Starting Unit?

[ahonui06]

Smart, Bradley, Turner, Johnson, and Zeller?
With IT, Crowder, Sullinger, and Olynyk off the bench?

This look about right with Rozier & Hunter/Young getting some spot minutes here and there.

Marcus Thornton will be in Europe or D-League this year.
Mickey probably won't play unless it's garbage time or Sully is traded.

[Eja117]

Smart
AB
Young
Zeller
Amir

Sully can replace Zeller if he's actually healthy and Amir can move over

Crowder is first wing off the bench

IT is first guard off the bench. IT and Smart are both expected to play lots of minutes off the ball.

Short rotation

KO and Evan T have to fight for minutes off the bench or wait for injuries.

Rozier and Mickey spend at least a few months in Maine

[Surferdad]

Starters:
Smart - Stevens prefer IT off the bench
Bradley
Turner - Stevens prefer Crowder off the bench, Smart and AB backcourt needs a ballhandler
Sullinger
Johnson

Bench:
IT
Young
Crowder
KO
Zeller

Depth:
Rozier
Hunter
Wallace
Jerebko
Mickey

He may have preferred It off the bench lags year, but I think he needs to start as he is possibly the best player on the team. Smart can also play more SG with Rozier on the roster.

Starters:
IT
Smart
Turner
Sullinger
Johnson

Bench:
Bradley
Young
Crowder
KO
Zeller

Depth:
Rozier
Hunter
Wallace
Jerebko
Mickey

[ahonui06]

Smart
AB
Young
Zeller
Amir

Sully can replace Zeller if he's actually healthy and Amir can move over

Crowder is first wing off the bench

IT is first guard off the bench. IT and Smart are both expected to play lots of minutes off the ball.

Short rotation

KO and Evan T have to fight for minutes off the bench or wait for injuries.

Rozier and Mickey spend at least a few months in Maine

Little optimistic thinking Young will start when he barely played last year?

[SHAQATTACK]

I d trade the whole team and every pick Boston has for Anthony Davis .

[sofutomygaha]

I think that the starting 5 will almost definitely be Turner, Smart, Bradley, Sullinger, Johnson

Zeller and Olynyk will not frequently start games, maybe 10-20 apiece. Crowder and Thomas will certainly both get 20-40 starts next season, but the most common starting lineup will be the one above.

Jerebko, Rozier, and Young should all see plenty of minutes, but no starts for any of those three.

I have no idea how much we'll see Hunter or Mickey. Injuries will probably dictate that.

[Jon]

I think Smart, Bradley, Turner, Sully, and AJ.  Maybe Crowder sneaks in or CBS decides to start IT, but I think the one thing that is for sure is that the C's are going to try to pair Johnson/Zeller with Sully/Olynyk.  The former are great pick and roll players and the latter can stretch the floor.  We are best off with lineups of Johnson/Sully and Zeller/Olynyk (or Johnson/Olynyk and Zeller/Sully). 

[JumpingJudkins]

As of today, I would expect ...

Bradley
Smart
Crowder
Sullinger
Johnson

Which would be a heck of a defensive unit, pretty good on the boards, but will struggle mightily to score points.

The second unit should score, and allow, points much more easily.

Thomas
Young
Turner
Olynyk
Zeller

Hunter, Rozier, Jerebko, Mickey will have to scrap for minutes.

The unit I would like to see starting would be ...

Bradley
Smart
Young -- assuming he has really gained muscle, dominates Summer League, and can guard the 3. We need him (or Hunter?) to eventually become a star. I know he won't start; just a dream.
Olynyk -- can't stomach Sully's sub-.440 shooting as a PF. Too many Antoine Walker flashbacks.
Johnson -- Perfect complement for KO? Works best on this team as a 5.

Much better spacing and perimeter shooting. Insert IT for maximum offensive efficiency.

Really want Turner traded so he doesn't steal minutes from Young, Hunter, Rozier, who have the potential to be better contributors. Wouldn't mind seeing Sully and/or AB on the move either, if we could get decent return.

[Eja117]

Smart
AB
Young
Zeller
Amir

Sully can replace Zeller if he's actually healthy and Amir can move over

Crowder is first wing off the bench

IT is first guard off the bench. IT and Smart are both expected to play lots of minutes off the ball.

Short rotation

KO and Evan T have to fight for minutes off the bench or wait for injuries.

Rozier and Mickey spend at least a few months in Maine

Little optimistic thinking Young will start when he barely played last year?

I think Crowder is better off the bench and Evan Turner is a free agent after this year. Maybe they showcase Evan to start in order to maybe trade him for something, but if they don't Young takes over. Evan also is a sort of point forward and I think that skill may be better in the 2nd unit.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Smart, bradley, Turner, Amir, KO

Bench: Thomas, Young, Crowder, Sullinger, Zeller


Definitely need a trade.

Never a good sign when it's hard to say if your starters or your bench are better.

And that is the problem....for 2 years.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Smart
AB
Young
Zeller
Amir

Sully can replace Zeller if he's actually healthy and Amir can move over

Crowder is first wing off the bench

IT is first guard off the bench. IT and Smart are both expected to play lots of minutes off the ball.

Short rotation

KO and Evan T have to fight for minutes off the bench or wait for injuries.

Rozier and Mickey spend at least a few months in Maine

Little optimistic thinking Young will start when he barely played last year?

Did you watch all of Young's games....the highlights?

[Evantime34]

What is more important is who finishes the game. I expect Smart, Thomas, Crowder and Johnson to finish most games. If it is against a team going small then Bradley will be in. If it's against a team with bigger wings Turner will fill out the lineup. If it's against a bigger team Sully will be on the court.

Some things that were discussed on here that I wanted to comment on
1. I like It better off the bench because he provides scoring but his shoot first attitude is not good for getting your starters into the flow of the game early. He also doesn't set the defensive tone from the outset and is better against back up point guards.

2. If Smart can effectively run the offense as the point guard, it will allow us to move Turner to the bench (or another team) and move Crowder into the starting lineup which would improve the team overall.

3. Johnson's best position might be a small ball 5 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2512685-why-amir-johnsons-new-contract-with-boston-celtics-will-prove-to-be-a-steal.

[LarBrd33]

I thought we signed johnson to stupid money, because we think he can play center.  Wasn't there some fluff piece about how impactful Amir had been at that position?  Then again maybe he just fills the Bass role, but I'd be surprised to see Sully back on the bench and I'd be a little shocked if our 12 million dollar man was playing backup.

I assume our lineup will look like this:

PG - Bradley
SG - Smart
SF - Turner (point forward like last year)
PF - Sully
C - Amir
----
Zeller off the bench.
Thomas still off the bench
Oly still off the bench
Crowder still off the bench
Jerebko still off the bench

Young might get a few minutes.   All the rookies will be in the d-league.

You have to start Smart, because Bradley and Thomas are too tiny to play together.   You could theoretically start Thomas and Smart, but I don't see it happening.  Thomas is a gimmicky bench player.  Bradley and Smart will still start.

Should win at least 30.   Best-case that roster wins 45.  I think we'll win less than last year, though unless we pull off a trade... and Danny will absolutely be looking for a trade.  This roster is filled to the brim with mediocrity.

[PhoSita]

I really would like to move on from Turner.  And if we used the #16 pick on a 21 year old point guard only to have him rot in the D-League, I'm gonna be p---ed. 

I'm officially putting my hopes on Danny trading for Tobias Harris at the deadline.  I can't see any other interesting moves happening.

Maybe Philly will look to move Noel and we can make a play to get him.

Harris and Frye for Wallace, Bradley, Amir and two 1sts

Olynyk or Sullinger, Jerebko, Young, and two 1sts for Noel and Jason Thompson

Core = Smart, Harris, Noel with plenty of decent young pieces still left.

[LarBrd33]

I really would like to move on from Turner.  And if we used the #16 pick on a 21 year old point guard only to have him rot in the D-League, I'm gonna be p---ed. 

I think you should set yourself up to be p--ed then.  At most, Rozier will get Pressey's minutes.  But if James young gets a boost in minutes you might as well get use to seeing Rozier on the Red Claws.