Report: Seattle and Las Vegas expected to bid for expansion teams with price possibly starting at $2.5 billion each https://t.co/UcBxetsb8G
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) January 5, 2021
Reports suggest the NBA will be adding two expansion teams and a great question was asked. What players would you protect from the incoming expansion draft?
If the NBA adds an expansion team, and you can only keep 8 players on your favorite team, which players are you keeping? đŸ¤”
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 6, 2021
I’m a Celtics fan so I had to do this for them but click here to see the one I wrote for the Sixers.
So, I am the GM of the Celtics and I can only protect 8 of the 17 players listed as being on their roster (by NBA.com) as of 1/6/2021. Now just because you don’t protect a player doesn’t mean they will be taken by one of the new expansion teams but the protected players are guaranteed to stay on your team. In no particular order.
- Jayson Tatum, obviously
- Jaylen Brown, no shit
- Marcus Smart, one of the best defensive players in the league and has made an effort to work on shot selection this year, he’s shooting 41% from three on 5 shots a game
- Kemba Walker, age/contract/injury are all concerns but to win a title Kemba will play a big role
- Payton Pritchard, Brad loves this kid and he’s earned playing time
- Robert Williams, I won’t give up on Timelord and bright should you. He doesn’t have flashy numbers but he’s played well this year and is only 23
- Aaron Nesmith, there’s a few guys I could’ve picked here but I believe in this kid and in an expansion draft I think brand new lottery picks will be highly prioritized. I don’t know why he’s barely getting playing time but I want to see what he’s got
- Last pick I’m torn between Jeff Teague, Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson. I’m going to pick Tristan Thompson but there’s strategy behind it. If Teague gets picked from us I saved 3 PGs already plus Tatum and Brown can handle the ball. If I was doing this in real life and not for a blog I’d save Theis to be loyal but I think Thompson is the more valuable and sought after player. The stats also slightly favor Tristan
There’s my eight. There’s guys I like and would want to keep I didn’t get to save but just because you don’t protect them doesn’t mean they’re going to be taken from you.