Official Boston Celtics Thread

[jeremym480]

Quote: Originally Posted by tonybologna

After watching tonight's Summer League game against the Cavs I can see already that Grant Williams is our best rebounder on this team. He's nowhere near the tallest guy we have either. He just knows how to rebound at his height. He uses his strength & knowledge of the game to get the right positioning for both offensive & defensive rebounds. Robert Williams played some better tonight but still only had 2 rebounds in 18 minutes playing time. Grant had 6 rebounds in 1 more minute of time on the court. Yabu still looks really bad. No way he should make the 12-man NBA roster. I personally think we should part ways with him & cut him or find a trade partner for him. However, I don't know who would want him. Carsen Edwards with another solid game on both ends of the court as well with 14 points, 3 rebounds, & 2 assists. Tacko went 5-5 from the field with 12 points & hit both of his ugly looking FT's. LOL! Waters with an all around floor game too with 11 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, & 3 stls. I think we have a good enough Summer League team to possibly make the Championship game.

You pretty much covered everything that I was going to say. G Williams, Edwards and Tacko have been the most impressive players through the first two games; with Waters looking really good as well. Yabu and Aaron Harrison (not that he really matters cause he's not making anything other than the Red Claws anyway) have been the least impressive.

I agree with you about G Williams rebounding, as well. Him and R Williams are like night and day. One is extremely gifted psychically but gets out of position a lot because he's not ready mentally yet and the other isn't a physical specimen but he makes up for it with his IQ. I thought he was going to be what he has shown so far but you really had me second guessing myself since you watched him so much in college and though he wasn't ready to be an NBA player. One other thing I wanted to point out regarding G Williams is he is led the team in +/- both games. Not that +/- in the "be-all end-all" but in 38 minutes of play he's a +41. Pretty impressive and in contrast Yabu is -13 in 32 minutes and has just looked really bad.

It's still kind of early with Summer League, training camp and preseason left but barring a trade how do you guys think the roster ends up shaking out?



I've got the following penciled in

Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Kanter
Smart, Langford, G Williams, Theis, R Williams
Edwards, Semi, Poirier
Tacko and Waters - 2 Way

That means cutting or trading both Wanamaker and Yabusele. Strus has a 2-way deal now but if I recall correct 2-way deals aren't guaranteed so that shouldn't be a big deal. It's going to be weird with four (possibly five) rookies but Stevens has done it before. My may point is keep Tacko. He's never going to be a 30 minutes a game NBA player but I think he can be a solid 10-15 minute a game contributor. If Poirier ends up being a bust, then perhaps Tacko could climb all the way up to backup center.

[R1zzo23]

Apparently Strus was guaranteed a 2-way spot and I’m not sure Ainge wants to live up to that reputation of going against promises. If so, that means to keep Fall we wouid need to either keep Waters with the NBA team - which I would advise against - or get rid of Yabu and bring Fall with the NBA team. Neither option seems appealing.


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[areobee401]

Could sign with Maine. Problem there is some other team could steal him away by offering an NBA spot. And I believe the team would want to keep Yabu on the roster for a potential future trade at the deadline. The contract would probably be needed to match money.

[tonybologna]

Quote: Originally Posted by areobee401

Could sign with Maine. Problem there is some other team could steal him away by offering an NBA spot. And I believe the team would want to keep Yabu on the roster for a potential future trade at the deadline. The contract would probably be needed to match money.

I think we should go ahead & see what we can get in a trade for Yabu. He just isn't good enough of a frontcourt player to contribute much at all for this team. We're not going to get much in return with his salary & the type of player that he is but maybe someone in return that's a young player we could stick in the G-League or a bench player that would be like the 12th man on the NBA roster.

Quote: Originally Posted by jeremym480

You pretty much covered everything that I was going to say. G Williams, Edwards and Tacko have been the most impressive players through the first two games; with Waters looking really good as well. Yabu and Aaron Harrison (not that he really matters cause he's not making anything other than the Red Claws anyway) have been the least impressive. I agree with you about G Williams rebounding, as well. Him and R Williams are like night and day. One is extremely gifted psychically but gets out of position a lot because he's not ready mentally yet and the other isn't a physical specimen but he makes up for it with his IQ. I thought he was going to be what he has shown so far but you really had me second guessing myself since you watched him so much in college and though he wasn't ready to be an NBA player. One other thing I wanted to point out regarding G Williams is he is led the team in +/- both games. Not that +/- in the "be-all end-all" but in 38 minutes of play he's a +41. Pretty impressive and in contrast Yabu is -13 in 32 minutes and has just looked really bad. It's still kind of early with Summer League, training camp and preseason left but barring a trade how do you guys think the roster ends up shaking out? I've got the following penciled in Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Kanter Smart, Langford, G Williams, Theis, R Williams Edwards, Semi, Poirier Tacko and Waters - 2 Way That means cutting or trading both Wanamaker and Yabusele. Strus has a 2-way deal now but if I recall correct 2-way deals aren't guaranteed so that shouldn't be a big deal. It's going to be weird with four (possibly five) rookies but Stevens has done it before. My may point is keep Tacko. He's never going to be a 30 minutes a game NBA player but I think he can be a solid 10-15 minute a game contributor. If Poirier ends up being a bust, then perhaps Tacko could climb all the way up to backup center.

What concerned me about Grant from watching him play every single game in his college career either in person or on TV was getting into foul trouble way too many games. He took himself out of several key games in SEC play by getting into foul trouble & costing us a few SEC losses @ UT by him getting limited minutes.

It wasn't really that I thought his game skills would keep him from making the NBA roster. I thought originally a 1/2 year or even whole year in the G-League might have been best for him. I have changed my mind now after seeing how he's handled these 1st 2 Summer League games. He's better than Robert Williams & Yabu.

He has a better skillset than both of them & most importantly he's a smarter player & has excellent character. He will be nothing but a positive influence in that locker room. I could see Grant getting 15+ minutes per game next season because we are so limited with frontcourt players.

I also agree with your roster assessment. I think the only other possibility would be Wannamaker actually being our 3rd PG & having him on the NBA roster & that would mean one of the other players you have listed either being released/traded or placed in the G-League. Edwards isn't going to be in the G-League.

He's already showed too much so he should easily make the NBA roster. In my opinion, Robert Williams is the one that needs to be sent down to the G-League but I don't think Stevens/Ainge will do that because they like his athleticism so much inside. Athleticism is great to have in any sport but you've got to have more than that.

R. Williams just doesn't seem to have any drive about himself. He just goes out there & goes through the motions. He's not good enough to play like that. He needs a fire lit underneath him. I mean with his leaping ability & height he should be getting at least 8 rebounds per game even if he's only playing ~18-20 minutes per game. He's only getting 2-3 rebounds in his playing time. That's not acceptable for a player with his height & athleticism.

[jeremym480]

Here's a really good video of the impact that Grant had on the defensive end. https://twitter.com/SKPearlman/statu...60647988416512


* I wish there was a way to embed tweets on here but I guess you just have to click the link

[areobee401]

Javonte Green looks good again. Should stick with someone’s G-League squad.

[areobee401]

Celtics have agreed to a two-way contract with second-round pick PG Tremont Waters.

[tonybologna]

Quote: Originally Posted by areobee401

Celtics have agreed to a two-way contract with second-round pick PG Tremont Waters.

How could we not agree with Carsen Edwards first over Waters? Geez! I know the announcers of tonight's Summer League game vs the Nuggets stated we were close to signing Edwards. I would think his might not be a two-way contract though.

I don't see how we can afford not to have him on the 12-man roster & used either as a true backup to Kemba or a 3rd PG that can be used in situations where we need scoring from 3's. Smart can be played @ both PG & SG so Edwards could in reality end up possibly being a true backup PG to Kemba. That would mean Smart would probably play more @ SG behind Jaylen Brown. I think that might be the better scenario anyhow.

Edwards has proven he's worthy of making this team & being on the NBA roster. I expected Waters to get a two-way contract just like Jeremy posted. He will be a player that we have up & down all of next season. Waters has looked pretty good if you ask me but he's not better than Edwards for sure. We've got to get Edwards inked next. Has Grant or Langford signed yet either?

By the way, after what I seen tonight with Langford not playing at all & not many minutes the 1st Summer League game this is starting to tell me there's a chance he ends up in the G-League to at least the start of next season. He's the only one of the 4 rookies to me that hasn't looked ready for any minutes in the NBA right now. We would really only have 1 true SG (Jaylen Brown) but like I said Smart can play SG more if that would end up being what happens with Langford.

Semi is really a SF but I guess he could even play some SG because he's mostly just a designated 3-pt. shooter anyhow. Good thing about him on defense is that he can guard 2-4 positions when he's in there so while he could play some SG possibly he could be switched around on positions to guard on defense.

If Langford ends up in the G-League at the beginning of next season then either Wannamaker or Yabu (if we still have them both) would probably be the players Ainge & Stevens decide to pick from to keep on the NBA roster. I hope Yabu is already gone by then somehow. Wannamaker isn't going to provide anything great but he had his moments last season.

Wannamaker would serve as our 3rd PG in my opinion with Carsen Edwards being ahead of him as the backup in this scenario. Edwards even though he's a rookie & Wannnamaker has played pro ball for a few years now, Edwards is still the better player & option. Heck, we might not have Wannamaker or Yabu when the time comes to decide on who we pick for the NBA roster. We will have to wait & see who's still available. I know Strus & Waters both have already gotten two-way contracts.

I don't think we've decided anything about Tacko Fall just yet. I think we should consider something with him. He could develop more & possibly become a defensive force near the rim for us down the road & also dunk the ball multiple times per game with just putbacks or ally-oop passes.