5 paths Celtics can/will take after Sullinger's injury
Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, well, it has. Sully the Rebounder is out for the rest of the season, a sad development that justifies his stock value dropping due to the red flag. Sully had just played a college season load of minutes, and things would've been great if he could get past that point. Alas, he couldn't.
Now the Celtics have two roster spots open (waiving Kris Joseph has also been totally justified this week), yet the Celtics are in a tough spot due to the rebuild/contend dilemma. Ainge's job has just gotten harder. Here are the possibilities that lie ahead:
1. Promote Bass: This is definitely more than a possibility, but since I'm writing a comprehensive post I had to include this basic fact as well. Bass is probably a saint or something: He complains that he doesn't get enough minutes, and first Rondo goes down which helps his USG%, than Sully is out which helps his minutes. I hope he wishes for a championship as well.
2. Sign free agents: Well, this is the most obvious move to make, but due to trade possibilities, the Celtics won't hurry in signing people. Maybe a 10-day contract can work, but then again, there aren't many rebounding bigs that wait for the Celtics to pick'em up.
Chris Andersen would have been perfect for us given the situation, but unfortunately he's on a 10-day contract with the Heat. Jarvis Varnado (remember him?) has also penned a commitment to our rivals till the end of the season. One name that will repeatedly pop up is Kenyon Martin, but we know Ainge and Doc aren't totally on that boat. Other likely targets would be Dan Gadzuric, Kyrylo Fesenko, Jerome Jordan and, bear with me, Ben Wallace (see picure).
3. Increase Wilcox's minutes: Even though he has not been the most consistent player in terms of health, Wilcox is probably the go-to option now for the empty spot. He is a decent rebounder and he can run, he's defensively more or less the equivalent of Sullinger, despite his average basketball IQ he's a fighter, so at least in the short run we'll see him more.
4. Give Melo a shot: I mean, everyone that follows D-League has a consensus that he is not ripe yet, yet again, the Celtics need a miracle to contend this season, so, why not?
5. Green at 4: I know that Green isn't an average rebounder let alone being him a good one, but Doc might go to his not-so-favored plan B and play more small ball. That experiment has sorta failed with Rondo, but now that we're running a simpler offense with more transition plays, it might work.
Now the Celtics have two roster spots open (waiving Kris Joseph has also been totally justified this week), yet the Celtics are in a tough spot due to the rebuild/contend dilemma. Ainge's job has just gotten harder. Here are the possibilities that lie ahead:
1. Promote Bass: This is definitely more than a possibility, but since I'm writing a comprehensive post I had to include this basic fact as well. Bass is probably a saint or something: He complains that he doesn't get enough minutes, and first Rondo goes down which helps his USG%, than Sully is out which helps his minutes. I hope he wishes for a championship as well.
2. Sign free agents: Well, this is the most obvious move to make, but due to trade possibilities, the Celtics won't hurry in signing people. Maybe a 10-day contract can work, but then again, there aren't many rebounding bigs that wait for the Celtics to pick'em up.
3. Increase Wilcox's minutes: Even though he has not been the most consistent player in terms of health, Wilcox is probably the go-to option now for the empty spot. He is a decent rebounder and he can run, he's defensively more or less the equivalent of Sullinger, despite his average basketball IQ he's a fighter, so at least in the short run we'll see him more.
4. Give Melo a shot: I mean, everyone that follows D-League has a consensus that he is not ripe yet, yet again, the Celtics need a miracle to contend this season, so, why not?
5. Green at 4: I know that Green isn't an average rebounder let alone being him a good one, but Doc might go to his not-so-favored plan B and play more small ball. That experiment has sorta failed with Rondo, but now that we're running a simpler offense with more transition plays, it might work.
