Boston Celtics roster crunch: Should Perry Jones be the odd man out?

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Boston Celtics roster crunch: Should Perry Jones be the odd man out?






Boston Celtics player Perry Jones speaks with a broadcast reporter following a news conference at the NBA basketball team's training facility Monday, July 27, 2015, in Waltham, Mass. The news conference was held to introduce five Boston Celtics players including Jones. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Print Email Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com

on August 05, 2015 at 4:30 PM, updated August 05, 2015 at 4:38 PM





The Boston Celtics are not done with offseason changes. We know this because they currently have 17 players on guaranteed contracts, two more than teams are allowed to carry into the regular season. Zoran Dragic is likely to get waived, but that still leaves at least one more player Danny Ainge will need to move.

But who? And how?

Let's break it down:

1. The Perry Jones situation

If the Celtics decide to waive someone, they will need to swallow guaranteed money. That would not be a huge issue since they would still be under the luxury-tax threshold, but it also would not qualify as ideal. Plus, who would they waive?

At the time the team acquired Perry Jones, the Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett reported Jones will "get a good, long look, but he's no sure bet to be on the Celtics' roster opening night." Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge may have implied a similar message, saying, among other things, "We'll see how (Jones) fits in with our system." It's worth noting the Thunder couldn't find any team willing to part with an asset for Jones. To dump his salary, they were forced to give the Celtics a future second-round pick. That would be why waiving him, rather than trading him, might be an option.

One problem with potentially waiving Jones: largely an unknown commodity, the 23-year-old theoretically possesses a load of untapped potential. During his time with the Thunder, James Harden called Jones "probably the most athletic (player) on the team" -- while the team featured Russell (bleeping) Westbrook -- and Kevin Durant labeled Jones the best athlete in the league. The 6-foot-11 Jones is a long, versatile wing who has strung together some impressive stretches on NBA courts, and there's a chance he could look substantially better in Brad Stevens' system. This is a guy with tools.

If not Jones, the Celtics don't have many realistic waiving options. They just signed three rookies and almost everyone else on the roster is capable of contributing. The possible exception to that, James Young, still hasn't turned 20 and was drafted just a bit outside the lottery last season. Despite an underwhelming summer league performance, it's too early to give up on a long, athletic wing with a pretty shooting stroke. I've been assured Ainge remains high on Young's potential.

2. Trade possible?

Before forcing the Celtics owners to swallow guaranteed money, Ainge will surely explore the trade market to see what other options exist. He's always looking for a major roster upgrade, but a smaller deal could be more likely.

Earlier this week, Grantland's Zach Lowe wrote, "Boston could always trade a big to ease the roster crunch, and (Jared) Sullinger might be the likeliest candidate to go. He's had constant conditioning issues, he's still a sub-30-percent shooter from deep after two years of hoisting, and he's probably never going to be a plus defender. His agent, David Falk, does not mess around in extension talks. If Falk can't get Sullinger a huge deal, he will have no qualms taking him into free agency."

Reports on Sullinger's offseason progress have been promising, but Ainge was clearly frustrated last season by the big man's lack of commitment to his body. Even if Sullinger does whip himself into much better shape this summer, doubts should linger about whether he can sustain it after receiving a bigger payday. The 23-year-old will be entering a contract year if he does not sign an extension by the end of October.

Even with the extra weight, Sullinger has produced inside and on the glass, and moving him now -- months after he suffered a stress fracture in his foot -- would be selling low. But the Celtics loaded up in the frontcourt this summer, adding Amir Johnson and David Lee to go with the re-signings of Jonas Jerebko and Jae Crowder. If there is any position at which they can afford to trade away depth, it's power forward.

Dealing someone from another position could be possible. Some rival front-office figures believe the Celtics should try to move Evan Turner first.

"Not because I'm sold on Perry Jones," said one, "but because we know what Turner is, and he's probably not the best fit for the (Celtics) future."

The Celtics may not feel the same way. Stevens like Turner's versatility on both ends, and the wing was useful last season when the need for extra ball-handling arose. It's possible his playmaking will be necessary again next year, as the starting duo of Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley lacks the creative flair to consistently break down defenses.

But Boston will have the added benefit of a full season with electric sixth man Isaiah Thomas, and Smart, before dislocating two fingers at summer league, showed he has continued to improve with the ball in his hands. As Smart evolves, the Celtics could want to surround him and Thomas with more shooting.

Turner spends plenty of time on his shot, but has never been able to mold it into a consistent weapon. According to NBA.com, he shot 25.6 percent on above-the-break threes last season and a subpar 31.7 percent from the corners. That deficiency from outside could make him an awkward fit if Smart and/or Terry Rozier -- neither of whom are knockdown shooters -- emerge as playmakers. Young and R.J. Hunter may not be ready to serve as spot-up threats this season, but they are working toward minutes in the future. And if Smart is indeed capable of handling more point guard duties next season, the need for a secondary ball-handler next to him will be lessened.

Turner's size and pick-and-roll ability would still be welcome in the coming season, but his affordable, expiring contract ($3.43 million) could mean there's a market for his services. Among other teams, Utah could be looking for ball-handling help if Dante Exum's recent left knee injury is as serious as initially feared.

The Celtics could also consider a number of other options, and Ainge's decision may not be easy. His team isn't stacked with top-shelf talent but features enough depth to field an interesting race for the final roster spot.



bob
MY NOTE:  We need scoring wings.  Evan Turner might be the closest thing to a point guard we have on this team, and he's not a guard, but he isn't really a shooter neither.  On the other hand, take Turner's ball handling away and then what?  No, PJ3 isn't a lock to make this team, but neither is James Young who has yet to have a really good game, pretty much ever; not even against the chump level talent in summer league.  Does Turner have the most trade value of the three of our SFs?  Yes, but how much does that say?

I disagree with the claim that Turner doesn't really fit into Brad's system.  Turner's shooting, or lack thereof, is a liability in Brad's system since it counts on everybody passing and shooting but shooting might be the most easily corrected deficiency of all the basketball skills.  You cannot teach or practice IQ, you cannot teach or practice ganas but you can practice shooting until your arm falls off and you can hit them in your sleep.

Nevertheless, if Turner can buy us an upgrade, I'm all for it. My bet, however, is that nothing will happen as far as the "Turner or Jones" choice, until training camp and Brad gets to see Jones work. There is no need to make a decision before that unless Danny gets a sweet offer. Then he'll pull the trigger training camp or no training camp.


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Bob

The author is only half right at best

For the 2016-2017 season Boston has a qualifying offer if they want to retain Sully for another year or initiate an extension.  So any discussions about Sully and free agency are completely irrelevant at this point in time.  Sully is still our best young rebounder so I doubt that Ainge would move him unless it is part of a deal that gets us a starting quality center.

I do not see Turner being moved either because he is the only player on the team that has proven he can play PG.  Until such time that either Smart or Rozier exhibit mastery of running the team on offense, Turner remains our best option.

We have 17 contracts and 2 will be going away.  No revelation to any of us as we have been discussing possible moves by DA.

I think we all agree that every player on this team could be traded.  

dboss
After we watch the Perry Jones of the world play in Brad's system we should have some small idea about who goes and who stays.

bob,

Exactly right in your mention that the Cs do not need to make any decision about Jones until right before opening night.

Sometimes, I think that some of us fans try to come up with roster decisions way sooner than necessary.  Perhaps, at this time of the year, there is just very little to talk about.  I know that our breakfast group has cut back out weekly meetings to every third week for all of August and the first half of September.

I am going to predict that Jones is going to win the starting small forward position at the beginning of the season.  If there is a truly motivated guy on the Celtics roster it has to be this guy.  Another "failure" for this guy may end his career, and I would think that he has to understand this.

wow Wide!


thats a pretty bold prediction there.

I'm not sure I have seen anytthing that puts Jones over either Turner or Crowder myself. though in fairness to jones I haven't seen anytng fomr Jones at all (and neither has most Thunder fans I would suspect).

I don't understand the need to cut Dragic before the season starts either myself, even though that is widely expected to be done soon.

Danny shoud be able to find a 2-1 trade (or two)somewhere before the season starts, right?

Dboss,
I agree that Sully was the best rebounder we had last year, but I think that both amir and Lee are at least on par with him on this years team.

the way things are going though, i expect Zeller to be traded before any of those guys. Danny and Brad don't need no stinkin' centers!

kdp59 wrote:wow Wide!


thats a pretty bold prediction there.

I'm not sure I have seen anytthing that puts Jones over either Turner or Crowder myself. though in fairness to jones I haven't seen anytng fomr Jones at all (and neither has most Thunder fans I would suspect).

I  don't understand the need to cut Dragic before the season starts either myself, even though that is widely expected to be done soon.

Danny shoud be able to find a 2-1 trade  (or two)somewhere before the season starts, right?

Dboss,
I agree that Sully was the best rebounder we had last year, but I think that both amir and Lee are  at least on par with him on this years team.

the way things are going though, i expect Zeller to be traded before any of those guys. Danny and Brad don't need  no stinkin' centers!

KDP

Amir is an ok rebounder at 6 per game and lee is an above average rebounder.  However if the Celtics retain Sully, rebounding will turn into a strength rather than a weakness.  At the very least Boston will control their defensive glass.

When I look at the additions to this roster it is apparent that DA has made a great effort to address positional and functional weaknesses on the team.  While Lee is not the Classic center, he does provide a lot of options for the way Brad's system works.  So we do not have that elite rim protector yet but  we do have an outstanding offensive player, passer and rebounder in Lee.

We needed more offense and both Amir and Lee are proven commodities.  Amir also provides some defensive uplift to the team.

We needed to improve our 3 point shooting and Danny drafted RJ Hunter.  I have no idea if he will see significant minutes on the floor but down the road a bit he looks like a perfect fit at SG.

The PG situation is one worth watching.  last year the Celtics used a # 6 picks to draft Marcus and this year they use the 1st of three picks to draft Rozier.  That tells me that Smart may not have a long term future with the Celtics.    While one year of play may not be a predictor of future production Marcs did not have a particularly good rookie season.  He shot below 40% from the field and under .65% from the line and he does not get there enough because he cannot drive the lane effectively, was very average creating opportunities for his teammates (3.1 assists) , he is an average rebounder at 3.3.  His biggest contribution was the toughness and tenacity that he played with but that alone may not secure his position on the Celtics.

So as we are looking at potential trades there is no one on the team that is not on the block.

dboss

The only Celts absolutely untradeable are trainer Eddy Lacerte and coach Brad Stevens.