2023-24 PRESEASON, Multi-Game Thread – Next: 7:30PM, Tues, Oct, 17 vs Knicks

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

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[Hal14]

Banton with smooth looking form on the corner 3.

Lamar nice kick out pass..and nice cut to the basket and finish with the dunk.

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[playa-hater]

My guess is we will see what the actual rotation looks like tomorrow. With a heavy dose of the starters playing.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

- Have either Smart or Rob actually played in a Pre-Season Game yet?

- There didn't seem to be a lot of interest in Javonte Green before he signed an Exhibition 10 contract with
the Warriors...

- The Suns are the NBA's Offensive Death Star, but defensively, the Celtics are much better and may be their equals offensively,
if you take into account bench shooting. Few teams can toss out a Hauser - Pritchard - Siv Three-Point Trio.

- Whatever you want to say about Wemby, he's a Twiggy Boy, and Twiggy Boys get their twigs broken. Just is going to
be very fragile, great, but fragile.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, come on down!
Seems like he may be released and definitely an upgrade
over whomever's at the end of the Celtics rotation these days.

[Hal14]

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, come on down!
Seems like he may be released and definitely an upgrade
over whomever's at the end of the Celtics rotation these days.

Based on what?

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[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, come on down!
Seems like he may be released and definitely an upgrade
over whomever's at the end of the Celtics rotation these days.

Based on what?

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Based on him being better than Davidson, Scrubbs and DJ Steward.
Yup, not a great shooter, however, and that also applies to Stevens, Brissette and Blanton.

[31to6]

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, come on down!
Seems like he may be released and definitely an upgrade
over whomever's at the end of the Celtics rotation these days.

Based on what?

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Based on him being better than Davidson, Scrubbs and DJ Steward.
Yup, not a great shooter, however, and that also applies to Stevens, Brissette and Blanton.

JRE would have to take someone's spot on the actual Celtics, not the Maine Celtics.
I imagine the non-guaranteed guys in some peril there would be Gabriel or possibly Banton.

Jay Scrubb had a two-way deal but presumably (after tearing his ACL) no longer does.
(Steward might take his spot in Maine but we'll see?)

I liked JRE in his draft but after a couple of seasons don't really feel it any more. Seems like a poor man's Trey Lyles and I think Trey Lyles sucks.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Based on what?

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Based on him being better than Davidson, Scrubbs and DJ Steward.
Yup, not a great shooter, however, and that also applies to Stevens, Brissette and Blanton.

JRE would have to take someone's spot on the actual Celtics, not the Maine Celtics.
I imagine the non-guaranteed guys in some peril there would be Gabriel or possibly Banton.

Jay Scrubb had a two-way deal but presumably (after tearing his ACL) no longer does.
(Steward might take his spot in Maine but we'll see?)

I liked JRE in his draft but after a couple of seasons don't really feel it any more. Seems like a poor man's Trey Lyles and I think Trey Lyles sucks.

I was hoping he could still be sent to the G League to work on his shooting.
But if not, then unlikely.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Abby & Grande with the radio call tonight,
for you Abby Chin fans...

[31to6]

Based on him being better than Davidson, Scrubbs and DJ Steward.
Yup, not a great shooter, however, and that also applies to Stevens, Brissette and Blanton.

JRE would have to take someone's spot on the actual Celtics, not the Maine Celtics.
I imagine the non-guaranteed guys in some peril there would be Gabriel or possibly Banton.

Jay Scrubb had a two-way deal but presumably (after tearing his ACL) no longer does.
(Steward might take his spot in Maine but we'll see?)

I liked JRE in his draft but after a couple of seasons don't really feel it any more. Seems like a poor man's Trey Lyles and I think Trey Lyles sucks.

I was hoping he could still be sent to the G League to work on his shooting.
But if not, then unlikely.

well I shouldn't say that's not a possibility -- the competition for NBA roster spots isn't easy! My guess is JRE would find a better offer out there, but we'll see -- Stevens, Svi, Gabriel and Banton all came here without guarantees so the 'ring chasing' seems to be real this year (unlike recently).

If JRE would be willing to take Scrubb's two-way spot in Maine, great. Two-ways: JD, JRE, and Queta is a good use of resources. I don't think he has a lot of growth potential, but if he could make a Grant Williams-esque leap in his 3pt % then he's probably a real NBA player.

[Hal14]

JRE would have to take someone's spot on the actual Celtics, not the Maine Celtics.
I imagine the non-guaranteed guys in some peril there would be Gabriel or possibly Banton.

Jay Scrubb had a two-way deal but presumably (after tearing his ACL) no longer does.
(Steward might take his spot in Maine but we'll see?)

I liked JRE in his draft but after a couple of seasons don't really feel it any more. Seems like a poor man's Trey Lyles and I think Trey Lyles sucks.

I was hoping he could still be sent to the G League to work on his shooting.
But if not, then unlikely.

well I shouldn't say that's not a possibility -- the competition for NBA roster spots isn't easy! My guess is JRE would find a better offer out there, but we'll see -- Stevens, Svi, Gabriel and Banton all came here without guarantees so the 'ring chasing' seems to be real this year (unlike recently).

If JRE would be willing to take Scrubb's two-way spot in Maine, great. Two-ways: JD, JRE, and Queta is a good use of resources. I don't think he has a lot of growth potential, but if he could make a Grant Williams-esque leap in his 3pt % then he's probably a real NBA player.

Well, now he's a Rocket so perhaps Ben Sullivan can develop his shooting..

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

The Thunder have more Draft Picks than God... Somewhere, Danny Ainge weeps.

And, I am predicting this is going to be a Neemias Queta game. I expect a good showing for some reason...

[Hal14]

And, I am predicting this is going to be a Neemias Queta game. I expect a good showing for some reason...

I like Queta. Was pretty high on him even before we signed him. And he's been solid so far in the preseason.

Have liked the flashes of operating as a hub out on the high post, running DHO's, setting high screens and stuff, crashing the boards and that play where he defended Grimes out on the perimeter was pretty eye opening too.

There's a chance he develops into a poor man's Time Lord - but taller. He's still pretty young - just turned 24. He's still developing and getting better. Seems like a hard worker. If he keeps getting better, there's a chance he gets his contract converted to a standard one and grabs that 3rd big man spot.

Interested to see how he looks tonight..

[hugepatsfan]

If the Celtics like Queta, might be some incentive to convert his contract now to take Gabriel's place. If you do it now, he'd probably be happy to tack a non-guaranteed second year on it just to lock in a full salary this year vs. the 2-way amount.

But if you want until after the deadline like we did with Hauser, and Queta has flashed in his opportunities that figure to be plentiful with KP/Al age/injury history/load management, maybe his agent would tell him not to add a non-guaranteed 2nd year because he could try for more than the minimum in free agency.

If they like his development track, it'd be nice to eventually get a non-guaranteed minimum salary on the books for him next year via conversion to NBA deal. Probably a lock to do that now.

[Hal14]

If the Celtics like Queta, might be some incentive to convert his contract now to take Gabriel's place. If you do it now, he'd probably be happy to tack a non-guaranteed second year on it just to lock in a full salary this year vs. the 2-way amount.

But if you want until after the deadline like we did with Hauser, and Queta has flashed in his opportunities that figure to be plentiful with KP/Al age/injury history/load management, maybe his agent would tell him not to add a non-guaranteed 2nd year because he could try for more than the minimum in free agency.

If they like his development track, it'd be nice to eventually get a non-guaranteed minimum salary on the books for him next year via conversion to NBA deal. Probably a lock to do that now.

All valid points. But I think we could convert Queta's contract and still keep Gabriel on the roster. Otherwise, if you convert Queta and waive Gabriel, then you're left with only 4 guys who can play the 5 (KP, Al, Queta, Kornet). Last season we had 5 guys who could play the 5 (Rob, Al, Griffin, Kornet and Vonleh/Muscala). 6 if you count Grant, who did play the 5 for stretches here and there.

But the question then becomes, if you convert Queta. but keep Gabriel, who do you cut? It's gotta be either Banton, Stevens or Svi. I feel like we might end up regretting it later on if we waive any of those 3 guys. Which is why I think the most likely scenario is starting off the season with Queta on the 2-way - that way you can keep all 16 of those guys, Queta can still play up to 50 games for us on a 2-way contract, you don't have to waive any good players. And, if later on during the season, if it seems like you will want to play Queta more than 50 games (because he's earned it during the first half of the season..or maybe you need him to play more because of injuries or something) and you feel like the benefit of converting him outweighs the downside of waiving either Banton, Svi or Stevens, then you do it - and by that time you have more of a sample size of games to know which of those guys should get waived..

Or we just wait and see how these last 2 preseason games go, and perhaps at that point it'll be more clear which direction we should go..

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

IT"S HAPPENING!

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[Hal14]

The difference between them is pretty clear. Queta is a little taller and has more bulk/strength to his frame. Gabriel is quicker and lighter on his feet.

Which one is better? It's debatable. We probably need to see them play more to have a better idea. Let's see how they look in tonight's game. The coaches (and Brad) see them everyday in practice though, so they have more info than us on how good these guys are.

The good news? We can keep both. Develop them both. We can play the matchups - perhaps we put Queta in if we want more size/strength in there..and perhaps we put Gabriel in if we want to play faster and want a quicker lineup in there.

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[165bows]

If the Celtics like Queta, might be some incentive to convert his contract now to take Gabriel's place. If you do it now, he'd probably be happy to tack a non-guaranteed second year on it just to lock in a full salary this year vs. the 2-way amount.

But if you want until after the deadline like we did with Hauser, and Queta has flashed in his opportunities that figure to be plentiful with KP/Al age/injury history/load management, maybe his agent would tell him not to add a non-guaranteed 2nd year because he could try for more than the minimum in free agency.

If they like his development track, it'd be nice to eventually get a non-guaranteed minimum salary on the books for him next year via conversion to NBA deal. Probably a lock to do that now.

All valid points. But I think we could convert Queta's contract and still keep Gabriel on the roster. Otherwise, if you convert Queta and waive Gabriel, then you're left with only 4 guys who can play the 5 (KP, Al, Queta, Kornet). Last season we had 5 guys who could play the 5 (Rob, Al, Griffin, Kornet and Vonleh/Muscala). 6 if you count Grant, who did play the 5 for stretches here and there.

But the question then becomes, if you convert Queta. but keep Gabriel, who do you cut? It's gotta be either Banton, Stevens or Svi. I feel like we might end up regretting it later on if we waive any of those 3 guys. Which is why I think the most likely scenario is starting off the season with Queta on the 2-way - that way you can keep all 16 of those guys, Queta can still play up to 50 games for us on a 2-way contract, you don't have to waive any good players. And, if later on during the season, if it seems like you will want to play Queta more than 50 games (because he's earned it during the first half of the season..or maybe you need him to play more because of injuries or something) and you feel like the benefit of converting him outweighs the downside of waiving either Banton, Svi or Stevens, then you do it - and by that time you have more of a sample size of games to know which of those guys should get waived..

Or we just wait and see how these last 2 preseason games go, and perhaps at that point it'll be more clear which direction we should go..

Random but curious about what happens with Scrubb. If they were letting him go, why not do it already? Seems like keeping him even to the end of camp would be to his benefit rather than the team (which I am obviously not discounting as a possibility).

Basically starting to wonder if they like him enough to just hang onto him despite the injury.

[Hal14]

Random but curious about what happens with Scrubb. If they were letting him go, why not do it already? Seems like keeping him even to the end of camp would be to his benefit rather than the team (which I am obviously not discounting as a possibility).

Basically starting to wonder if they like him enough to just hang onto him despite the injury.

It's a possibility I suppose.

I mean, the Pelicans hung onto EJ Liddell last year and kept him on a 2-way after he tore his ACL during summer league. And thatw as when there was only 2 two-way spots.

But that case was also a little different. Liddell was only 21 yrs old at the time, was the 41st pick in the draft (some like yours truly had him ranked in the top 25) and was drafted just weeks before he tore his ACL. That's a difference scenario than Scrubb who was 23 when he tore his ACL, and was the 55th pick in the draft, 3 years ago and during those 3 seasons has played pretty much only in the g league.

So idk. A guy who was 55th draft pick, been in the league for 3 years, about to turn 24 and still hasn't been able to do anything in the NBA, then tears his ACL. I might just cut him. Perhaps they haven't done it yet, because they're just waiting for someone else to shake loose who they're interested in filling that open 2-way spot (and of course, that player has to also be interested in signing here) and in the meantime they're letting Scrubb hang around the team cause it's good experience for him, he can use our staff/doctors to help him rehab, make some money while he's with the team..

There isn't much out there for options to replace his 2-way spot. And anyone we sign to that spot is highly unlikely to contribute anything to the Boston team this season anyways. So who knows, maybe they keep him in that spot, rehab him and let him try and see if he can contribute for us next season..