This will be one of the most unique training camp experiences ever. Here are the 5 most important positional battles for the Boston Celtics.
Things are going to be very different this year. The amount of training camp days will be limited, the number of preseason games is drastically cut. That said, the Boston Celtics will still have several positional battles they will need to address.
That is a problem that will persist whether or not there is a pandemic that is limiting media availability and the number of exhibitions each team will play. Even though international teams won’t be coming to travel to the states to play the greatest players in the world–and that genuinely seems like something we are a few years away from having again–there will be intrasquad scrimmages taking place behind closed doors.
Those will determine how the rotation will shake out in 2020-21. Here are the five most important positional battles in Cs training camp:
5. (Backup) backup point guard
To start out the season, Kemba Walker will be on the sidelines. That will presumably push Jeff Teague into the starting lineup for the time being unless Brad Stevens decides to go with Marcus Smart at the 1 and starts someone like Grant Williams at the 4.
Regardless, when Walker returns, the rotation will probably see Teague as the primary backup. Behind him could be any three of Payton Pritchard, Carsen Edwards, or Tremont Waters. By virtue of being a recent first-round pick, Pritchard should have the upper hand, but the 2019 second-round picks could have a say in how it shakes out.
4. Last center off the bench
With Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson likely competing for the starting center spot–unless Brad Stevens decides to break all convention and go with Grant Williams as his starting five in a super downsized lineup–what happens behind them in the rotation is something to monitor.
The next two big men behind the incumbent German big man and the former NBA Champion with the Cavaliers are Robert Williams and Tacko Fall. Williams saw some minutes at the 5 in the postseason, while Fall only saw the court situationally.
All signs point to Williams getting the nod, but Fall’s non-teachable height always puts him in the conversation for getting minutes. He just needs to hone his unique attributes into a playable product.
3. Final forward on the roster
Both Javonte Green and Amile Jefferson are not going to make the final Boston Celtics roster. It is clear that one of the journeymen forwards are going to be looking for a new home at the conclusion of training camp.
Depending on who else Danny Ainge and co. invite to training camp, there is a possible scenario where neither man makes the Cs final cut. If that is the case, the last forward could be someone like Semi Ojeleye…if he even makes the cut…
2. Starting forward spot in Kemba Walker’s absence
There is a scenario where the Boston Celtics start Jeff Teague alongside Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and whoever ends up landing the starting center job. In an alternate scenario, Brad Stevens is rocking with a Smart-Brown backcourt, starting Tatum at the small forward, and figuring out the rest of his front-court.
Could that result in a Thompson-Theis starting duo? That would be best for the team’s rebounding cause, and having two effective screeners in the starting lineup could result in easy drives and cuts to the rim for the Cs athletes…aka Team Shamrock and newcomer Aaron Nesmith.
Speaking of which, perhaps Nesmith could force himself into the starting conversation, pushing Tatum back up to the 4 spot. The possibilities are endless, making this preseason a truly fascinating one.
1. Starting center position
Former Hardwood Houdini workhorse Justin Trombino recently penned a piece about the starting center battle that is looming between Theis and Thompson. As much as the pair could potentially do good things in the starting lineup together, their collective offensive games would kill the spacing for the Jays and Smart.
The starting lineup isn’t big enough for the two of them…and that isn’t a bad thing:
"The Boston Celtics finally have a pair of centers who are both worthy of being starters this season in Daniel Theis and Tristan Thompson. This is a good problem for the Boston Celtics to have. On one hand, you have a player in Theis who proved to be a strong and capable big man that elevated the core group of players on the team last season. And on the other hand, you have an aggressive player in Thompson who can work the glass well and is a double-double machine."
What we have seen in the past won’t determine who starts. How Thompson looks when he returns from injury will be, since we know the C’s ceiling with Daniel Theis as the starter.