Predicting the 2022-23 rotation for this revamped Boston Celtics team

After an eventful start to the offseason that’s led to the Boston Celtics adding two key players without giving up any, the way minutes are allocated could get a bit complicated for second-year coach Ime Udoka.

However, you can never have too much talent, and the moves that Boston has made thus far to add said talent has actually made them favorites to win it all next year.

With the big trade for Malcolm Brogdon and the signing of Danilo Gallinari, the C’s can now go 10 deep with their rotation if they’d like, where they often only went eight or at most nine last season.

Having a deeper rotation means more individuals to keep happy and fewer minutes for top players, making Ime’s job next year much harder, but in a good way.

While I’m not sure exactly how the sophomore head coach will approach a revamped roster next season, I’ll take my best shot at how I think he should handle this now-loaded Boston Celtics rotation.

Boston Celtics 2022-2023 projected rotation

Starting Lineup:

Point Guard: Marcus Smart (28 minutes per game)
Shooting Guard: Jaylen Brown (32 minutes per game)
Small Forward: Jayson Tatum (32 minutes per game)
Power Forward: Al Horford (28 minutes per game)
Center: Robert Williams (28 minutes per game)

Bench Unit:

Sixth Man: Malcolm Brogdon (28 minutes per game)
Seventh Man: Derrick White (24 minutes per game)
Eighth Man: Danilo Gallinari (16 minutes per game)
Ninth Man: Grant Williams (12 minutes per game)
Tenth Man: Payton Pritchard (12 minutes per game)

This projection is a combination of what I think the rotation should be as well as reports that have come out about what to expect, like Al Horford and Robert Williams both starting and Brogdon serving as the sixth man.

Some key things to take note of that could become important down the line are the number of point guards the Boston Celtics have, and a lack of center and wing depth.

In this rotation projection, Horford and Time Lord essentially split the center minutes. Rob plays 28 minutes at center while Big Al plays 20 minutes at the five and eight minutes at power forward.

It may be beneficial for the Celtics to either add another center through free agency or via trade at some point soon, as both Ime and Brad Stevens likely don’t want Rob and Al playing such extensive minutes a night all season long, given Rob’s injury history and Horford’s age.

With that being said, it could be interesting to see if someone like Grant Williams or even Danilo Gallinari gets some run at center given their versatility.

Looking at the backcourt rotation, Udoka has four solid point guards at his disposal, but what’s great is that three of them are versatile enough to bump up to shooting guard or even small forward if necessary.

I’d personally be comfortable having Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon all on the court at the same time, but time will tell if the C’s feel the same way.

Maybe one of the guards will be traded for a big man or wing at some point?

I personally would prefer if the C’s added depth and built up team chemistry during the season to help with another championship run rather than retooling the roster to better fill out positions, especially with how versatile the current roster is.

It will be very interesting to see how the Boston Celtics approach next season coming off a loss in the NBA Finals and with a retooled roster.

Given how versatile the ball club is, there are numerous lineups and minute combinations the team can put on the court that would probably succeed in some capacity. It can definitely be argued that all of the players in my projected rotation are deserving of more minutes, but that’s the tough part of having a deep team.

Ime Udoka and Brad Stevens have a lot of work ahead of them in order to maximize the talents of this roster and, hopefully, win a championship.