Celtics 2020-21 Roster, Assemble Using Current Info

[djFan71]

IMO:
Kemba, Brown, Hayward (in some form) Tatum, Theis, Smart, Langford, G. Will and Time Lord, along with Waters and Fall will all be on the big squad next season. That's 11 to start with. I think Kanter will opt out to try to get more money, and Boston will let him walk. So again IMO, Poirier, Edwards, Semi, Wannamaker, Green and 3 FRP's will fight for the final 4 spots.

I hope Danny has seen his error in such a weak bench, so I would like to see, out of the 5 players on the bubble, only Poirier and Edwards back because of already being under contract and their potential. Boston knew Poirier and Edwards were going to take this whole year to get used to the speed of the NBA, that's way they signed them for more than 1 year. Semi, Wannamaker and Green need to be released, traded or what ever. They can be replaced with the 3 FRP's.

I agree, but you end up basically in the same place we are now. Something's still gotta give: Poirier, Edwards, 3 firsts is one too many spots in your scenario. And we haven't fixed the young bench - just swapped out some of the young guys for different young guys. And depending on Hayward, we're close/at/above the lux tax so even just cutting Poirier has consequences. Gotta make some sort of consolidation trade, or punt at least one pick, or something.

[snowman]

IMO:
Kemba, Brown, Hayward (in some form) Tatum, Theis, Smart, Langford, G. Will and Time Lord, along with Waters and Fall will all be on the big squad next season. That's 11 to start with. I think Kanter will opt out to try to get more money, and Boston will let him walk. So again IMO, Poirier, Edwards, Semi, Wannamaker, Green and 3 FRP's will fight for the final 4 spots.

I hope Danny has seen his error in such a weak bench, so I would like to see, out of the 5 players on the bubble, only Poirier and Edwards back because of already being under contract and their potential. Boston knew Poirier and Edwards were going to take this whole year to get used to the speed of the NBA, that's way they signed them for more than 1 year. Semi, Wannamaker and Green need to be released, traded or what ever. They can be replaced with the 3 FRP's.

I agree, but you end up basically in the same place we are now. Something's still gotta give: Poirier, Edwards, 3 firsts is one too many spots in your scenario. And we haven't fixed the young bench - just swapped out some of the young guys for different young guys. And depending on Hayward, we're close/at/above the lux tax so even just cutting Poirier has consequences. Gotta make some sort of consolidation trade, or punt at least one pick, or something.

We have to remember the young guys from this years team namely, R. Williams, G. Williams, Langford, wont be rookies next year. I know it will only be 1 year, but next year they won't be trying to figure things like where to be on defense, when to shoot or not, even what bus to get on after the games. They will also have a summer (depending on this virus) working with the team on things they need to focus on. They will be better next year. However, Edwards, Poirier, Green and some combo of the picks SHOULD be moved for a another vet or two, IMO.

[djFan71]

IMO:
Kemba, Brown, Hayward (in some form) Tatum, Theis, Smart, Langford, G. Will and Time Lord, along with Waters and Fall will all be on the big squad next season. That's 11 to start with. I think Kanter will opt out to try to get more money, and Boston will let him walk. So again IMO, Poirier, Edwards, Semi, Wannamaker, Green and 3 FRP's will fight for the final 4 spots.

I hope Danny has seen his error in such a weak bench, so I would like to see, out of the 5 players on the bubble, only Poirier and Edwards back because of already being under contract and their potential. Boston knew Poirier and Edwards were going to take this whole year to get used to the speed of the NBA, that's way they signed them for more than 1 year. Semi, Wannamaker and Green need to be released, traded or what ever. They can be replaced with the 3 FRP's.

I agree, but you end up basically in the same place we are now. Something's still gotta give: Poirier, Edwards, 3 firsts is one too many spots in your scenario. And we haven't fixed the young bench - just swapped out some of the young guys for different young guys. And depending on Hayward, we're close/at/above the lux tax so even just cutting Poirier has consequences. Gotta make some sort of consolidation trade, or punt at least one pick, or something.

We have to remember the young guys from this years team namely, R. Williams, G. Williams, Langford, wont be rookies next year. I know it will only be 1 year, but next year they won't be trying to figure things like where to be on defense, when to shoot or not, even what bus to get on after the games. They will also have a summer (depending on this virus) working with the team on things they need to focus on. They will be better next year. However, Edwards, Poirier, Green and some combo of the picks SHOULD be moved for a another vet or two, IMO.

Absolutely, but conversely you're losing a lot more experience by jettisoning Semi & Kanter. Lower ceiling experience (at this point for Enes, always for Semi...), but experience nonetheless. I think Romeo, Grant & Rob have some good potential, and always list them in my top 9 as well. If even 2 of the 3 hit, we're in good shape. But, they're still young and unproven, so, like you, I'd love to get another vet or two as well.

EDIT: Forgot to list Wanamaker as losing experience too, more so than Semi at this point.

[djFan71]

$ is gonna factor in, too. Say Hayward resigns starting at $28M, Kanter walks. Green, Wanamaker, Semi gone. Sign picks 17, 26 & 30. You're at almost $139M with 14 players. Who knows what happens with the cap/tax line now, but that's pretty close to the line pre-virus. And, you haven't dealt with Waters & Fall nor added a vet. And if Hayward just opts in, you're well over the line.

Feels like something has to give. Maybe not on draft night. You can wait see what Hayward does and sign up to 20 guys and make some deals by camp.

I'd prefer more of a go for it summer. Go into the tax, keep some rookies - but not all, trade and/or MLE/vet min a vet or 2.

[Red2]

earlier in the season I was ready to move on from Hayward but now I say keep him. He seems to finally be rounding into the guy we thought he would be. Porier is an obvious cut. I think he has some skills but we have tacko waiting in the wings and we need to see what he can do. I keep Theis and Kanter if the price is right. I like Williams because he gives us something we don't have but if the right deal comes along I move him because he is injury prone and you can't count on him. I keep Langford and probably grant williams although again if I need to use him a deal I do that. Carsen edwards who I had high hopes for is in danger. Between him and Tremont I think tremont stays. we need an upgrade from wanamaker which may come in the draft.Since it looks like the season is over we really won't be able to assess whether Kemba's poor play is due to injury and rustiness or whether he's really lost a step. He makes a ton of money and we need to pay tatum. add to that the fact that we seem to play better without Kemab and I think you at least have to kick the tires on trading him. We would need a shooter and a good back up PG to smart. Then we need an athletic big and some bench strength. I really think Langford will become a key contributor next year.

[Parliament10]

$ is gonna factor in, too. Say Hayward resigns starting at $28M, Kanter walks. Green, Wanamaker, Semi gone. Sign picks 17, 26 & 30. You're at almost $139M with 14 players. Who knows what happens with the cap/tax line now, but that's pretty close to the line pre-virus. And, you haven't dealt with Waters & Fall nor added a vet. And if Hayward just opts in, you're well over the line.

Feels like something has to give. Maybe not on draft night. You can wait see what Hayward does and sign up to 20 guys and make some deals by camp.

I'd prefer more of a go for it summer. Go into the tax, keep some rookies - but not all, trade and/or MLE/vet min a vet or 2.

My math hasn't included Hayward. -- I just think that having him on the team, is just too expensive of an option.
Also, it seems more sentimental than anythign else. I mean right now, he's the 4th option.

But, if we did have him on the roster, when could we trade him by?
Especially now, that the season is being pushed further into the year.

I just feel much better, with letting him walk. I think that, that is a better financial scenario for us.
We need to beef up the PF and Center positions; and the 2nd Unit, in general.

[djFan71]

$ is gonna factor in, too. Say Hayward resigns starting at $28M, Kanter walks. Green, Wanamaker, Semi gone. Sign picks 17, 26 & 30. You're at almost $139M with 14 players. Who knows what happens with the cap/tax line now, but that's pretty close to the line pre-virus. And, you haven't dealt with Waters & Fall nor added a vet. And if Hayward just opts in, you're well over the line.

Feels like something has to give. Maybe not on draft night. You can wait see what Hayward does and sign up to 20 guys and make some deals by camp.

I'd prefer more of a go for it summer. Go into the tax, keep some rookies - but not all, trade and/or MLE/vet min a vet or 2.

My math hasn't included Hayward. -- I just think that having him on the team, is just too expensive of an option.
Also, it seems more sentimental than anythign else. I mean right now, he's the 4th option.

But, if we did have him on the roster, when could we trade him by?
Especially now, that the season is being pushed further into the year.

I just feel much better, with letting him walk. I think that, that is a better financial scenario for us.
We need to beef up the PF and Center positions; and the 2nd Unit, in general.

I still want him back. I really wanted to see the playoffs to see how the 3 wings worked against the bigger teams, and to see how HOU fared as well. I think it'a great advantage in the regular season and where the league is heading. But, can it work as well in the playoffs when things slow down, defenses tighten up, etc? Would have been great to know that before making roster decisions.

[snowman]

Outside of the top 9 (Kemba, Brown, Hayward, Tatum, Theis, Smart, Langford, Rob Williams, Grant Williams) who is back with the team next season and who goes ?

We have 3 FRP's, will we make room for all of them?

[BRUNiNHO91]

$ is gonna factor in, too. Say Hayward resigns starting at $28M, Kanter walks. Green, Wanamaker, Semi gone. Sign picks 17, 26 & 30. You're at almost $139M with 14 players. Who knows what happens with the cap/tax line now, but that's pretty close to the line pre-virus. And, you haven't dealt with Waters & Fall nor added a vet. And if Hayward just opts in, you're well over the line.

Feels like something has to give. Maybe not on draft night. You can wait see what Hayward does and sign up to 20 guys and make some deals by camp.

I'd prefer more of a go for it summer. Go into the tax, keep some rookies - but not all, trade and/or MLE/vet min a vet or 2.

My math hasn't included Hayward. -- I just think that having him on the team, is just too expensive of an option.
Also, it seems more sentimental than anythign else. I mean right now, he's the 4th option.

But, if we did have him on the roster, when could we trade him by?
Especially now, that the season is being pushed further into the year.

I just feel much better, with letting him walk. I think that, that is a better financial scenario for us.
We need to beef up the PF and Center positions; and the 2nd Unit, in general.

Idk the actual salary numbers, but I assume you might have like 15 millie in space to add like 2 rotation players if you let him walk? Yet you lose one of your most complete players and best playmaker? Not sure that's worth it?

Might not be a popular opinion, but I always thought the best move to make in order to balance out the roster was bringing Hayward back, sliding Smart into the starting line up and trading Kemba for a big and a bench piece. That way you don't just lose that max slot like we did with Irving and Horford. Having that said as much as I feel it's the best path, I also feel like it's the least realistic one of the bunch because trading Kemba 1 year in would be bad business.

If the idea is to compete now, you just have to bring all the core guys back and trust that the guys you drafted will become difference makers with a year under their belts..with 4 max contracts in the starting line up you have to strike on those cheap picks as bench players. I feel like Langford and the Williams bros will defo contribute for us next year..

[bucknersrevenge]

$ is gonna factor in, too. Say Hayward resigns starting at $28M, Kanter walks. Green, Wanamaker, Semi gone. Sign picks 17, 26 & 30. You're at almost $139M with 14 players. Who knows what happens with the cap/tax line now, but that's pretty close to the line pre-virus. And, you haven't dealt with Waters & Fall nor added a vet. And if Hayward just opts in, you're well over the line.

Feels like something has to give. Maybe not on draft night. You can wait see what Hayward does and sign up to 20 guys and make some deals by camp.

I'd prefer more of a go for it summer. Go into the tax, keep some rookies - but not all, trade and/or MLE/vet min a vet or 2.

My math hasn't included Hayward. -- I just think that having him on the team, is just too expensive of an option.
Also, it seems more sentimental than anythign else. I mean right now, he's the 4th option.

But, if we did have him on the roster, when could we trade him by?
Especially now, that the season is being pushed further into the year.

I just feel much better, with letting him walk. I think that, that is a better financial scenario for us.
We need to beef up the PF and Center positions; and the 2nd Unit, in general.

Idk the actual salary numbers, but I assume you might have like 15 millie in space to add like 2 rotation players if you let him walk? Yet you lose one of your most complete players and best playmaker? Not sure that's worth it?

Might not be a popular opinion, but I always thought the best move to make in order to balance out the roster was bringing Hayward back, sliding Smart into the starting line up and trading Kemba for a big and a bench piece. That way you don't just lose that max slot like we did with Irving and Horford. Having that said as much as I feel it's the best path, I also feel like it's the least realistic one of the bunch because trading Kemba 1 year in would be bad business.

If the idea is to compete now, you just have to bring all the core guys back and trust that the guys you drafted will become difference makers with a year under their belts..with 4 max contracts in the starting line up you have to strike on those cheap picks as bench players. I feel like Langford and the Williams bros will defo contribute for us next year..

If you feel like this (and I see no reason to argue against it), then that's your bench next year. You probably let guys like Semi, and Wanamaker go in the offseason and then load back up with one, maybe 1 draft pick, maybe a couple of draft n stash guys and then promote Tacko, Edwards and Waters cuz here's the deal. I think the Williams brothers will play no matter what simply because of their contributions on defense. But between Langford, Edwards, and Waters, you really only need one of those kids to show up. Just one to hit like 36% from 3. IMO, if you can do that, you get the job next year. My wild card is Javante. He moves cuts so well without the ball off the other guys and his athleticism gives us another dimension. If he could learn to shoot at even a decent level I like him.

[Parliament10]

My math hasn't included Hayward. -- I just think that having him on the team, is just too expensive of an option.
Also, it seems more sentimental than anythign else. I mean right now, he's the 4th option.

But, if we did have him on the roster, when could we trade him by?
Especially now, that the season is being pushed further into the year.

I just feel much better, with letting him walk. I think that, that is a better financial scenario for us.
We need to beef up the PF and Center positions; and the 2nd Unit, in general.

Idk the actual salary numbers, but I assume you might have like 15 millie in space to add like 2 rotation players if you let him walk? Yet you lose one of your most complete players and best playmaker? Not sure that's worth it?

Might not be a popular opinion, but I always thought the best move to make in order to balance out the roster was bringing Hayward back, sliding Smart into the starting line up and trading Kemba for a big and a bench piece. That way you don't just lose that max slot like we did with Irving and Horford. Having that said as much as I feel it's the best path, I also feel like it's the least realistic one of the bunch because trading Kemba 1 year in would be bad business.

If the idea is to compete now, you just have to bring all the core guys back and trust that the guys you drafted will become difference makers with a year under their belts..with 4 max contracts in the starting line up you have to strike on those cheap picks as bench players. I feel like Langford and the Williams bros will defo contribute for us next year..

If you feel like this (and I see no reason to argue against it), then that's your bench next year. You probably let guys like Semi, and Wanamaker go in the offseason and then load back up with one, maybe 1 draft pick, maybe a couple of draft n stash guys and then promote Tacko, Edwards and Waters cuz here's the deal. I think the Williams brothers will play no matter what simply because of their contributions on defense. But between Langford, Edwards, and Waters, you really only need one of those kids to show up. Just one to hit like 36% from 3. IMO, if you can do that, you get the job next year. My wild card is Javante. He moves cuts so well without the ball off the other guys and his athleticism gives us another dimension. If he could learn to shoot at even a decent level I like him.

It's going to be really weird (and late) whenever we pick up play for the 2019-20 Season.
But I agree that Wanamaker and Ojeleye are gone in the Offseason. Maybe Javonte Green, as well.

Edwards is signed for awhile. Poirier is also signed for next season; and he showed some promise, in the G-League. I saw Poirier make a 3pt and some other shots away from the basket. So, I'm rethinking his presense on the team.

Whatever Kanter does, is going to dictate what occurs with Tacko and Poirier. As we don't need 5 Centers.
Theis will likely keep his Starting position. And we'll see what happens with Hayward.

2nd Unit will look something like the following.:
Waters - Smart - Langford - G.Williams - Kanter/R.Williams

[Jacobkowal]

I'm hoping we use our own pick and the Bucks pick to move up in the draft, so we only have 2 rookies on our team next year.
Preferably we draft a wing who can switch between 2-3-4 and a bigger guard who can control the offense for our bench unit in the half court.
Sign Tremont Waters to a NBA contract and depending on whether Kanter opts in or not sign Tacko as well.
Let Wannamaker and Green go, maybe Semi as well, but I prefer to trade Carson Edwards instead (don't believe he is going to be an NBA player).

Gives us:

Walker Waters Rookie
Brown Smart
Hayward Langford Rookie
Tatum Grant Semi
Theis Rob Kanter Poirier

[Parliament10]

I'm hoping we use our own pick and the Bucks pick to move up in the draft, so we only have 2 rookies on our team next year.
Preferably we draft a wing who can switch between 2-3-4 and a bigger guard who can control the offense for our bench unit in the half court.
Sign Tremont Waters to a NBA contract and depending on whether Kanter opts in or not sign Tacko as well.
Let Wannamaker and Green go, maybe Semi as well, but I prefer to trade Carson Edwards instead (don't believe he is going to be an NBA player).

Gives us:

Walker Waters Rookie
Brown Smart
Hayward Langford Rookie
Tatum Grant Semi
Theis Rob Kanter Poirier

I'm thinking that we'll end up with at least 3 Rookies. As we have the 2nd round pick, also.
We'll probably Trade one or two of our 1st Rounders for 2nds/Future Picks. Leaving a 1st and 2 x 2nds this year.

[bucknersrevenge]

What about we trade our 17 and 26 to Portland for 14 and Wenyen Gabriel?

We move up 3 slots to take Patrick Williams in the lottery. Portland gets an extra draft pick to add more cost controlled talent to roster with a number of open slots available. Guys like Nesmith, Jaden McDaniels, maybe Vassell and others will still be available. Gabriel is an okay player but they could replace him with Vernon Carey or Jalen Smith or another young guard. Gabriel is on a QO which we will decline allowing him to become a FA. We draft BPA at 43 and now we have a little roster flexibility going into FA.

[Parliament10]

I still think that the best thing to do, is to Trade to the 2nd Round and/or Future Draft Picks.
Though, we could conceivably keep 4 Rookies. (We kept 7 last season, and that wasn't too bad.)

The Draft has got to be pushed way back. Like maybe September, or October.
With the 2020-21 Season starting on December 25th. We'll see how they handle the Lottery, first.

[ConstableGeneva]

Wanamaker wants to continue his NBA journey. He's a free agent after this season. JMO, any team could use him as a 2nd or 3rd string PG if the Celtics decide to let him go. He got to the line frequently, was among the top in FT%, has good size for his position, and was a terrific finisher in transition.

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[Parliament10]

How we doing on our Roster forecast for next season.
Anyone want to make any changes?

[Homerclease]

How we doing on our Roster forecast for next season.
Anyone want to make any changes?

I still want a total overhaul of the back end of this bench. Lots of dead wood in this team.

[Parliament10]

How we doing on our Roster forecast for next season.
Anyone want to make any changes?

I still want a total overhaul of the back end of this bench. Lots of dead wood in this team.

You mean get rid of the ones that don't fit going forward?

Proposed Rotation, 2020-21:
Kemba - Brown - Tatum - (PF) - Theis
Waters - Smart - Langford - G.Williams - R.Williams/(Kanter)
(Rookie) - Edwards - Poirier - Fall

Maine Red Claws = (Rookie), (Rookie)


Move on from:
Wanamaker
Ojeleye
Green
(Hayward)

[hugepatsfan]

I'll take a stab at doing a full mock offseason. I've posted variations of this but here I'm going to break it down with all the numbers just so there's more clarity into how I got where I got. Here's our starting point with current contracts and projected draft order:

Yabusele (Dead Money) 1,039,080
Jackson (Dead Money) 92,857
Kemba Walker 34,379,100
Gordon Hayward (Player Option) 34,187,085
Jaylen Brown 23,883,929
Marcus Smart 13,446,428
Jayson Tatum 9,897,120
Enes Kanter (Player Option) 5,005,350
Daniel Theis (Non-guaranteed) 5,000,000
Romeo Langford 3,631,200
#17 Pick (Projected) 3,123,960
Vincent Poirier (Partially Guaranteed) 2,619,207
Grant Williams 2,498,760
#26 (Projected) 2,145,120
Robert Williams 2,029,920
#30 (Projected) 2,040,480
Semi Ojeleye (Team Option) 1,752,950
Carsen Edwards 1,517,981
Jevonte Green (Non-guaranteed) 1,517,981

That's a total of $149,808,508 for 17 players. Tacko Fall, Tremont Waters and Brad Wanamaker are all restricted free agents. #46 pick is not included because there's no guaranteed salary with that. If we choose to roster that player, either an NBA deal or 2-way, then he gets added obviously.

Pre COVID, the salary cap was projected at $115M with the tax line at $139M. After COIVD, a lot of people are projecting a flat cap/tax line. Based on current year numbers that's about $109M cap and $132M tax line.

I should also note that the rookie year salaries are based on projections of the $115M cap. If the cap is held constant those would be adjusted down slightly.

First thing I would do is coordinate an opt out and extend with Hayward. He opts out of his deal and re-signs for 3 years, $84.24M. This tacks on 2 years at a little more than $25M/year to his current deal. I think that's the type of incentive it would take for him to opt out. Keeping him on a 3 year deal lines him up to expire with Kemba so it helps coordinate future flexibility. His '20-21 salary on this deal would be $26M. If you replace his salary above with the new number, our team payroll is now $141,621,423.

Next thing I do is waive Jevonte Green. Nothing against him. Just a roster spot and luxury tax crunch. Our new payroll is now $140,103,442.

Next move I make it to salary dump Enes Kanter. He has played well in a small role here but that salary is hurting us in getting under the tax.Just a financial decision. My trade is Kanter and #30 to POR for #38 (they have a trade exception to complete the deal). It's going to be tough to find teams willing to take on salary but I think this works. This also removes the cap hold of #30 from the books. Like with #46 in our starting point, #38 does not count for now. Our new payroll is now $133,057,612.

Next move I make is declining the option on Semi Ojeleye. He's a solid player at a solid cost but it's just a numbers crunch. With him off the books our new payroll number is now $131,304,662.

Continuing down the numbers crunch I am going to move on Vincent Poirier. His salary is just too high for his role. He's included above at his full $2.6M salary, but only $1,476,615 is guaranteed. Also, we currently have #26 with the associated cap hold. I propose a deal of #26 along with Poirier to CHA for #31 along with a future second rounder. We only move down 5 spots and shed Poirier's guarantee in the process. Our new payroll number is now $126,540,335.

I never mentioned our #17 pick but I will project that we take Kira Lewis Jr., the PG from Alabama. He's a sophomore but still young. He projects well in Stevens' system and is a good candidate to groom to take over for Kemba.

In addition to the #17 pick we now have #31, #38 and #46. Those don't count on the payroll yet. I will project that we take Kira Lewis Jr. at #17, Mamadi Diakite at #31, Jordan Nwora at #38, and Yves Pons at #46.

That payroll of $126,540,335 is made up of the following 11 players and picks:

Kemba / Lewis Jr. / Edwards
Brown / Langford
Hayward / Smart
Tatum / G. Williams
Theis / R. Williams

I didn't include the second rounders because they don't have guaranteed salaries. I would project that we sign #31 (Diakite) and #38 (Nwora) to the active roster. The minimum salary for next year is $946,543. So add two of them in at that number and our payroll is up to $128,433,421.

Next I'm going to pursue a veteran addition. Mason Plumlee has been backing up Jokic in DEN but we can offer him a bigger role. He fits Stevens' scheme well and I think should be able to bring the same quality of minutes Kanter brought this year. His veteran minimum with 7 years in the league projects to be $2,291,063. Add that in and our new payroll is now $130,724,484.

That gets us up to 14 players. Since we're in a crunch to stay under the tax I am going to stop there. We also have two two-way deals with 3 candidates in Tremont Waters, Tacko Fall and our #46 pick. I'm thinking someone will offer Waters an NBA deal and just don't think we can match that. Maybe we move Edwards to do so. Basically you can swap them in or out. So the 2 way guys will be Fall and #46.

Our final roster ends up as:

Kemba / Lewis Jr. / Edwards
Brown / Langford
Hayward / Smart / Nwora
Tatum / G. Williams
Theis / Plumlee / R. Williams / Diakite

If the tax line holds at $132M we have some wiggle room under it to pursue buyout guys on pro rated minimum deals when the time comes after the trade deadline. Comparing this rotation to the one we have been using this year.

Kanter -> Plumlee. More a lateral change than anything. And we save money. Don't think this moves us up or down much.

Ojeleye -> Langford. After being sparingly used as a rookie we're now opening the door for Langord to play a consistent rotation role. He showed the defensive chops to hack it on that end and it's not like Semi brought much offense to replace.

Wanamaker -> Lewis. Jr. The bar isn't set that high here. You can definitely see rookie struggles for a PG but I just didn't have the luxury tax headroom to add a vet. Would have loved to. Hopefully Lewis can at least be passable as a rookie which isn't a ton to ask. We'll likely pursue veteran options here at the buyout deadline or maybe Edwards makes a year 2 leap. Smart can always play more PG as well, particularly in the playoffs when rotations are shortened. Langford is a better ball handling option than Semi as well, to further reduce the burden.

Langford -> Nwora. I have Langford "graduating" to Semi's role so Nwora takes over his. He's a 3&D type wing who should be able to hold his own as an upperclassman coming out the same way Semi did as a rookie when called upon.

Poirier -> Diakite. Trade one 4th big man for another. Diakite is a developmental guy who could play a role similar to Daniel Theis on the offensive and defensive end.

Green -> No one. I left the 15th spot open to start the year to help the numbers crunch.

I don't imagine anyone will look at this rotation and be super pumped. It's not flashy. But I think it accomplishes a key objective of making the Tatum/Brown/Kemba/Hayward/Smart core financially feasible for the next 3 years. The bench is a little light but honestly. come playoff time we'll be in 7 and 8 man rotations so that becomes of minor importance. By staying under the tax this year we set ourselves up to not have to pay the repeater tax while Kemba/Hayward are on the team. That means next year we can start getting aggressive with the MLE and really turn it up a notch.