Fultz will not start next year

[nickagneta]

I see a lot of posters around the board stating their rosters and starting teams for next season after we draft Fultz and pull some kind of trade or free agent signing. In many people are already putting Fultz into the starting lineup. I think people couldn't be more wrong about that.

Don't get me wrong. Fultz will get minutes, maybe lots of minutes. But unless the Celtics trade away Bradley, Brown  and Smart. Fultz is coming off the bench. I believe the most likely scenario is Fultz will be the first or second guard off the bench getting about 20-25 minutes per game.

Fultz will start one day, maybe as soon 2018-19 due to the fact that Smart, Bradley and IT all will be free agents and the Cs can't afford them all. But he won't be starting next year. Next year is for learning the defense and seeing if Fultz can find his role within the offensive system.

[Surferdad]

Yup.  Celtics always develop their players the right way.  No reason to put him in the starting lineup, at least from the get-go.  Let him "learn and earn".

[mahcus smaht]

It depends what we do in the offseason.

I think a very reasonable offseason would be trading Bradley and acquiring a power forward (Melo, Jamychal green, Dario Saric, etc etc doesnt really matter.

Then you have Thomas, Smart, Rozier, Fultz, Brown, Crowder, PF, Horford, Zizic, other bigs.

To start the season you would probably go:
Thomas
Brown or Smart
Crowder
PF
Horford

however, by the end of the year, Id fully expect that lineup to be:

Thomas
Fultz
Brown
PF
Horford

[incoherent]

It depends what we do in the offseason.

I think a very reasonable offseason would be trading Bradley and acquiring a power forward (Melo, Jamychal green, Dario Saric, etc etc doesnt really matter.

Then you have Thomas, Smart, Rozier, Fultz, Brown, Crowder, PF, Horford, Zizic, other bigs.

To start the season you would probably go:
Thomas
Brown or Smart
Crowder
PF
Horford

however, by the end of the year, Id fully expect that lineup to be:

Thomas
Fultz
Brown
PF
Horford

That's a pretty big downgrade to go from Bradley/Crowder to Fultz/Brown.   Why would we do that?  We have a chance to get to the Finals again next year, I'm not throwing that away for 1/2 a season of starting rookies....

[mahcus smaht]

It depends what we do in the offseason.

I think a very reasonable offseason would be trading Bradley and acquiring a power forward (Melo, Jamychal green, Dario Saric, etc etc doesnt really matter.

Then you have Thomas, Smart, Rozier, Fultz, Brown, Crowder, PF, Horford, Zizic, other bigs.

To start the season you would probably go:
Thomas
Brown or Smart
Crowder
PF
Horford

however, by the end of the year, Id fully expect that lineup to be:

Thomas
Fultz
Brown
PF
Horford

That's a pretty big downgrade to go from Bradley/Crowder to Fultz/Brown.   Why would we do that?  We have a chance to get to the Finals again next year, I'm not throwing that away from 1/2 a season of starting rookies....

Brown isnt a rookie, and I think its possible that he is better than Crowder by the end of the season next year.

Also, with the gaurd crunch, someone has got to go. I think AB makes the most sense to be moved. Fultz isnt a normal rookie. He is a MUCH better prospect than Brown and a substantially better prospect than Marcus. He has a polished game and by the end of his rookie season I think he could be only a minor downgrade from Avery Bradley.

You makeup that ground with an upgrade from Amir Johnson.

[KGBirdBias]

I think people think Smart and AB are just going to give up their roles for Fultz. He's in for a battle unless Ainge paves the way for him to start. This is why I said we'd digress if we have Fultz walk in starting. Brown can't even start over Crowder yet.

It takes time for rookies to learn and Fultz, Brown, Yabu and Zizic still have to take their lumps before we see any diamonds formed. Look at Rozier, he's just now showing flashes.

[mahcus smaht]

I think people think Smart and AB are just going to give up their roles for Fultz. He's in for a battle unless Ainge paves the way for him to start. This is why I said we'd digress if we have Fultz walk in starting. Brown can't even start over Crowder yet.

It takes time for rookies to learn and Fultz, Brown, Yabu and Zizic still have to take their lumps before we see any diamonds formed. Look at Rozier, he's just now showing flashes.

I dont think Brown or Fultz can wrest the job from Bradley, but Bradley could well be gone this summer.

Also, we saw this season when AB went down, the replacement that Brad settled upon was Jaylen Brown NOT Marcus Smart. I think Brown will steal Crowders job by the end of next season.

I think Fultz will then fill in the hole in the starting lineup instead of Marcus.

Now if we sign Hayward, or we dont trade Bradley, or Marcus makes huge leap, then the conversation changes, but I think that if we do trade Bradley and we DONT sign Hayward (a very possible outcome), then Fultz and Brown have a very good chance to be in the starting lineup by the end of next season.

[KGBirdBias]

Fultz better be real good to take the job away from Smart. Smart is like a 5 tool baseball player or a swiss army knife. The guy just makes basketball plays. Is Fultz willing to rebound with the bigs, play defense on SFs, take charges, and take big shots.

I think Smart is just too tough to trade. You don't find guys like him too often. I would part with him only for a PG...not Butler, not Griffin.

[kozlodoev]

It depends what we do in the offseason.

I think a very reasonable offseason would be trading Bradley and acquiring a power forward (Melo, Jamychal green, Dario Saric, etc etc doesnt really matter.

Then you have Thomas, Smart, Rozier, Fultz, Brown, Crowder, PF, Horford, Zizic, other bigs.

To start the season you would probably go:
Thomas
Brown or Smart
Crowder
PF
Horford

however, by the end of the year, Id fully expect that lineup to be:

Thomas
Fultz
Brown
PF
Horford

To start the season, you will probably not have Isaiah Thomas. Also, the "end of season" lineup that you're suggesting will only happen if  we have a record of 25-50 or something similar.

[ETNCeltics]

Don't really understand those who think that Jae is an untouchable guaranteed to hold his job all of next season. This year has shown us that Brown has a lot of potential, and Jae isn't much more than an average player.

Unless someone misses a lot of time with injury, Jae's minutes will decline.

[mahcus smaht]

It depends what we do in the offseason.

I think a very reasonable offseason would be trading Bradley and acquiring a power forward (Melo, Jamychal green, Dario Saric, etc etc doesnt really matter.

Then you have Thomas, Smart, Rozier, Fultz, Brown, Crowder, PF, Horford, Zizic, other bigs.

To start the season you would probably go:
Thomas
Brown or Smart
Crowder
PF
Horford

however, by the end of the year, Id fully expect that lineup to be:

Thomas
Fultz
Brown
PF
Horford

To start the season, you will probably not have Isaiah Thomas. Also, the "end of season" lineup that you're suggesting will only happen if  we have a record of 25-50 or something similar.

Fultz is not your typical rookie. I dont think it is too ridiculous to think he might be close to AB level by the end of his rookie season. He is leaps and bounds better than Jaylen was coming out of college.

Also, I am expecting something of a leap from Jaylen Brown. One which carries him over Jae Crowder.

I really dont see why we cant win 50 games while slowly transitioning from my start of the year lineup to my end of the year lineup. Especially if you can get a good powerforward in here.

[KGBirdBias]

Huh, I have a problem with a guy who only won 9 games in college and didn't play in the NCAA tourney. Is he that much better than any other rookie? I just keep thinking back to watching other rookies who were highly touted and they looked ok their rookie year but not world beaters.

I want to see or hear how these workouts go.

[jade88]

It depends what we do in the offseason.

I think a very reasonable offseason would be trading Bradley and acquiring a power forward (Melo, Jamychal green, Dario Saric, etc etc doesnt really matter.

Then you have Thomas, Smart, Rozier, Fultz, Brown, Crowder, PF, Horford, Zizic, other bigs.

To start the season you would probably go:
Thomas
Brown or Smart
Crowder
PF
Horford

however, by the end of the year, Id fully expect that lineup to be:

Thomas
Fultz
Brown
PF
Horford

To start the season, you will probably not have Isaiah Thomas. Also, the "end of season" lineup that you're suggesting will only happen if  we have a record of 25-50 or something similar.

Fultz is not your typical rookie. I dont think it is too ridiculous to think he might be close to AB level by the end of his rookie season. He is leaps and bounds better than Jaylen was coming out of college.

Also, I am expecting something of a leap from Jaylen Brown. One which carries him over Jae Crowder.

I really dont see why we cant win 50 games while slowly transitioning from my start of the year lineup to my end of the year lineup. Especially if you can get a good powerforward in here.

In Brad's system, if he isn't shooting the ball as well as Crowder from 3, not gonna happen.

People lose sight of it, but Brad will not play the kids unless he's getting what he needs out of them. I think he's good at developing talent, but i don't think he doles out opportunity to kids.

[bdm860]

I remember before last season, a lot of people expected Jaylen Brown to spend most of the season in the D-League.  But this season they expect Fultz to start immediately.  From one extreme to the next.

[mahcus smaht]

It depends what we do in the offseason.

I think a very reasonable offseason would be trading Bradley and acquiring a power forward (Melo, Jamychal green, Dario Saric, etc etc doesnt really matter.

Then you have Thomas, Smart, Rozier, Fultz, Brown, Crowder, PF, Horford, Zizic, other bigs.

To start the season you would probably go:
Thomas
Brown or Smart
Crowder
PF
Horford

however, by the end of the year, Id fully expect that lineup to be:

Thomas
Fultz
Brown
PF
Horford

To start the season, you will probably not have Isaiah Thomas. Also, the "end of season" lineup that you're suggesting will only happen if  we have a record of 25-50 or something similar.

Fultz is not your typical rookie. I dont think it is too ridiculous to think he might be close to AB level by the end of his rookie season. He is leaps and bounds better than Jaylen was coming out of college.

Also, I am expecting something of a leap from Jaylen Brown. One which carries him over Jae Crowder.

I really dont see why we cant win 50 games while slowly transitioning from my start of the year lineup to my end of the year lineup. Especially if you can get a good powerforward in here.

In Brad's system, if he isn't shooting the ball as well as Crowder from 3, not gonna happen.

People lose sight of it, but Brad will not play the kids unless he's getting what he needs out of them. I think he's good at developing talent, but i don't think he doles out opportunity to kids.

OK, so between Brown-Smart-Fultz, who starts at the 2 by the end of the season?