Boston Celtics: Defense will take time to figure out

The Boston Celtics will have to be patient to get the best results from their defense

The Boston Celtics are coming off a season where they were the best defense in the NBA for the majority of the season. All their success started with defense, and it was how they made up for any shortcoming that may have got in their way.

Defense has always been a part of the identity of a Brad Stevens team, and that will not change next season. The problem, however, is the roster is going to be transformed with all the talent, and it will be hard to get the defense on track right away.

When you look at the offensive talent on this team, it feels like offense will come easy, and it will take no time for them to dominate on that end. On defense, however, they have to figure a lot of things out, and that is even if we can assume that Marcus Smart is coming back, which is a dangerous assumption at this point.

The Celtics love small ball, but will be taking it to another level next season. Al Horford is expected to be the lone big on the starting unit, and that will put a tremendous amount of pressure on everyone.

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The Celtics need to see how much Horford will be able to handle on the inside, and how well he will be able to keep up with switching onto the outside. Horford is where they start, and he will set a standard for the rest.

From Horford, the Celtics need to know how they can organize their wings. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward will all have to be interchangeable on defense, but Brad Stevens needs to figure out how he needs to organize them in a given matchup.

They need to figure out where Tatum’s length will be used best, and how they can get the most out of Brown’s athleticism on defense. They need to make sure that Hayward is comfortable, and that Kyrie Irving is not left to be exploited on an island.

The Celtics have the pieces they need to maintain that kind of small ball, because the size of their wings makes a huge difference. The problem is that you cannot expect these pieces to be able to handle everything right away.

The Celtics know how difficult things will be on their defenders, but small ball is how they unlock their potential if they can stay on the court against any kind of matchup.

The Celtics also know they have many defenisve options on the bench, but it is impossible to tell how many of them will work out. There is trust with Aron Baynes, but he could threaten more of the other things they are trying to do, and lower the overall potential of the unit on the court.

Ideally, the Celtics will be able to get what they need from the versatile bigs off the bench, but there is way too much uncertainty to have much faith right now. Robert Williams, Daniel Theis and Semi Ojeleye can all come in and make up that difference on defense.

The Celtics will spend time staggering minutes, and those are the players that can come in with the superior offensive talent, and hold things together when the starting unit cannot maintain their defense.

The Celtics have plenty of defensive options off the bench, but they still do not know what situations certain players will be better in, and there are a lot of questions about consistency.

The Celtics will be asking a lot of any player who comes in as a defensive specialist, but that is what they need most off the bench. The Celtics need to figure out which of these defenders will be able to have the best impact, while hurting them in the least amount of ways.

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Unfortunately, it is going to take time to figure all of that out, and the defense could be shaky while the Celtics wait for things to settle. There is a lot of potential for their defense, but Stevens will be asking a lot. There will be a period where the offense will be carrying the defense quite a bit, but if the Celtics want to be true contenders, they will need the defense to catch up come playoff time.