This topic is kind of a looming background to a lot of the Celtics conversation here so I thought it deserves its own thread. I considered making this a poll, but I think there are too many scenarios for a poll to do a good job of capturing. There are a few operative questions though:
I think there are five guys where this forum has a consensus view should be playing 30+ MPG in the playoffs, some of whom should obviously play 35+ but I’m leaving that to the side for now. Those guys are Irving, Horford, Tatum, Smart, and Brown.
The only one of these players who isn’t currently being used in that role is Brown. I don’t understand why Morris continues to play more than Brown and find it concerning.
The next 5 guys break down into 3 categories:
Bigs: Baynes and Theis. I expect Baynes to play about 15 mpg in the playoffs, somewhat matchup dependent. I think Theis probably doesn’t play unless Baynes is creating matchup problems and then would take most of Baynes minutes.
Wings: Morris and Hayward. I still hope we’ll see a significant cut to Morris’ minutes to the benefit of Brown and to facilitate keeping Hayward on the court as the other core players see their minutes increased. I think there’s no world where either of these guys is healthy and not in the rotation, so it’s really a minutes question. Right now, Brad continues to give Morris big minutes, so there’s every reason to expect that to continue even though many of us probably hope otherwise.
Rozier: all signs point to a significant scaling back of Roziers minutes. I’m increasingly expecting him to only play spot minutes in the playoffs and to not be in the rotation. He’s done nothing since last year to earn a rotation slot, and between Irving, Smart, and Hayward they really don’t need another player to run the offense.
Benching Rozier and Theis gets us down to 8 guys in the rotation, which is a good number, but will we see Brad keep distributing minutes somewhat evenly across everyone except Baynes or will we see some combination of Hayward, Morris, and Brown take a minutes hit? Will Brad cut the minutes of the right guys?
- How many players should be in the playoff rotation?
- Who should be in the playoff rotation?
- Who should ride the bench or at best get spot minutes in the playoffs?
I think there are five guys where this forum has a consensus view should be playing 30+ MPG in the playoffs, some of whom should obviously play 35+ but I’m leaving that to the side for now. Those guys are Irving, Horford, Tatum, Smart, and Brown.
The only one of these players who isn’t currently being used in that role is Brown. I don’t understand why Morris continues to play more than Brown and find it concerning.
The next 5 guys break down into 3 categories:
Bigs: Baynes and Theis. I expect Baynes to play about 15 mpg in the playoffs, somewhat matchup dependent. I think Theis probably doesn’t play unless Baynes is creating matchup problems and then would take most of Baynes minutes.
Wings: Morris and Hayward. I still hope we’ll see a significant cut to Morris’ minutes to the benefit of Brown and to facilitate keeping Hayward on the court as the other core players see their minutes increased. I think there’s no world where either of these guys is healthy and not in the rotation, so it’s really a minutes question. Right now, Brad continues to give Morris big minutes, so there’s every reason to expect that to continue even though many of us probably hope otherwise.
Rozier: all signs point to a significant scaling back of Roziers minutes. I’m increasingly expecting him to only play spot minutes in the playoffs and to not be in the rotation. He’s done nothing since last year to earn a rotation slot, and between Irving, Smart, and Hayward they really don’t need another player to run the offense.
Benching Rozier and Theis gets us down to 8 guys in the rotation, which is a good number, but will we see Brad keep distributing minutes somewhat evenly across everyone except Baynes or will we see some combination of Hayward, Morris, and Brown take a minutes hit? Will Brad cut the minutes of the right guys?