I’m definitely biased, but I’ve long held the opinion that roster-building in the NBA is more difficult than in the three other major sports. Sure, finding the right quarterback could be the difference between a Super Bowl appearance and not even making the playoffs. An ace or a big bat in your lineup can swing a baseball season by 10-15 games. Having a dynamic scorer can shift the geometry of the rink for every 45-second shift.
But in the NBA, teams only have 15 slots in their roster — seventeen if you include the two-way contracts — and every single player needs to contribute to winning. Because of the limitations of the current collective bargaining agreement, you might need to rely on your 10th or 11th man at some point of the 82-game gauntlet and in a year or two, they could be contributing regularly in the rotation.
Last season was proof positive of that trust in development. Last season, Neemias Queta and Jordan Walsh were pleasant surprises. This summer, they were both extended with new contracts and will be mainstays in Joe Mazzulla’s lineups.
Still on rookie deals, Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman are in the same boat.
But once in a while, an opportunity comes up to buy low on a potentially high outcome player. Last week, there was reporting that former #1 pick Ben Simmons was mounting a comeback for a return to the NBA after a sabbatical year of getting his body right and competitive fishing. While they weren’t listed as one of the several teams considering the Aussie, Boston still has a 15th roster spot available and might be the perfect situation for Simmons.
However, despite what many might consider a rocky offseason, the Celtics have a good thing going and only 23% of our readers thought that taking a flyer on the mercurial Simmons was a good idea. So, even if Boston misses on Simmons’ upside, our friends at FanDuel still have the Celtics (+1400) with the fifth highest odds to win a championship behind the Thunder (+230), Spurs (+280), Knicks (+950), and Sixers (+1000).
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