Roster Reset

With the addition of Svi Mykailiuk, here is an updated roster:


Jayson Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Derrick White
Al Horford
Kristaps Porzingis
Robert Williams
Malcolm Brogdon
Sam Hauser
Payton Pritchard
Luke Kornet
Jordan Walsh
Oshae Brissett
Dalano Banton
Svi Mykailiuk


By general position, in a positionless NBA:

PG/ballhandler - Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, Payton Pritchard, Dalano Banton
Wing - Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk, Jordan Walsh
Big - Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Robert Williams III, Luke Kornet

14 players.  One roster spot still open.

Where do you see us still having a need?


Bob


.

https://us.yahoo.com/sports/newcomer-svi-mykhailiuk-crack-celtics-224246909.html



Can newcomer Svi Mykhailiuk crack the Celtics rotation?


Chris Forsberg

Thu, August 31, 2023 at 4:24 PM PDT·2 min read



The Boston Celtics quenched their thirst for additional wing depth Thursday by signing forward Svi Mykhailiuk.

The 6-foot-7 Mykhailiuk, a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2018, produced some of the best basketball of his career over a 19-game stretch with the Charlotte Hornets to close out the 2022-23 season.

The 26-year-old Mykhailiuk is a career 36 percent shooter beyond the arc but shot 40.4 percent on 4.7 attempts per game after landing in Charlotte as part of a four-team trade in February.

The lingering question: Can Mykhailiuk crack the rotation on a Boston team with championship aspirations? The Celtics undoubtedly subscribe to the notion that you can never have too much shooting and Mykhailiuk will get every opportunity to show he can be a reliable option off the bench.

While his 3-point shot is what most will focus on — and with good reason as 63.2 percent of his career shot attempts have come beyond the arc — Mykhailiuk is a willing ball-mover who sometimes can even be too unselfish. Playing alongside Boston’s established roster players should create plenty of quality looks. Mykhailiuk simply has to show more consistency than he’s displayed in six different stops during his NBA career.

Mykhailiuk certainly enjoyed playing against the Celtics. He shot 43.6 percent beyond the arc against Boston while averaging 10.4 points per game in 10 appearances. That had him knocking on the door for a spot among the Ish Smith All-Stars, or role players who irrationally torch the Celtics.

Boston is likely hoping that third-year forward Sam Hauser, after shining out of the gates last season, can be a more consistent presence after fighting through a couple rough patches last year, which kept him from ever emerging as a consistent late-season presence. Hauser held up well when teams tried to target him defensively, and Mykhailiuk must prove he can do the same.

Mykhailiuk can differentiate himself with his ability to put the ball on the floor and create off the dribble. His passing skills might have separated him from some of the other wings whom Boston eyed to fill out the roster.

The bottom line is that Mykhailiuk hasn’t quite tapped into his full potential and the Celtics are banking that some of what he displayed at the end of last year will carry over. Mykhailiuk was reportedly weighing overseas options so he’s really going to have to distinguish himself to carve out a consistent spot here.

But, for a 14th or 15th man, the Celtics have a young player with a specialty skill that they hope will be accentuated on a talent-filled team.


Bob
MY NOTE:  "The Celtics undoubtedly subscribe to the notion that you can never have too much shooting".  Hmmf.  How about you can never have too much defense?  You need at least one lock down defender at every position.  Let's give the nod to Derrick at PG, but that's it.  That's not enough, in my opinion, in this NBA where defense has to start at the perimeter with all the shooters and high pnrs.  Jaylen is a pretty good defender but I think in recent years his defense has suffered as he has saved more of his energy for his offense.  Jordan Walsh?  I'm hoping, but hope can only go so far with rookies not named Larry Joe Bird.  No disrespect to Jaylen, but only Walsh fully commits himself to defense.  Robert Williams at big, obviously.  How about Z?  For a player whose "Unicorn" nickname was pointed at his versatile offense his DefRtgs, over his career, aren't too shabby.  His career DefRtg is 108.  His last two years in Washington it was a combined 112, which still isn't too shabby especially considering Washington was not a good defensive team.  He must stay reasonably healthy.  I'd say play him in camp and pre-season, so he learns Joe's system, and then use him sparingly in the first month to make sure he doesn't get a flare up of his plantar fasciitis.  We don't need him in October, November or December.  We need him in April, May and June.

Forsberg made a good point about Sam.  Everybody was targeting him on defense as the slow, white newbie, and he did ok all in all.  They'll probably target him again this year for the same reasons, and because there's no wing on the team whose defense is as suspect (except maybe Oshae Brissett), but his OffRtg last year was 124 and his DefRtg was 113, for a NetRtg of +11.  That's pretty damn good, actually, both the NetRtg and the 113.  For comparison, Grant Williams' DefRtg last year was 113 too.

.

Signing Svi Mykhailiuk takes care of things at small forward, but the Celtics could use more depth at center


By Gary Washburn Globe Staff,Updated September 2, 2023, 8:46 a.m.



The Celtics signed swingman Svi Mykhailiuk this past week to add another young and versatile player to their arsenal. Yet they still have needs as they prepare for a critical season.

Mykhailiuk, who has fared well against the Celtics, can stretch the floor with his shooting. With the acquisition of Mykhailiuk, the return of Sam Hauser, and addition of Oshae Brissett and rookie Jordan Walsh, the Celtics appear set at small forward.

There remains one roster spot, and the Celtics still have a void at center. Robert Williams and Al Horford return, but that may not be enough depth. Williams can’t be relied upon to play 70-plus games, while Horford is 37 and showed signs of fatigue late last season, and he struggled mightily from the 3-point line during the series loss to the Heat.


Luke Kornet will be at training camp, but he’s on a nonguaranteed contract and he lost the faith of coach Joe Mazzulla as last season progressed. It’s apparent the Celtics need a reliable third center to soak up minutes if Williams is injured or Horford isn’t productive.


Blake Griffin could be a candidate, but while he served as a stellar locker-room presence, leader, and mentor for players, especially Payton Pritchard, his on-court production waned as the season went on. It’s uncertain whether the 34-year-old Griffin has much left to contribute on the floor.

Players such as Bismack Biyombo and Dewayne Dedmon are available and have played quality minutes for the past decade. However, neither is considerably better than Griffin, who did show flashes last season as a rebounder and hustle player.

The Celtics’ issue at center is created by the uncertainty of Williams. He entered this offseason healthy and has been working on his post game. But he’s played just 209 games in his five seasons, including just 35 last season. How many minutes per game can Mazzulla depend on Williams? He averaged 23.5 minutes last season and the club is not likely to allow him to approach anything more than 30. So, who can soak up those remaining 18 minutes?

Mazzulla could go with a smaller lineup with Horford or Kristaps Porzingis at center, but that lineup would lack a post presence. Horford’s post game has declined considerably, to the point where he is passing up open short jumpers. Porzingis always has been more of a finesse center, despite being 7 feet 3 inches, and is more comfortable away from the basket. Like Williams, there is also an injury concern with Porzingis, who will enter training camp next month coming off a plantar fasciitis injury.

So, the Celtics could use another rugged body in the paint, and there are a handful of players who would be considered calculated risks, such as Dwight Howard and DeMarcus Cousins, neither of whom played in the NBA last season.

The Celtics are wary of adding a veteran who may eventually complain about his role or playing time. They cherish team chemistry, and Griffin never complained about his situation last season, although he wanted to play more.

Griffin has not officially retired, and he recently gave a ringing endorsement to the Celtics’ locker room culture, after years of dealing with mayhem with the Nets. If the Celtics do decide to bring back Griffin, they need to determine whether he can actually help the team on the floor.

President of basketball operations Brad Stevens has struggled to build a productive bench, and he has been meticulous this offseason in adding players who will provide quality minutes, such as Brissett and Dalano Banton, and drafting Walsh.


ETC.

These games are worth watching

The Celtics will open the season with a trip to New York.The Celtics will open the season with a trip to New York.JOHN MINCHILLO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Here are the top 15 games to watch this season with interesting story lines, rivalries, and players returning to former teams:

Oct. 25, Celtics at Knicks: The Celtics will enter the season as the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, and a full training camp under coach Joe Mazzulla and the addition of Kristaps Porzingis should help them toward a deep playoff run. Mazzulla now has full control with his own coaching staff and endorsement from management on his offensive philosophy. The Knicks are primed for contention with Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, and Julius Randle back, along with free agent signing Donte DiVincenzo joining former Villanova teammate Josh Hart. The Knicks have had a strong offseason and want to begin the season by making a statement.

Oct. 27, Warriors at Kings: Golden State made significant changes in the offseason, including trading Jordan Poole to the Wizards for Chris Paul, who is nearing the end at 38. The Warriors have no idea how Paul is going to work in the offense. He has even questioned whether he’ll come off the bench. A Paul-Stephen Curry backcourt may have been lethal five years ago but perhaps not as much now. The Kings want to prove they were no one-year fluke and are ready to contend in the Western Conference. They are pretty much running back the same roster, and the hope is they learned from the seven-game loss to Golden State in the first round.


Nov. 8, Spurs at Knicks: This will be Victor Wembanyama’s first time on the grand stage of Madison Square Garden as the new-look Spurs attempt to take a step forward in becoming consistently competitive in the Western Conference. It’s uncertain how much Wembanyama will play as a rookie and how the Spurs plan to implement him in the offense. Wembanyama played just two summer league games and showed promise, but now he’ll be playing against the likes of Randle and other physically imposing players who will push the slight Frenchman around in the paint.


Nov. 10, Lakers at Suns: The Suns added Bradley Beal from the Wizards to make their own Big Three, but the Lakers feel they’re the favorites in the West with a healthy Anthony Davis, a still-effective LeBron James, and an emerging Austin Reaves, who has been sparkling for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup. The lone issue with the Suns is depth. They sacrificed most of their bench to get Beal and will have to rely on their starters, including 35-year-old Kevin Durant. This will be the first time Frank Vogel, who coached the Lakers to the 2020 championship in the bubble and then was fired less than two years later, will face his former team.

Dec. 23, Grizzlies at Hawks: This could be the season debut for Ja Morant, who will serve a 25-game suspension for brandishing a gun twice on social media. By this time, Marcus Smart should be comfortable running the Grizzlies’ offense. So, will Morant immediately start at point guard and move Smart to shooting guard or will Morant slide in as shooting guard and give the Grizzlies a new look? The Hawks are hoping to build off last season’s first-round appearance with Trae Young as the leader, but John Collins is off to the Jazz. The Hawks will rely on youth such as A.J. Griffin and Jalen Johnson to remain competitive in the East.

Jan. 13, Rockets at Celtics: It will be Ime Udoka’s first game coaching in Boston since his suspension and eventual dismissal as Celtics coach because of inappropriate actions in a consensual relationship with a subordinate. Udoka was popular among Celtics players, some of whom still are confused why management took such drastic action. It will be fascinating to see how the TD Garden faithful receive Udoka and his staff, some of whom were with Mazzulla last season. The Rockets are improved with Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks leading a young core that should be better defensively.

Jan. 14, Pacers at Nuggets: It will be a big night for Dorchester native Bruce Brown, who turned a productive season helping the Nuggets to the NBA title into a two-year, $45 million contract with the surging Pacers. Brown was disappointed he did not receive a more lucrative deal after productive years in Brooklyn and accepted a one-year deal with a player option from the Nuggets to boost his market value. Brown will start in the backcourt with Tyrese Haliburton, giving the Pacers a chance to compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Jan. 27, Lakers at Warriors: The Lakers believe they are the favorites in the West, while the Warriors believe their aging core has a run or two left. They meet in a Saturday night nationally televised game that could have playoff seeding implications. The Warriors lost to the Lakers in the conference semifinals and the question is whether Golden State improved in the offseason. The Warriors lost general manager Bob Myers, as well as Poole, and they are banking on players such as Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Gary Payton II to take major steps forward.

Feb. 4, Grizzlies at Celtics: Smart will make his return to Boston after nine productive years with the Celtics and it will be an emotional game for both sides. Smart was initially hurt by the three-team trade that sent him to the Grizzlies for Porzingis, but by the time he returns he should be settled into the Memphis culture as the Grizzlies seek to atone for last season’s disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Lakers. There will certainly be a moving tribute video and plenty of opportunity for fans to honor one of the more impactful Celtics of the past decade.


Feb. 4, Suns at Wizards: On the same day Smart returns to Boston, Beal will make his first appearance in Washington since being traded to Phoenix. Beal waived his no-trade clause when the Wizards decided — sort of — it was time for a complete rebuild. But the Wizards didn’t really tear everything down, acquiring Poole and signing Kyle Kuzma to a four-year extension. The Wizards will be one of the more intriguing teams because they have young talent that should flourish in Beal’s absence. Beal should receive a warm response from the fans because of his dedication to the organization through difficult times.

Feb. 9, Rockets at Raptors: This will be VanVleet’s return game after seven seasons in Toronto. VanVleet left the Raptors for a three-year, $128 million contract to be the Rockets’ starting point guard. Houston has filled its roster with young talent over the past few years, but it needed a veteran presence and VanVleet appeared ready for a change. The Raptors have a new coach and responded to losing VanVleet by signing former Celtic Dennis Schröder to a two-year contract. The Raptors have a slew of questions, including the long-term futures of stalwarts Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.

March 17, Nuggets at Mavericks: The Mavericks feel they can contend with a full season of Kyrie Irving playing alongside Luka Doncic. The Mavericks added former Celtic Grant Williams, sharpshooter Seth Curry, and Richaun Holmes, and drafted defensive-minded center Dereck Lively. By this time, the Nuggets should be a different, but just as efficient version of their championship team, with players such as Christian Braun and Peyton Watson receiving more playing time in place of Brown and Jeff Green, who both left in free agency.

March 17, Suns at Bucks: There has not been much talk about the Bucks this offseason, and they haven’t really given folks much reason to talk. Giannis Antetokounmpo recently told the New York Times he wants more clarity on the team’s long-term future before agreeing to another extension. Khris Middleton is returning on a contract extension but began showing signs of age last season, as did Brook Lopez. The team’s biggest free agent splash was signing Brook’s brother, Robin Lopez, who had been relegated to third center in his previous few stops. The Suns should be cohesive by the time they get to Milwaukee, making this an intriguing late-season interconference matchup.

March 27, Clippers at 76ers: So, which team will James Harden play for? That’s the biggest question. The mercurial guard wants a trade to Clippers, and he called 76ers general manager Daryl Morey a liar last month. But the Clippers have no reason to offer the 76ers a moderately equal deal since Harden is in the final year of his contract and has expressed unhappiness in his past three teams. The 76ers will have to determine how to make reigning MVP Joel Embiid happy before he is the next one to ask for a trade. New coach Nick Nurse has quite a task on his hands to keep Philadelphia competitive in the East.

April 7, Timberwolves at Lakers: Don’t sleep on Minnesota in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves should be better with Anthony Edwards coming off starring in the FIBA World Cup and Karl-Anthony Towns more comfortable after playing a year with Rudy Gobert. This was an exciting play-in game last season, but both teams have much higher hopes this time. The Lakers, meanwhile, could be closing in on the No. 1 seed in the West by this time and this could be a critical game.


Layups

Former Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge decided to give former first-round pick Romeo Langford another chance on a training camp invite with the Jazz. Langford was expected to be a potential cornerstone with the Celtics, joining the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the frontcourt, but his laid-back style, as well as numerous injuries, encouraged current president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to send Langford to the Spurs in the deal for Derrick White. Among a group of young prospects, Langford was never able to stand out in San Antonio and the club allowed his contract to expire without an effort to re-sign him. Langford averaged 6.9 points last season in 43 games with the Spurs but has not dramatically improved at any level, including 3-point shooting. He is a career 28.8 percent 3-point shooter and shot 26.2 last season, hurting his chances to play consistently. There is still hope for Langford, who doesn’t turn 24 until Oct. 25, and the Jazz are bringing him in at no risk . . . Another intriguing free agent was quickly taken off the market after the Mavericks waived veteran center JaVale McGee with two years left on his deal. McGee signed with the Kings as a backup to Domantas Sabonis. The Mavericks signed McGee to a three-year, $17 million contract just last summer, but coach Jason Kidd figured out quickly that McGee wasn’t playable in key stretches. The Mavericks decided to waive-and-stretch McGee’s remaining salary. He is 35 now but has played in some big games in recent years and can still have an impact defensively . . . The Hornets finally decided on a long-term deal for restricted free agent P.J. Washington, signing him to a three-year, $48 million contract. Washington is an asset, but the club was reluctant to invest more than $20 million per year in a player who could become expendable if Brandon Miller works out as a swingman. Washington will return in a prominent role, but his deal is tradeable in today’s NBA economy. Washington had a similar situation to Grant Williams, who wanted to return to Boston but was not coming back on a multiyear deal. Williams settled for a four-year, $53 million deal from the Mavericks instead of accepting the Celtics’ qualifying offer. Washington was the final marquee restricted free agent on the market and he returns to a crowded frontcourt that includes Miller and Miles Bridges.


Bob
MY NOTE:  Joe lost confidence in Grant in the playoffs too so, as far as I am concerned, this wasn't (isn't?) about Luke.  It's about Joe, because there was no good reason for him to bench Grant.

But, to the main part of the article, Washburn is saying that we traded a guard for a center and we're still thin at center?  We gave up our quality depth in the back court to balance our roster and Washburn's saying it's still not balanced because we need more of what we just traded for?  Washburn has, apparently, penciled 7'3", 240# Zinger in at PF only.  I'm all in favor of adding a brute, I wish that Kabengele showed a higher BBIQ on defending pnrs, and I don't know why we didn't sign SL beast Udoka Azubuike, but to assume that Zinger can't do any center?  Lawdy!  I hope he isn't that fragile!  Washburn is really making it sound like he thinks Brad jumped the gun and signed Al to a two year contract too soon.

I'm still holding out for a floor general to replace Smart.  He won't be Smart, he won't defend and run the offense like him, but if he can just handle the ball and free up players like Payton and Derrick to catch-and-shoot that'd be great.  How about IT?  He won't be less of a defensive liability than he was before, but he'll run the offense well.


.

Celtic bench scoring last season:


Total team scoring = 9671
Total scoring regular Starters (AH, JT, JB, MS, DW) = 6345
Total Bench scoring = 3326

* Grant started 23 games, RWill started 20, Sam started 8, Blake started 16 (wtf?), Payton 3, Muscala 4 and Noah Vonleh 1.  I did not include any of their points as starters.


Bench Scoring = 3326

Malcolm Brogdon = 1000
Grant Williams = 641
Sam Hauser = 512
Robert Williams = 279
Payton Pritchard = 270
Luke Kornet = 261
Blake Griffin = 170
Mike Muscala = 118
Miscellaneous = 75

Malcolm and Grant made up 49.3% of the bench's entire scoring.  The only players left on the bench with the departure of Smart and Grant (Blake, Moose and the Miscellaneous.  Sounds like a music group) are Malcolm, Sam, The Time Lord, Payton and Luke.  There's 2322 out of 3326, 69.8%.

Last year we had the strongest bench in the NBA.  Do we have enough now, or are we back to where we were two years ago when we couldn't go past 7 or 8, at most, before there was a significant drop off in quality?

Bench Newcomers:
Oshae Brissett
Dalano Banton
Svi

Will the addition of The Unicorn to the starting 5 be enough to offset the loss of Smart and Grant?  Marcus and Grant scored a combined 1344 points last year.  Some of Grant's points were as a starter, but most were off the bench.  Porzingis scored 1505 points for Washington last year, so that's good, but he played 65 games and was the #1 scorer for the Wizards (Kuzma was #2 with 1357 points and Beal was #3 with 1160 points because he only played 50 games).  Z won't be touching the ball as much in Boston, and he won't need to.  In my opinion he does, however, have to play at least 60 games for this experiment to work.

I don't think there's any doubt our bench's 3pt production has been hurt with the departure of Grant.  Neither Oshae nor Dalano are good shooters from the arc.  Svi had a good year last year from 3, but who knows how much he'll play?  He only played 428 minutes with Charlotte.  Man, when you can't crack the regular rotation on the Hornets it makes you wonder, doesn't it?  Svi's 2.3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio is actually surprisingly good considering he's a limited use wing and not a primary ball handler.  Payton's assist-to-turnover ratio was 1.63:1 and floor management is supposed to be part of his game.  
Happy Labor Day. I have too much time and too little to do.


Bob


.

Grant Williams had ligament damage in his left hand in March of last year and had post-season surgery. I know that blaming Mazzulla for everything is a popular pasttime around here, but it seems at least plausable that the injury affected Grant's playing time. I'm pretty sure that the head coach knew about the injury and absolutely sure that none of us did. Saying there was no good reason to bench Grant is assuming facts not in evidence. Additionally Grant has admitted , in interviews, to having had a bad attitude at times, last season. I haven't done a deep dive, but I read that his playing time started to go down around the time of his hand injury. His 3 point shooting percentage plummeted around then and Hauser was hot . I'd love to have had GW back, but he turned down a four year extension for 54 grand in the preseason. That's more than he got from Dallas. I think his contract situation caused him to press at times, and he was much more demonstrative with the refs.He AND Mazzulla drew two techs each in a game  against I forget who . Both of the coach's Ts came when he was trying to protect Grant.The idea that JM was pulling decisions out of his derrierre is a popular one, but all this" no reason" nonsense is unsubstantiated and impossible to prove.

Jayson Tatum has spent the last few weeks working out in Los Angeles and has trained with former Celtics star Paul Pierce on “more than one occasion,” writes Himmelsbach.



It is also the conventional wisdom that Blake will not be rejoining the Celtics, at least not to start the season.  That means spot #15 is still wide open.  You got your wing depth, Brad, and you added a quality big, now get me my back up floor general!!


Bob


.

bobheckler wrote:Jayson Tatum has spent the last few weeks working out in Los Angeles and has trained with former Celtics star Paul Pierce on “more than one occasion,” writes Himmelsbach.



It is also the conventional wisdom that Blake will not be rejoining the Celtics, at least not to start the season.  That means spot #15 is still wide open.  You got your wing depth, Brad, and you added a quality big, now get me my back up floor general!!


Bob


.

Hoops Hype lists 20 available free agents in the Sept. 1st issue. Not a particularly inspiring group. The first two listed are the Dragon and George Hill. They look like the best of the lot to me. Unfortunately, my copy and paste skils are shite.If you have a minute, maybe you could look it over and venture an opinion.I just googled " avaiable free agent point guards" and it took me there. I never heard of about half of them. Is Banton a posibility?

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/available/

MORE SPECIFICALLY, GUARDS:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/guard/available/


Yeah, pretty weak sauce, but I'm only looking for someone to play barely rotation minutes, if that, and is happy with that.

Dragic is 37, but he played 870 minutes last year in 58 games.  Never a great 3pt shooter but could always score.  Mediocre defender.  The question is, at 37, does he have any wheels left?  If he does, then he'll do.

Another possibility is Ish Smith.  We tend to have a soft spot for players who play well against us (just ask Cowens about journeyman Moses Brown and he'll weave you epic tales rivaling Norse sagas of his potential future HOF eligibility based upon a single half of basketball he played against us) and Ish Smith always seems to torch us, but he fits the bill.  We have bigger players to guard bigger back court players (e.g. White, Brogdon, Jaylen, Walsh) but who guards the speed merchants of the NBA?  Who do we have that will stay in front of, but still close to, the Trey Youngs and such?  Payton?  Nobody gives more than Payton but can he really defend those guys?  Offensively Ish Smith's assist-to-turnover ratio last season, at 34, was 2.3:1.  He played in 43 games, started in none, and only played a total of 398 minutes.  So his expectations will be well set for what I'm asking of him.  Come in and defend the little guys when they've got them, run an offense when you're out there, and don't ask for more.

George Hill is another 37 year old I'd consider.  Same thing.  Play some D, run an offense and just be happy to be along for the ride.

I know that Payton is foaming at the mouth to get minutes, and I'm not trying to deny him, but he's finding out being a floor general in the NBA is a lot harder than being one at Oregon.  I'd like a player that will help him with that part-time and not be the primary.  If/when Payton's on the floor with Derrick or Malcolm he's not going to be the primary floor general and, if he's out there as the primary floor general because they're not out there I'd like to have a veteran who can help share some of that pressure without being viewed as a serious threat to him.

Also, on my perfect world, I hit the lottery.  I'd be happy with once a month.  I'm not greedy.  I'm open to other people winning the other 29-30 days.


Bob


.

Bob
MY NOTE:  He doesn't need to do this, not on this team, but it's still nice to see he could.  This was March 8th of this year, so it's not "vintage" film here, he scored his career high last season.  What I really enjoyed was watching his high post passing to cutters.  If you move, he will get it to you.  We just need to get the Js and others to remember that it's about scoring, not necessarily dribbling.

He's going to learn pretty quickly in Boston that we love defense and ball movement more than anything.  If he passes like this...


.

Corrected

I read an article about the wisdom of trading RWill to GSW for Chris Paul. The article incorrectly assumes that with Z anf Al we are already solid enough at center. Still, Chris Paul could be a great help to Z and the J's. But not enough to part with Time Lord.

I read somewhere that Ski is a terrific 3 point shooter from the corner but only a low 30's from other areas on the court

Grant was hurt during the playoffs and that clearly affected his shooting. Same situation with MB.

Health is always a factor and it remains the most variable.

Also, I do not think that Brad will rush into filling the last roster spot.

dboss wrote:I read somewhere that Ski is a terrific 3 point shooter from the corner but only a low 30's from other areas on the court

Grant was hurt during the playoffs and that clearly affected his shooting.  Same situation with MB.

Health is always a factor and it remains the most variable.

Also, I do not think that Brad will rush into filling the last roster spot.  

Dboss,


Svi's career 3pt shot chart.  As you can see it supports what you've heard.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/svi-shot-chart


However, according to basketball-reference.com, Svi's 3pt shooting improved significantly in the last two seasons, so his early years are probably diluting that shot chart.

Last year he shot 42-99 (42.4%) from 3 (6-10 in NY, 36-89 in Charlotte).  35% were from the corner (35 out of 99 total 3s.  30% of 10 in NY (3), 36% of 89 (32) in Charlotte were from the corners).  His 42.4% season average from 3 is better than his 35% from the corners.  That tells me his NON-corner 3pt shooting pulled his average up.

One thing I like, that I see in his shooting stats, is that he hasn't taken "a heave" in 3 seasons and has only taken 5 in his entire career.  He's not a chucker.  It might also mean he doesn't have the ball in his hands when the shot clock is almost gone.  Well, if I had Jalen Brunson, or Julius Randle or LoMelo Ball or Terry Rozier on my team I'd probably prefer them shooting the ball with the clock going down too.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mykhasv01.html


For me, it's going to come down to defense.  We have a shooting wing off the bench named "Sam the Show".  If Svi wants minutes I think he's have to create separation from Sam with his defense.  And that's just fine with me.

I agree with you about Brad not being in a rush.  I think he wants Blake and Blake is in no rush.  Furthermore, having 14 players gives Joe the opportunity (excuse?) to play the lower bench players a little more.  There are, I think, 3 players whose contracts aren't fully guaranteed until Opening Night (Banton and Walsh) or until 1/10/24 (Luke).  

We also have 3 TPEs.  Two of them might not be worth much, Vonleh's definitely isn't, but Grant's TPE might make a big difference.  Any team looking to shed salary might be willing to pick up a couple of non-guaranteed contracts and a $6+M TPE for a player they don't see in their future if that happens before Opening Night.  If after Opening Night Brad still has until January 10th to include Luke's $2.1M into a deal.  There's $8+M worth of salary we could take on, unless GYSO tells me I don't know wtf I'm talking about.

Noah Vonleh - $505K.  Expires 1/5/24
Justin Jackson - $1.836M.  Expires 2/9/24
Grant Williams - $6.2M.  Expires 7/12/24


Bob


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bobheckler wrote:https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/available/

MORE SPECIFICALLY, GUARDS:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/guard/available/


Yeah, pretty weak sauce, but I'm only looking for someone to play barely rotation minutes, if that, and is happy with that.

Dragic is 37, but he played 870 minutes last year in 58 games.  Never a great 3pt shooter but could always score.  Mediocre defender.  The question is, at 37, does he have any wheels left?  If he does, then he'll do.

Another possibility is Ish Smith.  We tend to have a soft spot for players who play well against us (just ask Cowens about journeyman Moses Brown and he'll weave you epic tales rivaling Norse sagas of his potential future HOF eligibility based upon a single half of basketball he played against us) and Ish Smith always seems to torch us, but he fits the bill.  We have bigger players to guard bigger back court players (e.g. White, Brogdon, Jaylen, Walsh) but who guards the speed merchants of the NBA?  Who do we have that will stay in front of, but still close to, the Trey Youngs and such?  Payton?  Nobody gives more than Payton but can he really defend those guys?  Offensively Ish Smith's assist-to-turnover ratio last season, at 34, was 2.3:1.  He played in 43 games, started in none, and only played a total of 398 minutes.  So his expectations will be well set for what I'm asking of him.  Come in and defend the little guys when they've got them, run an offense when you're out there, and don't ask for more.

George Hill is another 37 year old I'd consider.  Same thing.  Play some D, run an offense and just be happy to be along for the ride.

I know that Payton is foaming at the mouth to get minutes, and I'm not trying to deny him, but he's finding out being a floor general in the NBA is a lot harder than being one at Oregon.  I'd like a player that will help him with that part-time and not be the primary.  If/when Payton's on the floor with Derrick or Malcolm he's not going to be the primary floor general and, if he's out there as the primary floor general because they're not out there I'd like to have a veteran who can help share some of that pressure without being viewed as a serious threat to him.

Also, on my perfect world, I hit the lottery.  I'd be happy with once a month.  I'm not greedy.  I'm open to other people winning the other 29-30 days.


Bob


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Thanks for your response. Where have you gone, Yam Madar, anation turns its lonely eyes to you... maybe somebody will pop up when roster cuts occur

bobheckler wrote:

dboss wrote:I read somewhere that Ski is a terrific 3 point shooter from the corner but only a low 30's from other areas on the court

Grant was hurt during the playoffs and that clearly affected his shooting.  Same situation with MB.

Health is always a factor and it remains the most variable.

Also, I do not think that Brad will rush into filling the last roster spot.  

Dboss,


Svi's career 3pt shot chart.  As you can see it supports what you've heard.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/svi-shot-chart


However, according to basketball-reference.com, Svi's 3pt shooting improved significantly in the last two seasons, so his early years are probably diluting that shot chart.

Last year he shot 42-99 (42.4%) from 3 (6-10 in NY, 36-89 in Charlotte).  35% were from the corner (35 out of 99 total 3s.  30% of 10 in NY (3), 36% of 89 (32) in Charlotte were from the corners).  His 42.4% season average from 3 is better than his 35% from the corners.  That tells me his NON-corner 3pt shooting pulled his average up.

One thing I like, that I see in his shooting stats, is that he hasn't taken "a heave" in 3 seasons and has only taken 5 in his entire career.  He's not a chucker.  It might also mean he doesn't have the ball in his hands when the shot clock is almost gone.  Well, if I had Jalen Brunson, or Julius Randle or LoMelo Ball or Terry Rozier on my team I'd probably prefer them shooting the ball with the clock going down too.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mykhasv01.html


For me, it's going to come down to defense.  We have a shooting wing off the bench named "Sam the Show".  If Svi wants minutes I think he's have to create separation from Sam with his defense.  And that's just fine with me.

I agree with you about Brad not being in a rush.  I think he wants Blake and Blake is in no rush.  Furthermore, having 14 players gives Joe the opportunity (excuse?) to play the lower bench players a little more.  There are, I think, 3 players whose contracts aren't fully guaranteed until Opening Night (Banton and Walsh) or until 1/10/24 (Luke).  

We also have 3 TPEs.  Two of them might not be worth much, Vonleh's definitely isn't, but Grant's TPE might make a big difference.  Any team looking to shed salary might be willing to pick up a couple of non-guaranteed contracts and a $6+M TPE for a player they don't see in their future if that happens before Opening Night.  If after Opening Night Brad still has until January 10th to include Luke's $2.1M into a deal.  There's $8+M worth of salary we could take on, unless GYSO tells me I don't know wtf I'm talking about.

Noah Vonleh - $505K.  Expires 1/5/24
Justin Jackson - $1.836M.  Expires 2/9/24
Grant Williams - $6.2M.  Expires 7/12/24


Bob


.

CORRECTION!!!!


I mixed apples and oranges.  Svi shot 42.4% from 3 overall.  The 35% number I used to say his corner shooting diluted his overall 3pt shooting was the % of his 3pt fgas from the corners, not his fg% from there.

The corrected numbers should be:

42.4% fg% from 3, overall.

42.9% fg% from the corners, 40.6% from the corners in Charlotte where most of his 3pt fgas were taken.

35.4% of all his 3pt fgas were from the corners and 64.6% were from elsewhere beyond the arc.


Using these numbers he seems to have evened out his 3pt shooting pretty well, just .5%  better from the corners than from elsewhere beyond the arc, and almost 2/3 of his 3pt fgas were from elsewhere.

Sorry for the confusion.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mykhasv01.html


Bob


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https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/9/7/23858615/how-jayson-tatum-can-unlock-payton-pritchard-boston-celtics


How Jayson Tatum can unlock Payton Pritchard


Payton Pritchard and Jayson Tatum had a massive positive impact together in 2021-22, but that fell apart last year. How can they get back to what made them great together?


By Wayne_Spooney  

Sep 7, 2023, 9:00am EDT  



It’s probably been a whirlwind 2023 for Payton Pritchard. From the lows of stumbling out of the rotation and requesting a trade, to what is probably the highlight of his life: hanging out with Isaiah Thomas.

The trade request eventually led to the opposite. Instead of leaving Boston, he was given an opportunity. With Marcus Smart out the door and only Delano Banton in at his position, Payton Pritchard should see his role increase. The 2022-23 season and the arrival of Malcolm Brogdon saw Pritchard’s playing time drop 350 minutes from the previous season, it was both predictable and disappointing for Pritch-stans.

Now, the carpet has been rolled out for the newlywed. One of the three big minute guards ahead of him is gone, his minutes will almost certainly creep up, likely close to or exceed the 21-22 season (1000 minutes).

A quick look at PP’s advanced stats may bring some concern with him serving a larger role. His net rating is troubling. Sitting at +1.4 this past season and +2.2 in the 21-22 season; those rank last and 13th on the Cs respectively (among players that actually played, aka the non-Broderic Thomas division). As a wise man once said, “not great.”

But there is hope for Payton. Like a wise old hermit, the protagonist runs into in the middle of the forest, Jayson Tatum provides guidance and purpose that changes things for Pritchard (please ignore the fact that Pritchard is actually older than JT for the sake of this rushed and poorly thought-out metaphor).


Tatum makes everyone’s life easier, and that’s reflected in the fact that nearly everyone’s net rating improves when they play with him. There’s perhaps no player where that’s more profound than Payton Pritchard, however. This past season, PP’s net rating increased by 7.5 points per 100 possessions when he played with Tatum. The season prior, it rose by an astronomical 18.0 points per 100 possessions better when they shared the court. That is, in a word, obscene.

The issue with the number in 22-23 is that at +5.3 when they played together, it’s still worse than the Celtics as a whole. One could argue that Pritchard playing hurts the team. In fact, it would be hard counter that argument last year. But the opposite is true of 21-22, where Tatum and PP had a +11.8 net rating together, well clear of the team’s net rating of 7.4. So, what happened?

That’s a complicated question that’s one part Payton Pritchard, one part Malcolm Brogdon, and one part Joe Mazzulla. PP, for the first time in his NBA career, shot below 40% from three. That’s almost exclusively explained by an unexplainable drop in his shooting from the corners, where he barely eclipsed 30%, while shooting 39% above the break. Going from 40+% to around 36% isn’t career ending, but it really eats into the value of a guy like Pritchard, who’s primary offensive skillset is taking and making threes.

I say Malcolm Brogdon is at fault not because of some devious plot by Malcolm to undermine Pritchard’s role on the team. Although, that would be incredible content. Instead, it’s because he is simply a better player, and in a crowded backcourt, PP was deservedly the odd man out. A lack of playing time leads to a smaller sample size and less comfort in your role; both can add up to a career low shooting percentage.

Now we turn to Joe Mazzulla. I think Joe was a pretty inventive offensive coach last season, but he was not inventive with Payton Pritchard and did him no favors. Issue one, PP played 49% of his minutes with Tatum on the floor in 21-22, and it worked wonderfully. That number dropped to 41% in 22-23, and they were considerably less effective in those minutes together. Strangely, Tatum barely found Pritchard at all, and I don’t think it’s JT’s fault. They played next to each other, not with each other.


When Pritchard was out there with Tatum this past season, his role was very limited to spacing to the corners. That matters and it helps since Jayson Tatum basically only needs space to be effective, but both Tatum, Pritchard, and the Celtics can be more effective with just a little bit more ingenuity. Mazzulla should dip into Ime Udoka’s playbook and start using PP in the PP, the Pick-and-Pop. Udoka used Pritchard like a three-point shooting version of Bruce Brown with the guard setting the screen for the big.

Here’s 2 of the 5 assists (yes, only 5) Tatum had to Pritchard last year.

https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2023/04/07/0022201206/232/4c4dad02-c87e-5f56-76ec-b36d0ce48440_1280x720.mp4

https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2023/01/03/0022200562/509/c68b7075-93e7-0d23-bca3-3ffd8786add7_1280x720.mp4




A strange broken play kickout, and then Pritchard coming over to help JT out of trouble and getting into an emergency pick-and-roll with Tatum setting the screen — not exactly masterstrokes of offensive design.

On the other hand, look at all the inventive stuff Ime Udoka was doing with Pritchard and Tatum in tandem, leveraging Tatum’s defensive attention and Pritchard’s lights-out shooting. Here is PP setting a screen in a double screen action for Tatum as the ballhandler and then spacing wide, waiting for Tatum to find him.

https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2022/03/13/0022101014/468/2a4ade8c-5fb8-8d98-10af-5744329e7bce_1280x720.mp4


Here’s a more traditional double high screen and role with both guards setting the screens for Tatum. The defense chooses to double Tatum, which is generally a wise choice, and it gives Pritchard a practice shot jumper.

https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2022/03/16/0022101042/561/704986cf-3aab-374f-5735-56903e755608_1280x720.mp4


He was also used in the more classic pick-and-pop situation:

https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2022/04/03/0022101166/175/a8a3260a-054c-c5e5-046c-be5494be00e7_1280x720.mp4


Tatum’s insane on ball gravity mixed with Pritchard’s elite shooting and bonkers range makes for a deadly pick-and-pop combination. Let Tatum draw a double or soft help, and then it’s a simple pass for an easy shot.

Do I think this should be the dominant action when Tatum shares the floor with Pritchard? No, and certainly Pritchard will do his share of sitting in the corner. But PP is a weapon, one that Mazzulla can extract additional value out of compared to his performance last year. Pritchard’s going to play next year, you might as well make the most of it and make sure Jayson Tatum’s out there with him.


Bob
MY NOTE:  I've been calling for another veteran point guard, a TRUE point guard, to be added to the roster.  If Brad decides to go in another direction and we're going to see Joe rely heavily on the Js' to run the halfcourt offense, then we need to see Payton get more touches.  He's pretty useless without fgas.  He tries hard, he plays very hard, but he's never going to be better than an adequate defender.  For him to be worthy of minutes, therefore, he needs to do what he does best and that's 'shoot'.

The NBA is a pnr and draw-and-kick league.  Jayson and Payton make a great draw-and-kick duo, possibly even better than the two Js themselves because Payton's a better pure shooter than Jaylen.  Jaylen's the better scorer because his size and strength lets him do things Payton can't, but from a pure shooter's perspective the nod goes to Payton.


.

Bob

Which Svi will the Celtics be getting?

He shot well this past season why splitting time with Charlotte and NY (total 32 games) and shot 42/99 from deep.  42.4% is great.  The previous year he shot 30.6% and the year before he shot 33.6% and the year before that 33.3%

Basically in 3 out of the past 4 years he has sucked from deep.

If he gets in a game and is weak on defense and misses a shot or 2 from his corner perch, he will be benched by CJ.  

Our 3 point shooting off the bench may or may not be an issue.    The Celtics could move AH to the bench and that would more than make up for losing Grant.

We will have to see how Newbies Banton and Brissett do.  I think we can anticipate Sam Hauser doing well.

Plus, we have Brogdon and Pritchard who are both excellent shooters from deep.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Daniel Theis helped Germany kill the USA team last night in FIBA. I’ve always like his grit and mobility, let’s look into bringing him back as big man insurance if possible.

For a 3rd time huh...

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 1 hour ago
Sources: the #Celtics signed 6-8 forward Taylor Funk to an Exhibit 10 contract. Funk, 26 this season, averaged 13.4 PPG and 5.5 RPG on 45.1% FG (37% 3PT) at Utah State last season. He played in Summer League with the #Heat, averaging 3.5 PPG on 5-for-19 shooting (4/17 3PT).


Bob
MY NOTE:  Camp cannon fodder.

.

It's a bad idea, generally, to covet a player just because they have good games against you.  That's what the Sixers did with Al Horford and then realized they really didn't have a place for him, they just wanted him to stop hurting them.

Having said that, the Boston Celtics last year were a top 5 defense.  Any player who can go off for 32 points and 13 boards against that level of defense is worth paying attention to.

And notice how often Marcus Smart was fighting against Z.  Damn.  I'm gonna miss him so much.  





Bob


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I know Theis probably makes too much money to be considered for this spot on the bench. However, if he was used the way he should have been, Ime would have gotten alot more out of him. It was obvious this was not a choice he wanted to make. Theis and Tatum worked so well together, Jason loved playing with him. I know some of the rules have changed, so those great picks he used to set are now illegal, but other than Griffin, he is the one guy I could see on this team. Brad loved the guy and would convince Joe to use him wisely. I do think this is a pipe dream unless we get rid of some $$ on the bench. Wow, 2 weeks away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shams is reporting Celtics signed Lamar Stevens.   No word on the details of the contract.   When more is known I'll post it and update the roster accordingly.


Bob


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