Celtics have set their playoff roster - and here it is
All NBA teams had until 3:00 P.M. today to submit their playoff rosters. According to Basketball Real GM, this is what Boston's lineup looks like:
Jaylen Brown
Jonathan Gibson
Gordon Hayward
Al Horford
Kyrie Irving
Shane Larkin
Greg Monroe
Marcus Morris
Abdel Nader
Semi Ojeleye, Guerschon Yabusele
Terry Rozier, Daniel Theis
Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum
An NBA team is allowed 15 active players in their playoff roster, but we see 16 here. Jonathan Gibson is signed as a hardship exemption, and he apparently is allowed to remain on the team, even in the playoffs, until one of the four injured players returns. That first player to return will almost certainly be Marcus Smart, and I assume that Gibson's stint with the team will end at that point.
I had written previously about the roster that would be submitted by Boston for their playoff run, and in that article I included both Daniel Theis and Gordon Hayward. The team simply does not have enough unbroken bodies to start worrying about who will be on their playoff lineup sheet. They normally are allowed 15 players, but they can have 16 with the Medical Exemption. Thus, Theis, Hayward and Kyrie irving are there on the sheet. Why not?
None of those three may ever see time in the post-season, although there is still a slight chance we may see Hayward if the playoff run continues long enough. So there it is. This is the group going into battle starting this Sunday. The Celtics are not seen by many as capable of going far in the post-season. The nay-sayers may be in for a surprise.
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Photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports
