Celtics 2019-2020 depth chart and roster

Ale Xander

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So, currently, before FA, we have this:?

PG Smart Edwards Waters
W1 Brown Langford Dozier Strus
W2 Tatum Hayward (6m) Hunter
PF Semi Yabu GrantWill
C TL

RFA Rozier, Theis, Wanamaker, Gibson

UFA Marcus Morris

99% gone Kyrie
80% gone Horford

So are we trying to sign Theis and a good big FA on a short contract?

Please correct.
 
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benhogan

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So, currently, before FA, we have this:?

PG Smart Edwards Waters
W1 Brown Langford Dozier Strus
W2 Tatum Hayward (6m) Hunter
PF Semi Yabu GrantWill
C TL

RFA Rozier, Theis, Wanamaker, Gibson

UFA Marcus Morris

99% gone Kyrie
80% gone Horford

So are we trying to sign Theis and a good big FA on a short contract?

Please correct.
Would love to help but smashed my crystal ball into a million little pieces
 

RedOctober3829

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Danny did a decent job of not only selecting players that can help the team, but the players he selected are at positions where he can either gain leverage with RFAs(Edwards and Waters) or have depth in case a trade comes up(Langford and Williams). As I said last night, I don't think we've seen the true Romeo Langford yet due to the torn ligaments in his shooting hand. Toughness doesn't seem to be an issue as he played through it all year. Grant Williams is also tough-minded, excelled against top competition in the SEC(2x POY), and can play inside and outside. Edwards is a great offensive player who had to be the man at Purdue last year after numerous NBA defections off the team. He struggled at times with turnovers, but defenses were keying in on him as the only real consistent threat on the Boilermakers. The year before on a stacked team he had less than 2 TO's per game.
 

lovegtm

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So, currently, before FA, we have this:?

PG Smart Edwards Waters
W1 Brown Langford Dozier Strus
W2 Tatum Hayward (6m) Hunter
PF Semi Yabu GrantWill
C TL

RFA Rozier, Theis, Wanamaker, Gibson

UFA Marcus Morris

99% gone Kyrie
80% gone Horford

So are we trying to sign Theis and a good big FA on a short contract?

Please correct.
My only quibble here is that in the modern NBA, it's basically PG, W1-W3, and C/W4. They're not going to have Semi, Yabu, or GWill blocking Hayward and Tatum.

Tatum also gained a lot of size from his rookie year to year 2. He was still too small last year to play the 4, but he's going to be big enough soon--question of when, not if, imo.
 

DJnVa

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So we're either doing something like:

1--D'Angelo Russell and JAG at center
2--Capela or Vuc and Rozier at PG
 

bowiac

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Not sure I buy that Edwards or Waters give the Celtics any leverage with RFAs. I would presume (hope) they're both G-league bound.

Seems really clear the Celtics will sign a starting center. Williams is going to play a ton, but he was wildly out of position last year. I can't imagine Stevens dealing with that for 30 minutes a game (even if Williams could avoid fouling out). More glaring need than point guard even.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Not sure I buy that Edwards or Waters give the Celtics any leverage with RFAs. I would presume (hope) they're both G-league bound.

Seems really clear the Celtics will sign a starting center. Williams is going to play a ton, but he was wildly out of position last year. I can't imagine Stevens dealing with that for 30 minutes a game (even if Williams could avoid fouling out). More glaring need than point guard even.
Agree with all of this. If TL is your starting 5 that means you have a worse player at the postiion for 20-25 mpg which means you're in full tank mode. This could be the case from the deadline to the finish line but there is no way that Ainge begins the season in tank mode. You can find a way to get by with Smart and Hayward along with a lower tier PG while being compeitive.......you can't do that with such glaring depth issues in your frontcourt.
 

Cellar-Door

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Might have to go north of $15 million/yr to get him away from the Bucks. But, it all depends on how many of their FA's come back and how much they want to spend into the tax.
There have been numerous rumors that he's going to get a 4/80 offer from the Bulls day 1 of FA.
 

benhogan

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Agree with all of this. If TL is your starting 5 that means you have a worse player at the postiion for 20-25 mpg which means you're in full tank mode. This could be the case from the deadline to the finish line but there is no way that Ainge begins the season in tank mode. You can find a way to get by with Smart and Hayward along with a lower tier PG while being compeitive.......you can't do that with such glaring depth issues in your frontcourt.
potentially available bigs:
Vucevic
Cousins
Brook Lopez
Gasol
Valanciunis
Jordan
Cauley Stein (R)
Kanter
Bryant (R)
Whiteside
Ed Davis
Dedmon
McGee
Robin Lopez
Kubacs (R)
Boban
Kleber
Theis

trade for Sabonis (my favorite)? redundant in Indy
 

thehitcat

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What do we think Willie Cauley Stein will get as an RFA? I had dreams of him chasing point guards around the perimeter when he came out of Kentucky.
 

luckiestman

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Very tough for me to evaluate. It is hard enough to evaluate who is a better player amongs those bigs. Then the next layer is who is the better value. Then you have to consider the opportunity cost of each dollar going to the big is less for the PG.

On the bright side, it seems bigs and PGs are easier roles to fill than wings where I am happy with HayJayJay

I’m intrigued by Dlo because of his age. Less so by Vuc. I don’t have a strong feeling either way.
 

lovegtm

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Very tough for me to evaluate. It is hard enough to evaluate who is a better player amongs those bigs. Then the next layer is who is the better value. Then you have to consider the opportunity cost of each dollar going to the big is less for the PG.

On the bright side, it seems bigs and PGs are easier roles to fill than wings where I am happy with HayJayJay

I’m intrigued by Dlo because of his age. Less so by Vuc. I don’t have a strong feeling either way.
Smart is basically a wing as well.

This is why it's funny to me when people complain about Ainge having a preference for drafting wings. If you hit on a couple wing draft picks, suddenly the rest of your roster fills in so much more easily than the reverse.
 

RetractableRoof

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Smart is basically a wing as well.

This is why it's funny to me when people complain about Ainge having a preference for drafting wings. If you hit on a couple wing draft picks, suddenly the rest of your roster fills in so much more easily than the reverse.
Especially when his coach seems to want the exact player profile he keeps drafting. Weird.
 

Marceline

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Agree with all of this. If TL is your starting 5 that means you have a worse player at the postiion for 20-25 mpg which means you're in full tank mode. This could be the case from the deadline to the finish line but there is no way that Ainge begins the season in tank mode. You can find a way to get by with Smart and Hayward along with a lower tier PG while being compeitive.......you can't do that with such glaring depth issues in your frontcourt.
I agree they would never go into the season in outright tank mode (the fan base would revolt) but I also think that there's even more incentive for teams in the Celtics range (35-45 wins is my prediction depending on how they fill out the roster) to tank given the new lottery odds. So that deadline to end of season tank is a real possibility.
 

Cellar-Door

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I agree they would never go into the season in outright tank mode (the fan base would revolt) but I also think that there's even more incentive for teams in the Celtics range (35-45 wins is my prediction depending on how they fill out the roster) to tank given the new lottery odds. So that deadline to end of season tank is a real possibility.
I think honestly the problem is you have Tatum, Brown, Smart and Hayward. You aren't going to effectively tank, the team is too good, at least 3 teams with less talent than that made the playoffs in the East last year.
 

Big John

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trade for Sabonis (my favorite)? redundant in Indy
Put me down for that. Sabonis is so smart, so underrated. But it's not very likely that Indiana would let him go while he still cost controlled.

I guess my preference would be DeAngelo, resign Theis if you can, and shoot for a Robin Lopez type. I suppose I'd take a hard look at Marc Gasol if he opts out. He's not that much older than Horford and is in a similar position contract-wise.
 

DJnVa

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I like D'Angelo too, but he shot more than Kyrie did last year and had a higher usage. I'm not sure if that's a problem or not. Do we want a shoot first PG?

We may, but another young kid that needs his shots...
 

Eddie Jurak

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So, currently, before FA, we have this:?

PG Smart Edwards Waters
W1 Brown Langford Dozier Strus
W2 Tatum Hayward (6m) Hunter
PF Semi Yabu GrantWill
C TL

RFA Rozier, Theis, Wanamaker, Gibson

UFA Marcus Morris

99% gone Kyrie
80% gone Horford

So are we trying to sign Theis and a good big FA on a short contract?

Please correct.
Isn't Theis a UFA?

I'd like Rozier to be gone and to give Smart a look at PG. But if they go that route, they need to add a veteran backup, maybe 2 of them. Edwards isn't really a PG. Waters is, but rookie PGs are bad, even when they aren't undersized late second rounders.

They seem fine at wing, very thin at bigs, so that is where their main investment would need to be.

I wouldn't mind bringing Theis back at the right price, but he's basically a matchup guy (albeit a very good one), so he can't be the main investment.

Grant WIlliams should get his chance, I'd expect more minutes for him than Langford.

This is an important year for Time Lord.

They need to make their key investment at center, and to a lesser extent at PG. I'll be disappointed if the bring Rozier back as part of that.
 

Montana Fan

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One of the Notes columns, Glob or Herald, mentioned that Theis might go back to Europe. Personally, I'd like to see him resigned as we're a little thin at the "big" position. He, Williams, Capela? and another backup big are needed at a minimum IMO.

eidt: I see RWIII as a 10-12 MPG guy at best and that might be overly optimistic. He's very raw
 

Jimbodandy

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I agree with you guys. A legit big with experience would be a great add. Don't care if it's a long-term solution at the position. But a bunch of kids at that spot could mean a lot of very thin defense this year.

I'm all over a pass-first PG as well. These young smurfs can fight over the ball-handler3 spot, and maybe we're fine with Smart/Hayward initiating a lot of the offense, but we're short at least one ball-handler. Someone with experience and vision who isn't a complete embarrassment on defense. Again--doesn't need to be a permanent solution, but we could use someone who won't make this season painful.
 

Eddie Jurak

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One of the Notes columns, Glob or Herald, mentioned that Theis might go back to Europe. Personally, I'd like to see him resigned as we're a little thin at the "big" position. He, Williams, Capela? and another backup big are needed at a minimum IMO.

eidt: I see RWIII as a 10-12 MPG guy at best and that might be overly optimistic. He's very raw
I would not mind seeing him come back, but I wouldn't be overly concerned if he leaves, either. I think he's very good as a situational, matchup-dependent, bench piece, but he gets exposed if hius role is bigger than that. I'd be surprised if there isn't some NBA team with a role for him though.
 

Cellar-Door

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Isn't Theis a UFA?

I'd like Rozier to be gone and to give Smart a look at PG. But if they go that route, they need to add a veteran backup, maybe 2 of them. Edwards isn't really a PG. Waters is, but rookie PGs are bad, even when they aren't undersized late second rounders.

They seem fine at wing, very thin at bigs, so that is where their main investment would need to be.

I wouldn't mind bringing Theis back at the right price, but he's basically a matchup guy (albeit a very good one), so he can't be the main investment.

Grant WIlliams should get his chance, I'd expect more minutes for him than Langford.

This is an important year for Time Lord.

They need to make their key investment at center, and to a lesser extent at PG. I'll be disappointed if the bring Rozier back as part of that.
Theis is an RFA if we make the QO, but a lot of clued in people seem to think we won't.
I posted it in the offseason thread, but we might be going after Vincent Poirier from Baskonia, he's more of a real big (7ft vs. 6'8") to add to the rotation. Feels like Theis' role would be limited because I don't think they like him as a 5, and we've got a lot of guys who can play 4 (I've discussed it elsewhere, but I expect the 4 to be a mix of Hayward, Williams, Semi, Yabu and maybe a FA the 5 is the real question. I assume at least 1 FA signing, probably 2. A starter and another rotation guy to go with Timelord
 

Eddie Jurak

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According to Woj, Boston just gave Theis a qualifying offer, making him an RFA.

I would imagine that this doesn't interfere with signing Kemba, and Boston is free to renounce Theis if it wants to. On the other hand, if they keep him, he can contribute as a big in the right role, just as he has the last couple of years.

Edit: Keith Smith:
Educated guess at how Boston's summer goes: 1. Max deal for Kemba Walker 2. Use the tiny bit of remaining cap space to give 3-4 year contracts to Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters 3. Re-sign Theis 4. Room Exception for a vet big 5. Vet min deal for 15th spot or it stays open.
Second edit: Shams Charania:

Boston has extended a qualifying offer to guard Terry Rozier, making him a restricted free agent, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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According to Woj, Boston just gave Theis a qualifying offer, making him an RFA.

I would imagine that this doesn't interfere with signing Kemba, and Boston is free to renounce Theis if it wants to. On the other hand, if they keep him, he can contribute as a big in the right role, just as he has the last couple of years.

Edit: Keith Smith:
Yeah the big question is Terry. If we extend the offer and he accepts it, we don't have room for Kemba. Unlikely that he does it, but he could.
 

lovegtm

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According to Woj, Boston just gave Theis a qualifying offer, making him an RFA.

I would imagine that this doesn't interfere with signing Kemba, and Boston is free to renounce Theis if it wants to. On the other hand, if they keep him, he can contribute as a big in the right role, just as he has the last couple of years.

Edit: Keith Smith:


Second edit: Shams Charania:
They also really need extra deals as salary balast.
 

DJnVa

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Yeah the big question is Terry. If we extend the offer and he accepts it, we don't have room for Kemba. Unlikely that he does it, but he could.
He can't sign it yet. And unless he signs it immediately when FA opens, and locks himself into $4.2 million, we can revoke when Kemba officially agrees.
 

Cellar-Door

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Yeah the big question is Terry. If we extend the offer and he accepts it, we don't have room for Kemba. Unlikely that he does it, but he could.
I'm quite confident that Rozier is not signing for 4.3 M, but if he did they could then salary dump Yabu and have enough cap space to sign Kemba anyway. Rozier's hold is much larger than the QO.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I hope @benhogan is doing OK. The Celtics roster looks like this now:

PG: Walker, Edwards, Waters
SG: Brown, Smart, Langford
SF: Hayward, Ojeleye
PF: Tatum, Williams, Yabusele
C: Room exception big, Theis?, Time Lord

That's 14 (or 13 if they renounce Theis).

There will be much small-ball.
 

67YAZ

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There have been numerous rumors that he's going to get a 4/80 offer from the Bulls day 1 of FA.
Not with Coby White in the mix. If they really are set on marginalizing Dunn and bringing in a bridge PG to White, it would probably be a veteran for 2 years - George Hill?. That's the Bulls timeline now - when Otto Porter & Felicio come off the books & Markkanen gets a new contract.

Reportedly, Patrick Beverly would love to come home to Chicago, but doesn't sound like he wants to take a deep discount for it.

Edit: Just a bit more because I live in Chicago and suffer through all the local Bulls news...they only have $23m in cap space right now, and Paxson has been prattling on about getting veteran help for the youngest team in the league. Today the rumors are about Enes Kanter, Taj Gibson, Beverly, Wayne Ellington, and Cory Joseph. That's the speed of this Bulls team right now - looking to clear the books for Summer 2021 when the core will be Markkanen, Carter, White, & LaVine. For almost any other organization, that would be enough to get you fired.
 
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benhogan

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I hope @benhogan is doing OK. The Celtics roster looks like this now:

PG: Walker, Edwards, Waters
SG: Brown, Smart, Langford
SF: Hayward, Ojeleye
PF: Tatum, Williams, Yabusele
C: Room exception big, Theis?, Time Lord

That's 14 (or 13 if they renounce Theis).

There will be much small-ball.
Danny is far from done. Would love Looney. Defense-first BIG to pair with Theis, and TL.

I have Hayward, Grant Williams, Semi as PF and Tatum at SF

My Turner/Sabonis pipe dream is alive and well
 

bosockboy

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Danny is far from done. Would love Looney. Defense-first BIG to pair with Theis, and TL.

I have Hayward, Grant Williams, Semi as PF and Tatum at SF

My Turner/Sabonis pipe dream is alive and well
Would Looney sign for as little we have available on room exception?
 

BigSoxFan

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I hope @benhogan is doing OK. The Celtics roster looks like this now:

PG: Walker, Edwards, Waters
SG: Brown, Smart, Langford
SF: Hayward, Ojeleye
PF: Tatum, Williams, Yabusele
C: Room exception big, Theis?, Time Lord

That's 14 (or 13 if they renounce Theis).

There will be much small-ball.
That 2nd unit really needs some scoring. Really need one of Edwards and Langford to be legit.
 

oumbi

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I hope @benhogan is doing OK. The Celtics roster looks like this now:

PG: Walker, Edwards, Waters
SG: Brown, Smart, Langford
SF: Hayward, Ojeleye
PF: Tatum, Williams, Yabusele
C: Room exception big, Theis?, Time Lord

That's 14 (or 13 if they renounce Theis).

There will be much small-ball.
So, you have no faith that the Tacko era is dawning?
 

benhogan

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bowiac

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Looney is going to get way more than the room exception. I'd expect at least $10M+.

I think we're more in like Thomas Bryant, Nerlens Noel land here.
 

DJnVa

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Looney talking with the Rockets and Bulls tomorrow per twitter reports.
 

bowiac

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Hadn't seen on that Bryant. But I think we're looking at mostly a shot-blocking energy big at center (a la Noel, WCS, Kornet, Khem Birch, etc...).
 

BigSoxFan

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Hadn't seen on that Bryant. But I think we're looking at mostly a shot-blocking energy big at center (a la Noel, WCS, Kornet, Khem Birch, etc...).
We already have one of those, albeit a rawer version. WCS on a one year “prove it” deal is my hope.
 

benhogan

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DJnVa

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Hadn't seen on that Bryant. But I think we're looking at mostly a shot-blocking energy big at center (a la Noel, WCS, Kornet, Khem Birch, etc...).
WCS does not block shots.

WCS: 51 blocks
Tatum: 57 blocks

He does run the floor well though.