Five pressing questions about the suddenly full Celtics roster

Free agency has been moving at a rapid pace this offseason. Barring a few teams awaiting on a decision by Kawhi Leonard, most of the cap room around the league was gobbled up in the first 48 hours of free agency. The Celtics did not have much cap room to use beyond signing Kemba Walker, but they have wasted little team fortifying the rest of their roster, agreeing to terms with four different players in the first two days of free agency. With likely 15 guaranteed contracts on the roster now (once the rookies sign), there are some intriguing questions about what the Celtics have put together here. Let's try to make sense of them.

What’s the plan with Guerschon Yabusele?

The Celtics moved on from Aron Baynes in the Suns deal for reasons we explored here and have now brought in ample backup in the form of Enes Kanter, Vincent Poirier and Daniel Theis to help fill that void along with Robert Williams. Through it all, the seldom-used Guerschon Yabusele and his $3.1-million salary remain on the books. A fair question is why exactly? The smart money last summer had the Celtics using this salary as part of a blockbuster trade this summer (i.e. salary matching) but we know that transaction did not come to be once Anthony Davis headed to LA. Now? Yabusele is headed back to summer league for the third time (never a good sign) and the frontcourt suddenly looks awfully crowded around him. There are a couple of big fans of him in the Celtic front office but it’s going to be hard to justify his spot on the team without a strong showing in Vegas. The team elected to move on from Baynes over him likely due to his youth, potential upside and cheaper price tag, but Yabusele's talent has not translated to this point at the NBA level. The case can be made that the Celtics would be better served to give this roster spot to someone else next season, so the guess here is that Yabusele will be playing for his job during summer league and training camp.

Are all of these centers going to stick around?

For now, the answer is yes. Kanter, Poirier and Theis can’t be traded now anyway until midseason and Robert Williams has the biggest potential upside out of all of them. The Celtics clearly sold everyone in this group on a chance to play big minutes and that is a very realistic expectation for two of these guys if they perform well. There will certainly be mixing and matching based on opponent done all year long (I.e. Poirier/Kanter on true bigs, Theis to stretch the floor, etc.) but someone is going to stand out from the pack. It’s going to be very tough for Stevens to keep all of these guys happy once the year gets rolling so the guess here is someone gets moved by the trade deadline, perhaps in some kind of bigger move. For now, the competition should be a free for all during training camp to see who can emerge with Stevens’ trust and earn a regular role. Kanter likely has the inside track on the top gig given his pedigree but a more defensive-minded piece might be the better fix with so many scorers in the starting five.

Why is Brad Wanamaker back?

This was a confusing signing when you look at the complexion of the roster, but still an encouraging one from a depth perspective. The Celtics already have Kemba Walker to eat up big minutes at point guard, with Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward capable of playing some point minutes behind him. Carsen Edwards is a ball handler but is much more of a scoring guard than a distributor. It’s hard to see exactly where potential minutes for Wanamaker are in this equation but the Celtics may have just tried to sell him on the chance to beat out Edwards to get him to sign back. Just like the frontcourt, the Celtics look like they are trying to create a lot of competition here in training camp. Wanamaker as a third point guard is very nice depth and his familiarity with the system should be a big help at the veterans’ minimum. It also makes me feel a lot better about writing so much suggesting the team should use him more last year. There will be no Terry Rozier roadblock standing in his way so that may have been all Wanamaker needed to hear to come back. From a development perspective, it makes sense for Edwards to get those minutes but maybe Stevens didn’t want to hand them over right away. Edwards will have to earn then now with Wanamaker back.

Who is going to start?

While there is less of a logjam at some spots on the roster, the starting five is not very clear at this point, even when you go beyond the open competition at center. Walker and Tatum feel like the only guys that should be confident about being penciled into the starting five at this point. The case could be made for Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward for any of those final two spots. The odd man out will get big minutes anyway as a sixth man off the bench but this will ultimately result in a player beginning next year in a role he may not prefer. How much one of these guys is willing to embrace that situation could be a major turning point in how next year goes. Tough choices still lie ahead for Brad Stevens to find the right mix.

Who is a trade candidate for this summer?

Despite multiple reports to the contrary earlier this week, one league source told BostonSportsJournal.com that he does not anticipate any other major changes to the Celtics roster heading into the regular season. Boston has positioned itself nicely for moves during the regular season itself with several movable contracts (Theis, Kanter, rookies) but the only player that is direct danger of getting moved ahead of camp is Yabusele. Barring some kind of unexpected blockbuster deal, the Celtics may try to move on from him if they aren’t pleased with what they see out of him during summer league. Whether or not they have to give up a small asset (second-round pick) to get out of his contract and free up a roster spot is the question. A strong summer from him would also just encourage the team to bring him to come into camp and compete for bench minutes.

Otherwise? Ojeleye isn’t going anywhere on his bargain deal. The same goes for Robert Williams. Smart, Tatum, Brown and Tatum aren’t being traded barring a star becoming available and no one else is eligible to be dealt now anyway. It’s not the most exciting roster in the world, but it’s probably the one the Celtics are heading into next season with.