Celtics Re-sign Brad Wanamaker to 1 yr Deal (2019)

[Fencer reregistered]

It's also that they have the least competition. There isn't a true 4 on the roster and I think Smart will end up starting at 2-guard and not seeing much time as the 1.

Really? You think they're going to bring Brown off the bench? That would be interesting. I think Grant's main competition will be with Theis backing up Tatum at the 4. And there wouldn't be enough minutes for Smart and Brown if they were both just squeezed in at the 2 anyway. Certainly easy enough to stagger Kemba and Smart for PG coverage, even if Brad were to start Smart at the 2. But I expect Smart's time to be split between the two guard roles. And because of that Wanamaker in the default 3rd PG role this year (whereas last year he was really 4th, which Waters on the 2-way will effectively have this season). Yeah, they'll talk about and try to fit Carsen into the PG role, but I think he'll end up like AB, in the 2 position--with Smart helping to make that work because they can switch defensively.

I think they will end up bringing one of JB/Hayward off the bench. Probably Hayward since he's the most capable of functioning as a 6th man.

We have too little defense on the floor with Kemba/JB/Tatum/Hayward/Kanter. And you get diminishing returns offensively from playing three scoring wings with Kemba (and by extension Kanter as his roll man) eating up a lot of usage. There's room for a 2nd banana, sure, but not for 3 of them!

So putting a guy like Smart, who will do the dirty work for all those offensive players, pass the ball and only take open 3s makes a lot of sense. Then you have Hayward as the #1 option for the 2nd unit (though he didn't really embrace that role last season, preferring to work more in the background).

So something like this:

Kemba
Smart
JB
Tatum
Kanter

Then you filter in the following 5

Hayward (probably for Tatum, to keep the small-ball and spacing going)
Poirier (for Kanter, to keep size and rebounding on the floor)
Grant (for JB, pushing us back to a more traditonally sized line up)
Carsen and Romeo (for Kemba and Smart)

So no Theis, no Bob Williams, and no Wanamaker?

[Slartibartfast]

Really? You think they're going to bring Brown off the bench? That would be interesting. I think Grant's main competition will be with Theis backing up Tatum at the 4. And there wouldn't be enough minutes for Smart and Brown if they were both just squeezed in at the 2 anyway. Certainly easy enough to stagger Kemba and Smart for PG coverage, even if Brad were to start Smart at the 2. But I expect Smart's time to be split between the two guard roles. And because of that Wanamaker in the default 3rd PG role this year (whereas last year he was really 4th, which Waters on the 2-way will effectively have this season). Yeah, they'll talk about and try to fit Carsen into the PG role, but I think he'll end up like AB, in the 2 position--with Smart helping to make that work because they can switch defensively.

I think they will end up bringing one of JB/Hayward off the bench. Probably Hayward since he's the most capable of functioning as a 6th man.

We have too little defense on the floor with Kemba/JB/Tatum/Hayward/Kanter. And you get diminishing returns offensively from playing three scoring wings with Kemba (and by extension Kanter as his roll man) eating up a lot of usage. There's room for a 2nd banana, sure, but not for 3 of them!

So putting a guy like Smart, who will do the dirty work for all those offensive players, pass the ball and only take open 3s makes a lot of sense. Then you have Hayward as the #1 option for the 2nd unit (though he didn't really embrace that role last season, preferring to work more in the background).

So something like this:

Kemba
Smart
JB
Tatum
Kanter

Then you filter in the following 5

Hayward (probably for Tatum, to keep the small-ball and spacing going)
Poirier (for Kanter, to keep size and rebounding on the floor)
Grant (for JB, pushing us back to a more traditonally sized line up)
Carsen and Romeo (for Kemba and Smart)

So no Theis, no Bob Williams, and no Wanamaker?

Somebody's got to be 3rd string.

Wanamaker's a fairly traditional PG, but that's not really Brad's type. Carsen's aggressive scoring and D I think fit Brad's M.O. better. Wanamaker there for injury insurance and an alternate when we don't need Carsen to start jacking 30 footers in a close game and Kemba's in foul trouble.

Poirier vs. Rob is tough. Rob likely to be the significantly better defender in space, but Poirier (from what little I know of him) wil likely be the better screen setter and physical big, which I think will be what wins the day given how small and finesse we'll be at the other positions.

Grant vs. Theis I call for Grant because Brad really, really likes a skill big on the floor at all times. We'd almost always have someone like Sully or KO or Jerebko or Morris or Al on the floor next to more traditional roll/paint bigs like TZ, Amir and Baynes. Theis has the stretch component, but I think Grant will be more capable of handling the heavier offensive responsibility of the 4 man (grab and gos in transition, passing off the short roll, high post passing, attacking closeouts, posting up mismatches) in Brad's offense.

[Fencer reregistered]

I think they will end up bringing one of JB/Hayward off the bench. Probably Hayward since he's the most capable of functioning as a 6th man.

We have too little defense on the floor with Kemba/JB/Tatum/Hayward/Kanter. And you get diminishing returns offensively from playing three scoring wings with Kemba (and by extension Kanter as his roll man) eating up a lot of usage. There's room for a 2nd banana, sure, but not for 3 of them!

So putting a guy like Smart, who will do the dirty work for all those offensive players, pass the ball and only take open 3s makes a lot of sense. Then you have Hayward as the #1 option for the 2nd unit (though he didn't really embrace that role last season, preferring to work more in the background).

So something like this:

Kemba
Smart
JB
Tatum
Kanter

Then you filter in the following 5

Hayward (probably for Tatum, to keep the small-ball and spacing going)
Poirier (for Kanter, to keep size and rebounding on the floor)
Grant (for JB, pushing us back to a more traditonally sized line up)
Carsen and Romeo (for Kemba and Smart)

So no Theis, no Bob Williams, and no Wanamaker?

Somebody's got to be 3rd string.

Wanamaker's a fairly traditional PG, but that's not really Brad's type. Carsen's aggressive scoring and D I think fit Brad's M.O. better. Wanamaker there for injury insurance and an alternate when we don't need Carsen to start jacking 30 footers in a close game and Kemba's in foul trouble.

Poirier vs. Rob is tough. Rob likely to be the significantly better defender in space, but Poirier (from what little I know of him) wil likely be the better screen setter and physical big, which I think will be what wins the day given how small and finesse we'll be at the other positions.

Grant vs. Theis I call for Grant because Brad really, really likes a skill big on the floor at all times. We'd almost always have someone like Sully or KO or Jerebko or Morris or Al on the floor next to more traditional roll/paint bigs like TZ, Amir and Baynes. Theis has the stretch component, but I think Grant will be more capable of handling the heavier offensive responsibility of the 4 man (grab and gos in transition, passing off the short roll, high post passing, attacking closeouts, posting up mismatches) in Brad's offense.

I actually agree that Wanamaker is out of the regular rotation. Any game that Walker or Smart miss, he's likely to get 15ish minutes of backup PG duty. But if they're both healthy, he's not needed.

I don't think we need 48 minutes per game of bang-capable centers. I see Poirer as third string, and Bob Williams as Kanter's primary backup.

I like the concept of Hayward as 6th man. For reasons of ballhandling, he should play whenever one of Walker or Smart rests.

I like the idea of an Edwards/Smart pairing. Do I really think Edwards will play every minute Walker sits right from his rookie year getgo? Not really. But for now let's say Edwards comes in for Walker.

So we have Hayward and Edwards coming in when Walker goes out. I'm fine with that being when Tatum goes out too.

Theis and Grant Williams make a lot of sense together. Switch everything, but Williams adds some beef anyhow. They could replace Kanter and Brown sometimes.

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

Wanamaker has a Battle on his hands.
If Edwards and even Langford can play, then it's going to be even tougher for Wanamaker. He's just a stop-gap.

[cloverleaf]

Read on Twitter

Wanamaker has a Battle on his hands.
If Edwards and even Langford can play, then it's going to be even tougher for Wanamaker. He's just a stop-gap.

I think it is going to be hard for Langford to establish himself this season. He really needs more defensive consistency and intensity and it can't be easy for him after being held back by his injury for so long here. He well may be their highest potential rookie, but I'd be surprised to see him get significant time this year.

[snowman]

Is Danny showcasing Wannamaker for a trade or does CBS just not trust Edwards ? Wannamaker been getting a lot of minutes last few games ( for a bench player) I hope it is him being showcased.

[Edug27]

Is Danny showcasing Wannamaker for a trade or does CBS just not trust Edwards ? Wannamaker been getting a lot of minutes last few games ( for a bench player) I hope it is him being showcased.

Lol. He's not being showcased. Wanamaker is the better player. He has that veteran like presence that Brad prefers, at the moment.

[ParticleMan]

brad wants to win games, and wanamaker is miles better than edwards right now. when arsen isn't hitting shots he is a huge liability out there.

[CelticsPride18]

I love Carsen potential but right now Wanamaker has been better. He’s solid

[Homerclease]

Is Danny showcasing Wannamaker for a trade or does CBS just not trust Edwards ? Wannamaker been getting a lot of minutes last few games ( for a bench player) I hope it is him being showcased.

He’s a stopgap player, not much more. Waters takes his spot next year, if not sooner.

Waters ability to run an offense would boost the bench production today if they so chose

[Parliament10]

Is Danny showcasing Wannamaker for a trade or does CBS just not trust Edwards ? Wannamaker been getting a lot of minutes last few games ( for a bench player) I hope it is him being showcased.

He’s a stopgap player, not much more. Waters takes his spot next year, if not sooner.

Waters ability to run an offense would boost the bench production today if they so chose

Wanamaker, Ojeleye and Poirier are all stopgaps, at this point.
Some of these guys may not make it past the Trade Deadline, as Celtics.

[Homerclease]

Is Danny showcasing Wannamaker for a trade or does CBS just not trust Edwards ? Wannamaker been getting a lot of minutes last few games ( for a bench player) I hope it is him being showcased.

He’s a stopgap player, not much more. Waters takes his spot next year, if not sooner.

Waters ability to run an offense would boost the bench production today if they so chose

Wanamaker, Ojeleye and Poirier are all stopgaps, at this point.
Some of these guys may not make it past the Trade Deadline, as Celtics.

Agree, I think Tacko and Waters take their spots on the main roster next year on cheap 4 year deals like Semi got. Leaves an open spot for a first round pick, a couple two ways for their second round picks. More trades are coming involving draft picks down the line for sure.

I also think Kanter isn’t here for the long term either

[djFan71]

He’s a stopgap player, not much more. Waters takes his spot next year, if not sooner.

Waters ability to run an offense would boost the bench production today if they so chose

Wanamaker, Ojeleye and Poirier are all stopgaps, at this point.
Some of these guys may not make it past the Trade Deadline, as Celtics.

Agree, I think Tacko and Waters take their spots on the main roster next year on cheap 4 year deals like Semi got. Leaves an open spot for a first round pick, a couple two ways for their second round picks. More trades are coming involving draft picks down the line for sure.

I also think Kanter isn’t here for the long term either

Would've been interesting to see Waters on Graham last night. SEC defensive player of the year, right? Quick on quick.
I actually thought Wanamaker did the best job on him of all our guards - including Smart - though small sample size.
(I also think getting beat by Graham on several occasions was part of the reason Smart was pissed off last night).

[Parasite]

Wanamaker is a fine player. Not sure why some people pull their hair out over him. I mean, he’s no rotational player on a championship squad, but he can give you adequate minutes in the RS.

[Fencer reregistered]

Wanamaker actually has nice-looking stats early this season, of course on a small sample size. They are good to excellent in most categories, with the main eyesore being a lousy 3-pt percentage on a tiny number of attempts. (He has as many steals on the season as he does 3-pt attempts, at 7 each.)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wanambr01.html

[sam_I_am]

Wanamaker actually has nice-looking stats early this season, of course on a small sample size. They are good to excellent in most categories, with the main eyesore being a lousy 3-pt percentage on a tiny number of attempts. (He has as many steals on the season as he does 3-pt attempts, at 7 each.)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wanambr01.html

I think Brad will put up 12/4 if Kemba got a rest day. I really like Waters but long term, it’s best for franchise that he redshirt this year and start his 4 year deal next year. Even if he proved better than Wannamaker it’s doubtful it makes any meaningful difference this year to offset the advantage to stashing him. Next year he can be our Nunn like surprise “rookie”.

[Turgon]

Wanamaker will always be a Larkin wannabe.

[Bleeding Green]

Wanamaker actually has nice-looking stats early this season, of course on a small sample size. They are good to excellent in most categories, with the main eyesore being a lousy 3-pt percentage on a tiny number of attempts. (He has as many steals on the season as he does 3-pt attempts, at 7 each.)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wanambr01.html

He would easily be a top-5 backup PG in the league. I'm pretty excited to see him get real minutes this year instead of catching the Rozier runoff minutes like last year. Been calling for him to get minutes since like preseason last season. What more do people want out of a backup PG? He runs the offense, hits all his shots (career 61.2 TS% ffs), not a ballhog. He's turnover and foul prone, but also has played like 10 minutes every 2 games until recently.

His last 6 games where he's gotten 15+ minutes he's looked great. Imagine if they were giving these minutes to some bum like Shane Larkin who couldn't hit a shot to save his life, much less defend anyone taller than Isaiah Thomas.

[Bostonic33]

Wanamaker is a fine player. Not sure why some people pull their hair out over him. I mean, he’s no rotational player on a championship squad, but he can give you adequate minutes in the RS.

Respectfully disagree. Philly would literally kill to have Wanamaker on their roster right now. He is cheap, can defend, make shots and run the team for a bit.

[31to6]

Wanamaker is a fine player. Not sure why some people pull their hair out over him. I mean, he’s no rotational player on a championship squad, but he can give you adequate minutes in the RS.

Respectfully disagree. Philly would literally kill to have Wanamaker on their roster right now. He is cheap, can defend, make shots and run the team for a bit.

I’m respectfully not sure you’re familiar with the definition of literal?