David Lee, Amir Johnson, Perry Jones and rookie Jordan Mickey all will be adjusting to wearing green in training camp while fellow forwards Jared Sullinger, Jonas Jerebko and Jae Crowder settle into their old threads.
None of coach Brad Stevens' options on the 4 is without blemish.
The smart budgets are on David Lee to start out from Day 1, given his All-Star experience and expertise for an offensive fulcrum. But Lee's defensive shortcomings could lead Stevens to lighten his minutes load significantly as time passes.
Johnson would have been a decent rim protector and top-notch pick-and-roll finisher in Toronto, though he's faraway from the gravity-creating scorer the C's need of their offense. Jones and Mickey tend to be relative unknowns, but at the very least the latter knows he'll be buttering his bread within the boards plus the defensive end.
As with the incumbents, Sullinger's outside shot (27.5 % from three for his career) remains almost as suspect as his perpetually troublesome back and hamstrings. Crowder and Jerebko are much better stretch 4s than genuine power forwards this can size (Crowder is listed at 6'7", Jerebko at 6'10") and shooting abilities.
All things considered, Lee seems essentially the most likely to log major playing time, however the C's could just like easily fill that spot by committee if nobody truly is unique from the rest.
