Brad Stevens says Celtics could use '15 different rotations' -- 3 possible solutions to that dilemma


When you look up and down the current Celtics roster there's not much of a gap between the best players and the worst ones.  Boston has a squad stocked full of mediocre NBA talent.


In Boston's case, depth is not a good thing.  Nobody wants to watch Brad Stevens struggle to find playing time for 15 guys all season.  The Celtics (and Stevens) need a plan.  It's time to bite the bullet and decide who's going to get minutes and who isn't.  Here are three potential strategies:

1. Play the kids - In this instance you work on determining who has the potential to be core players going forward.  The primary focus is to develop guys for the future.  Under this philosophy the starting lineup might look like:

PG: Marcus Smart
SG: James Young
SF: Jae Crowder
PF: Jared Sullinger
C: Kelly Olynyk

2. Showcase trade options - With this move you try to pump up stat lines and put on display the players you'd most like to ship out of town.  A number of guys that don't have much value on this rebuilding Celtics team could be very useful for contenders:

PG: Jameer Nelson
SG: Evan Turner
SF: Jeff Green
PF: Brandon Bass
C: Brandan Wright
6th Man: Marcus Thornton
7th Man: Gerald Wallace

3. Keep fighting for the playoffs - Even at 10-18 the Celtics are just 2.5 games back of the postseason race.  If they'd beaten Brooklyn the other day the deficit would only be half a game.

PG: Smart
SG: Avery Bradley
SF: Green
PF: Sullinger
C: Tyler Zeller
Bench: Nelson, Thornton, Bass, Olynyk, Wright
Out of rotation: Turner, Crowder, Wallace, Young and Phil Pressey

Regardless of which direction the C's go, it's time to adopt a 10-man rotation and stick with it.  Unfortunately my guess is they'll keep trying to incorporate parts of all three plans, and the minute distribution will continue to vary wildly from night to night.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan
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