Stumbling out of the gates, not so bad

[DERRENMATTS]

It may be wise to temper expectations for this team early on. By the end of the season, I'm optimistic this team will be ready to compete against anyone come playoff time, but at the start of the year, say the first 20 - 30 games, we may only be a handful of games above .500.

But really, it's no big deal, and rather, it might be to our benefit. Our slow start might put us anywhere between the 3rd and 6th seed in the playoff picture -- but by that time, we will be playing much better than our seeding indicates, and when it is all said and done, we should make it to the ECF. But because of our lower seed, where we pick in the draft will be better.

Getting a pick in the low 20's could net us a solid player, which is necessary to replenish our stock.

[FLCeltsFan]

I agree that we may struggle at the beginning of the season. With just 4 returning players and having to fit everyone together and all of the players have to learn a new system, it's going to take awhile. And it may take awhile for Brad to figure everyone's strengths and how to fit them into his system.

[jmost]

I think we'll be all right as long as we don't have to play the KC Chiefs!

The main thing is to keep getting better, month to month. I'm not going to stress over best record, home court advantage, or winning more games than last year.

[afceltic]

The only thing is that based off of last years team winning percentage, Boston has the 4th easiest schedule through November. So we may struggle, we may end up winning still because of our strength of schedule.

[jhvos7979]

With the big turnover on players and with the shift of leadership changing in the process I would expect some hiccups in the beginning. Roster is extremely young compare to last time Celtics did a major trade so there still a lot of growing that's require compare to KG and Ray Allen who already had 10+ years in the NBA.

[Deleted]

Remember that Hayward had to play with some subpar lineups that were constantly changing, and the Jazz still won 51 games in a tough western conference.  I think the experience of Hayward, Irving, and Horford coupled with the coaching of Stevens and the familiarity that smart, brown, etc have with Brad will be enough to still win early.  Although I do agree that we need to be prepared for lots of lineups and tweaks to offense and defense that will take Brad time to optimize.  See Jazz starting lineups from last year below:


23 Starting Lineups

Share & more

Modify & Share Table

Embed this Table

Get as Excel Workbook (experimental)

Get table as CSV (for Excel)

Strip Mobile Formatting

Copy Link to Table to Clipboard

About Sharing Tools

Video: SR Sharing Tools & How-to

Video: Stats Table Tips & Tricks

Glossary

G W L W/L% Starting Lineup

13 11 2 .846 D. Favors · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · G. Hill · R. Hood

12 7 5 .583 D. Favors · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · G. Hill · J. Ingles

11 8 3 .727 B. Diaw · D. Exum · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · R. Hood

7 6 1 .857 B. Diaw · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · G. Hill · R. Hood

6 3 3 .500 D. Favors · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · R. Hood · S. Mack

4 3 1 .750 B. Diaw · D. Exum · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · J. Ingles

3 1 2 .333 B. Diaw · R. Gobert · G. Hill · R. Hood · J. Johnson

3 1 2 .333 D. Exum · D. Favors · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · J. Ingles

3 2 1 .667 D. Favors · R. Gobert · G. Hill · R. Hood · J. Johnson

2 1 1 .500 R. Gobert · G. Hayward · G. Hill · R. Hood · J. Johnson

2 0 2 .000 D. Exum · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · R. Hood · T. Lyles

2 2 0 1.000 B. Diaw · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · G. Hill · J. Ingles

2 0 2 .000 R. Gobert · G. Hayward · G. Hill · J. Ingles · J. Johnson

2 2 0 1.000 D. Exum · D. Favors · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · R. Hood

2 1 1 .500 R. Gobert · G. Hayward · G. Hill · R. Hood · T. Lyles

1 0 1 .000 B. Diaw · D. Exum · R. Gobert · J. Johnson · S. Mack

1 0 1 .000 B. Diaw · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · J. Ingles · S. Mack

1 0 1 .000 B. Diaw · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · R. Hood · S. Mack

1 1 0 1.000 B. Diaw · R. Gobert · G. Hill · R. Hood · J. Ingles

1 1 0 1.000 B. Diaw · D. Exum · R. Gobert · G. Hill · J. Ingles

1 0 1 .000 B. Diaw · D. Exum · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · J. Johnson

1 1 0 1.000 D. Exum · R. Gobert · G. Hayward · R. Hood · J. Johnson

1 0 1 .000 G. Hayward · G. Hill · R. Hood · J. Johnson · J. Withey

[DERRENMATTS]

Welcome aboard, Haywardhomer. Being a Hayward fan, did you follow the Jazz?

[DERRENMATTS]

In addition to the challenges of Brad getting a feel for his team, guys getting used to each others' tendencies, and players finding their niche, another reason we may possibly stumble out of the gates is because of our lack of a productive veteran at the wing.

When Gordon takes a breather, our choices at SF will be:

Marcus Morris (but that makes us big, so we'll need to use him there only when needed)
Marcus Smart (makes us really small -- 6'4" SF?)
Jaylen Brown (young 2nd year player, right now, we're hoping he's ready to take on a more significant role)
Jayson Tatum (young 19 year old rookie. Hard to say if he's ready to get into games)
Abdel Nader (unproven at the NBA level)

Gerald Green is an option -- but honestly, he doesn't give me the warm fuzzy. He's still a loose cannon whose defense is not always where we need it to be.

I think getting a veteran SF who can fill in the gap while the youngsters get caught up to speed is what we need.

[FLCeltsFan]

I think we need another big. If Horford goes down we have Baynes and Theis - Not a lot to back him up.

[DERRENMATTS]

Yes, we can't have any injuries up front. We're really (NBA) inexperienced there too. Horford, Baynes, Theis and Yabusele are our 4/5. In a pinch, we maybe can use Morris there. But that shows us how thin we are already in proven depth.

[jhvos7979]

How many two-way players can Celtics hold on the roster between NBA/NBDL rosters?

[DERRENMATTS]

I believe it is only 2. And we've already got Kadeem Allen and Jabari Bird in those slots.

[FLCeltsFan]

You are correct, Derren. Each team is allowed 2 two-way contracts and the Celtics have signed Allen and Bird to fill their 2 spots.