Celtic Player Power Rankings

Celtics Player Power Rankings - ranking the Celtics from top to bottom
By Jeff Clark  @celticsblog on Nov 7 2013, 6:29a 22





We're five games into the season and we're starting to get a feel for where the players are at right now.

The name of the game this year is "player development."  And if we're honest, the subscript storyline is "trade chips."  So I thought it would be fun to rank out players in a power poll format from top to bottom.  The most valuable (to us and to anyone else) players are at the top.

I'm also going to try to track their progress on things that they need to work on over the course of the year.  Hopefully by the end of the year we'll see progress with quite a few of these guys.

Rank.....Player................Needs to work on...

1..........Rajon Rondo........Rehab first.  Then leadership, jumper, and ball movement.
2..........Jeff Green...........Consistent aggressiveness, closing games.
3..........Avery Bradley......Ball handling.  Jump shooting.
4..........Brandon Bass.......Just continue to play well and showcase for trade.
5..........Jared Sullinger......Conditioning and defense.
6..........Kelly Olynyk.........Defense and getting used to the pace of NBA games.
7..........Vitor Faverani.......Team defense and consistency.
8..........Kris Humphries.......Stay off of TMZ.  Value purely as an expiring contract.
9..........Jordan Crawford.....Less Steez (limit wildness, focus on discipline).
10.........Courtney Lee........3 point shooting
11.........MarShon Brooks.....Defense and passing
12.........Gerald Wallace.......Stop talking to the media
13.........Phil Pressey...........Stay under control. Work hard in practice.
14.........Kieth Bogans..........Be a locker room leader.  Expiring contract.

Jeff Green is by far our leading scorer thus far, even if that scoring average is just 17 ppg.  I notice that Stevens again went away from Green in the crunch time minutes last night and that isn't very comforting.  Still, he's shown some fantastic stretches of aggressive play.  This guy is a talented and versatile player.  He's just not a number one option and he shouldn't be asked to be one.

I've seen some fans get down on Avery Bradley and I don't know why.  He was miscast as a point guard, so much so that Stevens resorted to starting Jordan Crawford of all people at the point just to get Bradley off the ball.  He only had 8 points last night but I thought it was one of his better games if only because he felt more comfortable out there.  His form on his jumper looks very smooth.  I think he'll progress nicely this year if he can ever be relieved of the point guard stuff.

Gerald Wallace is more valuable to wins and losses than his 12th rank above.  But his contract makes him really hard to move and his mouth is making him uncomfortable as a teammate.  By all accounts, it looks like we're suck with him.  Danny Ainge had a chat with him after last night's game about his role on the team. Hopefully that will keep him happy for now.

I'm really getting excited about the offensive potential of the Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger combo. Let's call them Jelly Sullynyk (thank you twitter for helping me with that joke).  Defensively they'll have their share of challenges, but hopefully the longer they spend in an NBA defensive system the better they can make up for that.  Their interior passing was a beautiful thing last night and they are both so smart and resourceful that they are fun to watch.

Courtney Lee is trying hard but there's just too much duplication at his position and frankly I'd rather see Phil Pressey steal some of his minutes so we could have a point guard on the floor more often.

I may have Jordan Crawford too low considering that he's now our starting point guard, but I think Humphries' contract is going to be valuable to us, either as a trade chip or to clear cap room for this summer.

Those are my thoughts.  Please feel free to tell me what you like and don't like about my list.  What else do you think players need to work on?  I'm happy to adapt this list and add/subtract things as we go.  I don't have a set schedule for how often I'll post these, but maybe every 5 to 10 games or so.



bob
MY NOTE:  Just to be clear, this is the author's rankings, not mine.  He says the rankings reflect that player's value to us and in trade chips, but that's flawed since a players' value to a team (including ours) must be put in the perspective of what that team's needs are.  For example, a huge expiring contract like Hump's might have HUGE value to another team, far beyond what he can give them on the court OR, if a playoff bound team loses a key rebounder (e.g. Portland losing LaMarcus Aldridge), then a double-double player like Hump would be a key addition for their run.  Therefore, in my opinion, I'm only looking at his rankings in terms of trade value, regardless of what he says.  Gerald Wallace is more valuable to the Celtics than Marshon Brooks.  Period.  From a trade chip perspective, however, Wallace's contract makes him less valuable to other teams.  Bogans is another example.  As a player he has limited value to us and others, but as an expiring contract he is worth more than Phil Pressey, at least.  I like the general idea behind this article, it attempts to lay bare what's going on in Danny's mind, but I think he's inconsistent in his criteria for his rankings because he's assuming that all teams will see the same value from the same player.  They don't.  I'll get to my own rankings when I have the chance, but you should get started whenever you want.


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Bogans, Brooks, and Lee are most likely at the bottom of the list. I like Lee, but his offense is too passive.

As far as the top 5 spots, those seem accurate to me.

From 6-10, Wallace, Crawford, Vitor, Olynyk, and Pressey in no particular order.

Humphries is the odd man out, however, I'd rank his value in the 6-10 range as well. They're paying him $12M a year, may as well play him. It's not as if he's some awful player.

I think when evaluating power rankings, contracts should be left out of the equation. Bass and Sully don't make close to the most yet their impact has been critical. Pressey doesn't make a whole lot either but yet his effect on this team is hard to ignore.



KJ

Jeff Clark needs to maybe watch a game.

Crawford below Hump and Vitor?  Wallace at 12, and below Brooks?  Lee at 10?

We all experimented with mind altering substances in college, but then we got on with life.  Maybe Clark is still rolling his own.  No credibility to this one.  Maybe we need an "author ignore" button.

I think a lot of people have unrealistic views of what this team is. 6 games in, I see a scrappy bunch willing to fight every night even when they are down. So far, pretty much everyone has contributed something that I feel is very positive (excluding Bogans and Brooks, but then again, they aren't in the rotation.

It's funny, I ranked Lee pretty low earlier and tonight he played very well. I hope he keeps it up.



KJ

ny celt ...you're spot on...

As I said in MY NOTES, in my opinion, this can be about trade value or it can be about their value to the Celtics but trying to combine them is guaranteed to produce a muddied answer.

If we assume this is about their trade value, then their contract must be considered since the team that would be trading with us will take that into account since they will have to match up salaries and that will define which players can/cannot/must/must not be included in any deal with us for that Celtic.

So, assuming this is all about which player would be the most attractive to the other team and therefore better trade bait:

1.  Rondo - one of the top pg in the league and is a steal with this contract.
2.  Sullinger - Now that he's healthy, a steal on his mid-1st round rookie contract.
3.  Bradley - one of the top on-the-ball defenders, but his contract is expiring and will get a raise.
4.  Olynyk - a lottery 7'er on a longterm rookie contract.
5.  Bass - At $6.7M, plus another year still to go, he's a respected veteran.
6.  Green - talented, but expensive at $9M.  Might require giving up two good players to match the salaries up and that might stick in some teams' craw.  His contract is what has him below Bass.  A deal could be done, straight up one-for-one, for Bass.  Probably not for Green.
7.  Faverani - A cheap, serviceable big man.  Even as a backup, he's a steal.  Green's more expensive, but will take your team up another level.  Vitor won't and that's why he's less desirable.
8.  Bogans - For the expiring contract, of course.  You can get rid of a slightly expensive player or a decent one who will want a big raise and only have to own Bogans until July to get rid of him.  
9.  Crawford - he's showing he can do more than just take bad shots and is cheap, with a qualifying offer to make him restricted.
10.  Lee - a little expensive for who he is, but not ridiculous.  Has a good rep in the league.
11.  Hump - especially around the trade deadline, his talents and expiring contract will grow exponentially to other suitors.  Then, he'll climb up this list fast.  
12.  Brooks - sat on the bench in Brooklyn, sitting on the bench now.  Nobody will take a chance that two coaches were wrong.  His value is in salary matching.  He's like a 2c stamp, he's not worth much by himself, but he might be all it takes to make it happen.
13.  Pressey - undrafted, and therefore not respected, still untested.  Until he has a chance to prove himself, he's not in great demand.  
14.  Wallace - it's not just the $10M/year, and it's certainly not because of his play, it's that there's two more years on it after this one.



bob


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BobH,

Lol @ Brooks 2c stamp.

If he was showing up consistently, Boston might have some great trade bait away from the core.


KJ