Winning with 8 guys: replace Leandro Barbosa with Jeff Green

Jeff Green is picking the right time to flourish.

The Celtics roster now consists of 10 healthy bodies.  Shockingly they have the most depth at center (4 of the 10); however one of them (Fab Melo) has no business being out of the D-League, and another (Jason Collins) should only be used in case of emergencies.  Regardless, Melo and Collins are both big awkward players that offer zero lineup flexibility.  That leaves Doc with 8 rotation guys at the moment: Two centers (Garnett, Wilcox), and just three each of forwards (Bass, Pierce, Green) and guards (Bradley, Lee, Terry).  If the playoffs started today I think Boston might actually be OK, ideally you only go 8 or 9 deep in the postseason anyway.

I believe the best available replacement for Leandro Barbosa is Jeff Green.  Green is very capable of playing some shooting guard.  A lineup of Green and Pierce at the 2 and 3 along with any of the three guards at the 1 could be successful in brief stints.  How often do you actually need four guards anyway?

Now I'm talking about crunch time and the playoffs specifically.  It's a long regular season (Boston still has 31 games left), and obviously the C's are going to have to add another player or two (here's some options) in order to get through it.  In garbage time against the Lakers last Thursday two starters, Lee and Bradley, remained on the floor due to a lack of better options; Boston should definitely have some scrubs.

But, I'm not convinced they must focus on finding a guard simply because Barbosa is the latest casualty.  Green's versatility allows him to back up 3 of the 5 positions.  Pierce and Bass need as much help in the frontcourt as Bradley and Lee do in the backcourt.  The Celtics would be just as well suited to add another forward as they would a guard.

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