Roster Jam - a 12 man rotation is not viable!

[Rick Robeys Return]

In trading Rondo for three players who - at least arguably - expect and deserve playing time, Danny created a problem for Coach Stevens. Stevens played eleven players before the end of the first half tonight (against Miami - with poor results), and when Thornton comes back the issue is going to be even more pronounced.

Even if Stevens flat out tells Wallace and Young not dress, and gives a nightly DNP-CD to Pressey, in order to give minutes to Jameer Nelson (not an obvious proposition given Nelson's serious defensive deficiencies), there is still a major log-jam at the wing and in the front-court.

Sully, Bass, KO, Wright and Zeller all deserve at least 15-20 minutes at the 4/5

And while Green should be getting 30 mins a night,  Bradley, Turner, Thornton, and Crowder are all deserving of at least 15-20 at the 2/3

Again, this assumes Smart and Nelson split the pg duties...

Now, while it is possible to make the math work, it seems to be a recipe for disaster on many levels.

First, has any team ever successfully, regularly used a 12 man (or even 11 man) rotation? And a 9 man rotation is preferred. And this isnt even to mention that Young is now entirely frozen out (as is Pressey), where player development is a concern.

Second, DA has put CBS in a position of p---ing off any number of free agents to be, not least Thornton and Bass, for this likely reduction of minutes.

I thought some of this would be addressed when the talk of a Nelson buy-out was circulated. But given his press conference, and his play tonight, this seems like not being on the immediate horizon.

A move has to be coming, and I would hope it is coming soon. Preferably before Thornton makes his return.

[littleteapot]

I don't understand why anyone would think Jameer Nelson needs playing time. We'll see on Crowder, but the only guys I think who need to be in the rotation every game are Sully, Olynyk, Zeller, Wright, Bass, Green, Bradley, Turner and Smart. The others are situational at best.

[Surferdad]

The trade makes the talent depth even more "even" from top to bottom with Rondo gone and legit rotation players coming in return.  However, Stevens need not worry about who "deserves" minutes. He will play the guys that work in his system and hopefully also takes into consideration who is playing well.  This will all sort out.

[BleedGreen1989]

Trades will come.

One way or the other.

[2short]

No Nelson, pressed on emergency only.  Turner and smart at pg.  Nelson should be bought out, scrub at this point

[Surferdad]

No Nelson, pressed on emergency only.  Turner and smart at pg.  Nelson should be bought out, scrub at this point

Keep him as insurance policy if Smart, Pressey and/or Turner go down. No need to buy him out right now. 

[Rick Robeys Return]

I don't understand why anyone would think Jameer Nelson needs playing time. We'll see on Crowder, but the only guys I think who need to be in the rotation every game are Sully, Olynyk, Zeller, Wright, Bass, Green, Bradley, Turner and Smart. The others are situational at best.

Thornton wont be a happy camper.

[hwangjini_1]

i think thornton is on the celtics via the crawford plan anyway. build up his value, then move him out.

as mentioned above, nelson is not a problem at all. the celtics can always "bogansize" him if needed.

young belongs in the d league, again not a worry.

pressey? please, he should be doing novenas everyday in thanks for simply being on a nba team.

as for the rotation problems, this year is about young player development and creation of assets. the rotation should reflect that.

[2short]

No Nelson, pressed on emergency only.  Turner and smart at pg.  Nelson should be bought out, scrub at this point

Keep him as insurance policy if Smart, Pressey and/or Turner go down. No need to buy him out right now.

In theory sure but is smart turner and pressey are hurt its d league pg at that point. 

[knuckleballer]

I assume several guys will be shipped out at the trade deadline. CBS will have a difficult job until then and it's going to be painful to watch.

[Evantime34]

 a 10 man rotation is what we should be going with and this is what I think it should look like.
1. Smart/Nelson
2. Bradley/Thornton
3. Green/Turner
4. Olynyk/Sullinger
5. Zeller/Wright

Bass can ride the bench until we trade him or Wright.
Pressey can ride the bench until we move Nelson.
Crowder won't play until Green is moved.

[Chris22]

a 10 man rotation is what we should be going with and this is what I think it should look like.
1. Smart/Nelson
2. Bradley/Thornton
3. Green/Turner
4. Olynyk/Sullinger
5. Zeller/Wright

Bass can ride the bench until we trade him or Wright.
Pressey can ride the bench until we move Nelson.
Crowder won't play until Green is moved.

No one is going to take Nelson.
He is due to be paid $3 million next year.

[littleteapot]

I don't get the Thornton fascination. I know he shoots better than the other brick machines we have at guard, but people on this team fall in 3 categories:
-Vets we're trying to move
-Guys we drafted
-Guys no one else wanted

There are guys no one wanted like Turner (head case) and Zeller (looked like he was getting worse not better in Cleveland/wacky situation in cleveland with Lebron). Then there are guys no one wanted like Thornton who just aren't very talented. He isn't even a great shooter in his career.

[jambr380]

I agree with the OP - almost our entire 15 man roster deserves playing time. You either have to sit the vets (Wallace, Nelson, Thornton, Bass) or ship them out as soon as possible. Sitting them will upset them and do nothing for their trade value, but this really is the time to find out what we have in our younger players and/or new acquisitions. With Rondo gone, this is even more blatantly obvious.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

The roster is being showcased.

They are getting burn to try and raise their trade value. There's no other reason why Brad Stevens is putting a 12 man rotation out there unless its because the Front Office has told him so.

I posted this on the game thread, in his Butler days, he only went 9 deep and the starters are playing very heavy minutes, so the minutes distribution philosophy doesn't match. He could go 9 deep in our roster and get better result, but he wont, because we need to raise the trade value of the other guys. And the only way to do that is to play them.