappreciated rebounder and could help us out some in that area.

This roster is so different from last years (6 rookies!!!), I'm so excited for training camp. I was probably most excited to see Zizic play partly because he replied to my instagram DMs but its ok. Anyways, how would you change the rotation? Who is the first guy off the bench is someone gets injured? Should Tatum get more minutes than Brown?

So you're predicting the game will go to quadruple-overtime?  Obviously kidding, but your first set of minutes for point guard had me laughing.

Why? IT and Smart last year averaged a total of 64 minutes.

Your breakdown is slightly confusing because Marcus/Kyrie can't play 65 minutes at the 1 because there are only 48 minutes in the game. I know what you meant but Smart will play the 1, 2 and the 3 so his name should show up in all those positions with numbers next to them. For example here is how I would do it.

Kyrie (33), Rozier (10), Smart (5)
Jaylen (15), Smart (20), Rozier (13)
Hayward (20), Tatum (20), Jaylen (5), Smart (3)
Horford (15), Morris (23), Hayward (10)
Baynes (20), Horford (15), Morris (5), Yabu (

Essentially the only players on the team who will only play one position are Baynes and Kyrie.

[No Nickname]

I can not sleep. I'm in one of those phases where I literally cannot stop thinking about basketball. Here's what I think the rotation will be on opening night:

Kyrie (35) Smart (30) Larkin (0)
Brown (26) Rozier (18) Allen (0)
Hayward (35) Tatum (23) Ojeleye (0)
Morris (31) Theis (0) Nader (0)
Horford (32) Baynes (10) Yabusele (0)

What do you guys think? Personally I'm not the biggest Aron Baynes fan, I think he's a scrub, but Stevens might be able to turn him into a legit back up center. I don't know much about Theis, but I think he will fight for the last rotation spot along with Baynes and Yabusele during preseason.
 
I'm still not to thrilled about Horford being our full time center again this year, but I think we will be a little better at rebounding this year compared to last year considering we got rid of Olynyk and Amir who were probably never taught how to box out in their life. But I feel like we did get noticeably taller across the board by getting rid of Isaiah and Crowder, who we used a lot as an undersized 4. Our starting lineup is a lot taller than last year, assuming brown starts at the 2, so that will help. Not to mention, Tatum is a very underappreciated rebounder and could help us out some in that area.

This roster is so different from last years (6 rookies!!!), I'm so excited for training camp. I was probably most excited to see Zizic play partly because he replied to my instagram DMs but its ok. Anyways, how would you change the rotation? Who is the first guy off the bench is someone gets injured? Should Tatum get more minutes than Brown?

So you're predicting the game will go to quadruple-overtime?  Obviously kidding, but your first set of minutes for point guard had me laughing.

Why? IT and Smart last year averaged a total of 64 minutes.

Your breakdown is slightly confusing because Marcus/Kyrie can't play 65 minutes at the 1 because there are only 48 minutes in the game. I know what you meant but Smart will play the 1, 2 and the 3 so his name should show up in all those positions with numbers next to them. For example here is how I would do it.

Kyrie (33), Rozier (10), Smart (5)
Jaylen (15), Smart (20), Rozier (13)
Hayward (20), Tatum (20), Jaylen (5), Smart (3)
Horford (15), Morris (23), Hayward (10)
Baynes (20), Horford (15), Morris (5), Yabu (

Essentially the only players on the team who will only play one position are Baynes and Kyrie.

Thank you for explaining my point much nicer to me.

[ThePaintedArea]

I think Rozier is a scrub if Baynes is one, he's a very serviceable center that should start for us.

First big off the bench, I would bet.  Horford/Baynes is a problem for defending out on the floor.

He ... can shoot FTs well and midrange jumpers,

Yes, a great asset to have an A-plus FT shooter as your backup center.  Not only that but he got to the line frequently last year.

... has some post moves.

We won't be seeing a whole lot of that - Boston has much better options - and only in emergency situations, since he can't make a play out of the post.  He's a low-usage guy whom you cannot, at all, run offense through (another reason why he won't start).

Only thing that makes him not great is that he has lobster hands, but I think Brad will solve that by putting him in situations where his hands aren't in play as much.

In general this is a drawback - you can't give him the ball unless he's open for the midrange, because you don't want him passing.