March is an interesting month in basketball. Of course, there’s March Madness. But for the last time until November, there is a full month of all 30 NBA teams rolling the ball out and competing.
Some teams are focused on the draft lottery. Some already know they’re relatively safe for a top-six seed in the playoffs and will be fine-tuning for what they hope are extended playoff runs. And then, there are the teams that could be in the Play-In Tournament, playing today as if the postseason has already begun.
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With all that said, for the most part, teams are locked in. Four months ago, we examined how teams had changed their primary lineups from the previous season. Now, it’s a good time to examine how teams have changed their rotations — if they have at all — since the end of October, and what to watch for over the final month of the regular season:
Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics
• New players added after Week 1: C Xavier Tillman, SG Jaden Springer, SF Drew Peterson (two-way)
• Departed players from Week 1: SG Dalano Banton, SF Lamar Stevens, C Nathan Knight (two-way)
There have been no changes in the starting five and rotation of the Boston Celtics. It’s been starters Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porziņģis, with Payton Pritchard, Al Horford and Sam Hauser rounding out the top eight as Boston runs away with the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn Nets
• New players added after Week 1: PG Dennis Schröder, SF Keita Bates-Diop, SG Keon Johnson (two-way), SG Jaylen Martin (two-way), PG Jacob Gilyard (two-way)
• Departed players from Week 1: SG Spencer Dinwiddie, SF Royce O’Neale, C Harry Giles III, SG Armoni Brooks (two-way)
Arguably the biggest change the Nets made this season was the firing of head coach Jacque Vaughn, who was replaced by assistant Kevin Ollie during the All-Star break. The injuries to Ben Simmons negatively impacted Brooklyn this season, and his failure to return to his 76ers form conveyed a lack of direction on the court. The most impactful transaction the team made on the court saw Brooklyn replace Dinwiddie with Schröder after Dinwiddie appeared to become disconnected as the season wore on.
New York Knicks
• New players added after Week 1: SF OG Anunoby, SF Bojan Bogdanović, PF Precious Achiuwa, SG Alec Burks, SG Shake Milton
• Departed players from Week 1: SF RJ Barrett, SG Quentin Grimes, PG Immanuel Quickley, SG Evan Fournier, SF DaQuan Jeffries, SG Dylan Windler, PG Ryan Arcidiacono
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