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There have been a lot of suggestions that Doc Rivers gets into trouble when presented with too many rotation options. Now I don’t subscribe to this position, at all, but it does seem that this summer Danny Ainge has assembled a roster with lots and lots of options. And that’s a good thing, actually an excellent thing! But it is going to take time to explore the combinations; and the puzzle pieces themselves will be changing.

Dateline: August 16, 2012––45 days until the start of training camp!

Those changing pieces, and the uncertain date of Avery Bradley’s availability, are the reasons that I consider this to be a trick question. In addition, you might add the rust and conditioning issues of Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox coming off major surgery. Also unknown is how well conditioned the three rookie draft picks will be—certainly both Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo tired quickly during summer leagues in Orlando and Las Vegas. And then there is Paul Pierce who limped through the playoffs; and halfway through the off-season pronounced his knee at about 80%. So he leaves us wondering whether the knee will be ready, and even if it is, whether he will come in in top shape. That’s nearly half the team that may not be ready to go all out when camp kicks off in Europe September 29th.

As it stands there are four players who will take the court in November who have never played in the NBA. I can almost guarantee that Sullinger and Melo, with four years of college experience between them, will be very different in February than the wide-eyed rookies that next month walk, elbow to elbow with the Hall-of-Famer’s, out onto the court in that basketball hotspot Istanbul, Turkey. It won’t surprise me one bit if the starters, the first player(s) off the bench, and the minutes all vary widely both early and late in the season.

Oh, the answer to the trick question: Until right before game time, about 82 times. Subject to change, in each and every game.