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.