High usage unit No. 2: embracing small-ball
- PG – Kemba Walker
- SG – Marcus Smart
- SF – Jaylen Brown
- PF – Gordon Hayward
- C – Jayson Tatum
In this era of NBA basketball, offensive production and floor spacing is all the rage. In turn, we’ve seen teams such as the Golden State Warriors and, to a more extreme extent, the 2019-20 Houston Rockets go all-in on this style of play and roll-out positionless lineups popularly labeled as small-ball lineups.
If the Boston Celtics wished to experiment in greater depth with these types of units come the playoffs — as we’ve suggested in the past — one consisting of Walker, Smart, Brown, Hayward, and Tatum would assuredly be the place to start.
Referred to by our very own Andrew Hughes as the “death-lineup”, this combination of ballers sees the five best players for the Cs on the court at once. Though diminished down-low defensively — Theis has been their anchor in the paint all season — the team’s defense from one to four arguably gets even better with the insertion of Smart at the two, a player we and NBA legends like Dwyane Wade believe should be in the running for the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year award come season’s end.
On top of this, rolling with this group would simply do wonders for their floor spacing and, in turn, offensive production. Of this bunch, all are scoring in double-figures, four are averaging 17+ points, three are dropping 20+ points and NONE are shooting below 35 percent from deep on four-plus attempts per game.
Now listen, we’re not suggesting this should be a unit in which the Cs should rely on the most in the postseason, especially if they wind up playing the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, as they are currently projected to.
However, if they find themselves in need of sufficient offensive production, and feel comfortable going up against their opponents center without a big body like Theis, Enes Kanter or Robert Williams on the court, this lineup would pack an offensive punch capable of blowing the top off the building against any defense.