So with our rotation fairly fixed, and 33 games gone in the regular season, I'd say we have an opportunity now (and enough tape) to evaluate how the rest of our roster looks. We all know the Celtics' Top 6, with key rotation players Hauser, Pritchard and Kornet, pretty much in that order. Leaving aside that Kornet could theoretically lose his spot to an acquisition or even to Queta, that 9-deep rotation is there to perform, not to develop / exceed expectations. But that leaves the rest of our (sometimes-motley) crew, in position order:
PG Dalano Banton 6'9 (51% #2, 37% #1), 2 yrs Toronto Raptors, 111' on the season
SF Svi Mykhailiuk 6'7 (59% #3, 35% #2), 5 yrs on 6 teams, 99' with us this year
SF Oshae Brissett 6'7 (55% #3, 30% #4), 1yr TOR 3yrs IND, 191'
PF Lamar Stevens 6'6 (61% #4, 19% #3), 3yrs Cleveland, 60'
C Neemias Queta 7'0 (TW) (96% #5, 4% #4), 2 yrs SAC, 174'
And these guys, who are probably not in the big team's plans this year, but we can talk about them too if we want:
SG JD Davison 6'1 (TW) (74% #2, 26% #1), 1 yr Alabama, 3' this year, 66' last year
SF Jordan Walsh 6'7, Rookie, 1 yr Arkansas, 0'
G Drew Peterson 6'9, Rookie 2yrs Rice 3 yrs USC (TW), 3'
None of these guys will determine whether we win the title or not this year, I would set the over/under for playoff minutes for the bunch of them at like 5 (Queta probably has an outside shot). But some of them may develop into reliable NBA players on cheap contracts, and they will all play a role in managing the minutes of our more-veteran rotation squad and seeing games out - often under the leadership of Pritchard and Hauser but sometimes mixed into lineups with 1 or 2 of our 6 starters.
Current season (N.B. the Xs are a DNP):
Career-to-date:
LEBRON thinks they're pretty much all replacement level, especially defensively, but Queta maybe has some potential:
(N.B. the data seems a few games behind, per the minutes totals). RAPTOR largely agrees with LEBRON.
My observations so far:
So what do you guys see?
PG Dalano Banton 6'9 (51% #2, 37% #1), 2 yrs Toronto Raptors, 111' on the season
SF Svi Mykhailiuk 6'7 (59% #3, 35% #2), 5 yrs on 6 teams, 99' with us this year
SF Oshae Brissett 6'7 (55% #3, 30% #4), 1yr TOR 3yrs IND, 191'
PF Lamar Stevens 6'6 (61% #4, 19% #3), 3yrs Cleveland, 60'
C Neemias Queta 7'0 (TW) (96% #5, 4% #4), 2 yrs SAC, 174'
And these guys, who are probably not in the big team's plans this year, but we can talk about them too if we want:
SG JD Davison 6'1 (TW) (74% #2, 26% #1), 1 yr Alabama, 3' this year, 66' last year
SF Jordan Walsh 6'7, Rookie, 1 yr Arkansas, 0'
G Drew Peterson 6'9, Rookie 2yrs Rice 3 yrs USC (TW), 3'
None of these guys will determine whether we win the title or not this year, I would set the over/under for playoff minutes for the bunch of them at like 5 (Queta probably has an outside shot). But some of them may develop into reliable NBA players on cheap contracts, and they will all play a role in managing the minutes of our more-veteran rotation squad and seeing games out - often under the leadership of Pritchard and Hauser but sometimes mixed into lineups with 1 or 2 of our 6 starters.
Current season (N.B. the Xs are a DNP):
Career-to-date:
LEBRON thinks they're pretty much all replacement level, especially defensively, but Queta maybe has some potential:
(N.B. the data seems a few games behind, per the minutes totals). RAPTOR largely agrees with LEBRON.
My observations so far:
- Queta deserves the irrational exuberance imo, DARKO notwithstanding. He does several things at an NBA level, especially rebound but also lobs, post defense and even credible perimeter defense. I could see us throwing him out to bang the really big centers who give Kornet trouble for a little bit to spell Horford. Needs to avoid getting Kendrick Perkins Disease under the basket. Has a bit more than the Time Lord offensive skillset (e.g. jump hooks) but not much.
- Brissett has seemed like the first one off the deep-bench, and seems like a good shooter for his size and strength: 37.5% (6/16) on 3s, an improved .553 eFG%, though not a good FT shooter (71% career, 10/17 this year). Has a positive On-Off +/- for his career and in 4 of his 5 seasons including this one. Was a part-time starter in Indy for the first 2 of his 3 years there.
- Mykhailiuk was brought in for 3-and-D, sort of a poor man's Sam Hauser, 36% career 3P% on 7.9 (career) and 9.5 (this year) attempts per 36' (pretty high, tops on the team ahead of Hauser at 9.0 and Tatum at 8.5). But despite that 36% career, he's shooting them miserably so far, making only 19%. Has seemed like a turnstile on defense too, with only brief exceptions (I thought he had a good shift vs Toronto). Not the guy I want out there if he's not making his 3s.
- Banton seems like the guy we throw out there when we need another guard and Pritchard is too tired - he plays by default only. DARKO says he had a couple good games earlier in the season, and maybe he did, but when I think of his appearances I think of NBA players blowing by him from the perimeter; his huge, Ben Simmons-like size for a guard is more of a liability than an asset imo. 7 assists to 8 turnovers on the year, has no outside shooting.
- Stevens feels very anonymous to me, and he's played the least of the guys we actually play. He's crashing the offensive glass a lot (3.6 ORB per 36, double his previous rates), and BPM says he's done very well on defense (+2.7) against those scrubs in limited minutes. But every time he's out there, I find myself asking why.
So what do you guys see?
