NBA Notebook: Celtics player power rankings

A first look at the Celtics roster hierarchy after the opening two weeks of training camp. Boston will be able to keep up to 15 players on the main roster and two 2-way players at the end of camp.

T-19. Yante Maten/Kaiser Gates: This duo has yet to see the floor in a preseason game and are on a path towards the Maine Red Claws after signing Exhibit 10 deals with the C’s during training camp.

18. Max Strus: The C’s agreed to a two-way deal with the undrafted free agent back in June but the swingman is the obvious candidate to be let go if the C’s elect to keep both Javonte Green and Tacko Fall around. Strus has good size for a wing and strong offensive IQ but his outside shooting hasn’t stood out yet in summer league or in limited preseason action. He’s going to need a strong finish to camp in order to solidify his spot, but he will be spending most of his season in the G-League whether it’s in Maine or with another franchise.

17. Tacko Fall: The momentum behind the 7-foot-5 center is building in arenas across America as Brad Stevens prepares to have to handle ‘We want Tacko’ chants for 82 games this year. While the odds of Fall making the 15-man roster seems long due to the strong play of Javonte Green, the C’s question marks at center make keeping Fall on a two-way a sensible option. He could get plenty of seasoning in the G-League and some situational work with the big club against teams with size up front. Like summer league, Fall has looked like he belongs on an NBA floor thus far.

16. Tremont Waters: The Celtics were thrilled when he fell to the No. 51 spot in the second round as the team agreed to a two-way with the point guard shortly after draft night. He’s probably played well enough so far with his defensive timing and playmaking to earn a spot on the 15-man roster but it’s hard to find a spot for him in this group with Javonte Green thriving as well. He will spend some most of his year in the G-League but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Brad Stevens give him a chance in spots if Brad Wanamaker struggles to hold his own on the defensive end.

15. Javonte Green: The 26-year-old has not missed a shot this preseason (9/9 FG) and couldn’t have asked for a better start to his roster push. He has a $150,000 guarantee to his rookie minimum contract so he’s established himself as the lead candidate to the final roster spot for the C’s. He won’t be looking for a two-way deal (he can make much more overseas) so it’s the main roster or bust for Green. Given Langford’s slow start to camp due to injuries, it would not surprise me to see him ahead of the No. 14 pick on the depth chart when the regular season begins.

14. Romeo Langford: The Indiana product made his long-awaited debut on Friday night and almost immediately showed off his scoring touch with a nice drive to the rim. Otherwise, it was a rather uneventful showing otherwise (2 points, 3 rebounds in 11 minutes). There is definitely a lot of offensive potential here off the bounce but the early guess is that he is going to be behind Carsen Edwards and Grant Williams in the rotation out of the gate. Whether or not he gets some run in the G-League early on to get reps is intriguing since Stevens might have more trust in a guy like Green out of the gate. The next two weeks will be big for him to try to claim some type of role with this group.

13. Vincent Poirier: This feels low for now based on his defensive skillset but a lack of minutes in the early preseason shows him at the bottom of the center pecking order for now. It kind of reminds me of Theis during his rookie preseason, when he was relegated to mop-up duty but emerged as a bright spot. Poirier hasn’t done anything impressive on the offensive end yet (zero shot attempts) but he easily looks like the best true big defensive option out of Williams and Kanter at this point. Whether that’s enough to earn him a chance in real games remains to be seen but my guess is that he gets thrown into the fire against guys like Gasol or Embiid when Kanter is getting cooked.

12. Robert Williams: Despite getting hyped up by the Celtics staff for his hard work this summer, it’s been a disappointing camp for the second-year center so far. He got a chance with the starting five in the preseason opener but it was clear right away that he still didn’t have the strength or defensive awareness to hang with top bigs in this league. There will still be an emphasis on his development so the odds are that he will get some chances to play through his growing pains but it’s hard to see him making the progress needed this season to be a trusted option for Stevens, especially on the defensive end. Some big minutes in Maine serve him better in the interim than sitting at the end of the bench for spot duty.

11. Semi Ojeleye: It’s a big season for the third-year forward who spent most of his sophomore campaign waiting for an opportunity behind Marcus Morris. The early returns have not been encouraging however, particularly from an offensive standpoint. Ojeleye has shot just 30 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range while averaging two turnovers in just 13 minutes per game. It’s encouraging that the forward is trying to be more aggressive on offense but at some point, it needs to translate for a C’s team that lacks firepower off the bench. Stevens will likely keep giving him the first crack at PF minutes off the pine due to his familiarity with the system early but that won’t last long if Grant Williams shows better consistency.

10. Brad Wanamaker: With the shadow of Terry Rozier no longer looming, Wanamaker has staked his claim to the backup point guard minutes early. It’s been a mixed bag thus far with some encouraging offensive stats (8.5 ppg, 3.5 app in just 14 minutes per game) but turnovers and a lack of speed on the defensive end remains a bit of a concern. His ability to draw fouls in the paint (four free throw attempts per game) has been a pleasant surprise so far as well. A second year in Brad Stevens’ system makes him the favorite for a ball-handler role if Marcus Smart isn’t going to run the show for the bench unit.

9. Grant Williams: It’s evident that the ticket for early minutes for the rookie power forward is a reliable 3-point shot since the big man has not been shy from downtown in the early going. He’s firing 3.5 3-point attempts per game this preseason and even though the results have been subpar early (28.6 percent), there has not been much hesitation in getting up the open ones. Given his high defensive IQ and rebounding ability, a versatile offensive skillset with better stretch ability than Ojeleye make him a favorite to earn a lion’s share of the reserve power forward minutes as the year continues.

8. Carsen Edwards: The second-round pick is not being shy about getting his offense going off Boston’s bench in the preseason. He ranks second in shot attempts per game (10.5) despite ranking eight in minutes per game (18.0). It’s been a lot of trick or treat with Edwards in regards to his efficiency (38 percent from field, 30 percent from 3-point range) but the Purdue product has drawn early comparisons to Eddie House for his ability to get shots off in tight windows. Given the lack of reliable shooting on the C’s bench, Edwards looks like a strong candidate to be a secondary scorer and spacer with the second group, even when a couple of starters are in the game.

7. Enes Kanter: The veteran center was expected to be the default starter at center this offseason after signing on the cheap but Brad Stevens is wisely trying to separate the big man from Boston’s weakest defensive link (Kemba Walker) in the starting five. The challenge now for the C’s is finding the right mix of personnel to maximize Kanter’s inside game since he hasn’t had many looks in the post or on the roll in the early going. He may be the default choice at center against true bigs that Theis can’t handle in the post but finding the right personnel to surround him in the second unit is the challenge for Stevens in the next two weeks.

6. Daniel Theis: The one big man on the C’s roster that has some experience with the system and offensive versatility make him the top choice to lead Boston’s bigs in minutes as the year continues. A lack of size on the front line is concerning with him in the middle but his sound positioning on the defensive end along with respectable 3-point shooting gives him the edge on the pack. The biggest challenge for the German will be keeping his fouling in check (he had four in 14 minutes) against the Magic. This was his Achilles heel last year and the C’s don’t have the depth to withstand this issue continuing in 2019-20.

5. Marcus Smart: This feels a bit low for the veteran guard but it’s reflective of a strong start by the players above him on this list. He looked a little sluggish against the Hornets but a strong sign that his 37 percent 3-point shooting last year was not an outlier was apparent on Friday night with a 4-of-6 shooting night from beyond the arc against the Magic. He has continually kept his shooting attempts inside the arc down (just two of his 6.5 attempts per game in the preseason), a promising indicator that he is comfortable staying within his limited supporting role on offense. It remains to be seen whether the C’s are better off with him coming off the bench or taking the defensive pressure off of Kemba Walker in the starting five. He should be giving Boston a major boost either way.

4. Gordon Hayward: The outside shooting has been lackluster this preseason despite the high volume (22 percent) but there is no question that Hayward’s aggressiveness off the bounce has taken a step forward. He is looking to finish more at the rim instead of passing in the paint when he finds resistance and that should help the Celtics’ offense add a new dimension of firepower. Whether he can do it consistently against top tier defenders is a bigger question but one of him/Brown/Tatum is going to have a defensive mismatch on a nightly basis from a speed standpoint. Hayward may have the physical confidence now to take advantage on nights when it is him.

3. Jaylen Brown: As I wrote after Friday’s game, If there was one main complaint about the wing in his first few NBA seasons on the offensive end, it was a lack of vision on his forays in the paint. Brown has the ability to get past his man regularly but would sometimes force up tough shots when meeting resistance in the paint, instead of finding the open man. Now with three seasons of experience under his belt, along with some time with Team USA, Brown’s offensive game has shown some nice progression with his passing ability on drives. With some good chemistry finally forming between Gordon Hayward, Brown and Jayson Tatum on the offensive end, Brown’s adding driving and kicking to his skillset makes this look like a starting five grouping that could work this year.

2. Jayson Tatum: Almost half of Tatum’s shot attempts (14.5) this preseason have come from beyond the 3-point line (7). Tatum is also shooting above average from 3-point range (35.7) with the additional volume, a promising sign that signals he is ready to be a 1B option for this Celtics offense out of the gate alongside Kemba Walker. He’s walking the walk so far when it comes to revamping his shot selection and that is the only path for this team to be a contender in the Eastern Conference this year. The challenge now for Tatum is finding the right balance between being an efficient scorer and making his own passing vision a bigger part of his game.

1. Kemba Walker: The one returning All-Star on the Celtics roster has only played one game so far but looked just as eager distributing as he did with scoring in his game in green. That’s a positive sign for a Celtics roster that could use that unselfish mentality from its top player in a sharp change from last season. There may be some growing pains in the early going as Walker gets adjusted to his new surroundings and defensive schemes but the gains other players have made around him this summer should just help him flourish more. Walker has never played with this type of talent before in Charlotte and has an impressive offensive mind to work with in Brad Stevens. The results in the coming months should be fun to watch.