Boston Celtics: Experimental starting lineup the Houdini would love to see

Heading into tonight’s season debut for the Boston Celtics, the Houdini has one experimental lineup idea we would love to see.

With just a couple of hours to go till we get to see the Boston Celtics once again take to the hardwood, Cs fans are gearing themselves up both physically and emotionally for another successful season.

With numerous predictions being that Beantown will place somewhere in the top-5 in the Eastern Conference standings by season’s end, it’s only fitting that the team will want to get off to a hot start against a direct threat in the Milwaukee Bucks and, in turn, give them an early advantage on the leaderboards.

Unfortunately, the Celtics are coming into the year a bit hobbled without the likes of All-Star point guard Kemba Walker, who is expected to miss at least the first month of action as he continues to recover from a stem cell injection in his knee a few months back.

On the bright side, however, newly acquired big man Tristan Thompson, who’s status was up in the air heading into tonight, is reportedly ‘on track’ to suit up.

With all these shifts and twists in regard to player availability, settling on a starting lineup is most likely to be a reletively difficult task to come up with for Head Coach Brad Stevens.

Though no word has been made yet in regard to which five he plans on rolling out first, there have been many media outlets who have made suggestions for what they would like to see.

While it may be unlikely, we here at the Houdini wouldn’t mind seeing an experimental starting-5 of:

• PG – Jeff Teague
• SG – Jaylen Brown
• SF – Jayson Tatum
• PF – Daniel Theis
• C – Tristan Thompson

Why we believe this could be an effective squad to roll with is based on a variety of reasons. For starters, we believe Teague could be a fine filler at the starting one spot while Walker recovers.

Based on his production in such a role last season (12.5 points, 7.5 assists, and a steal on 38 percent shooting from deep) and from what he has shown thus far while wearing the green & white threads (11.5 points on 100 percent from 3) it is our belief that, at the very least, the former All-Star deserves a shot at the starting guard slot.

Next, this lineup brings two specific players in Jayson Tatum and Daniel Theis to their natural position at the three and four, respectively. While both thrived playing “out of position” last year — Tatum was All-NBA and Theis had the second-best real defensive plus-minus in the league — getting them back to where they feel most comfortable might be the way to go moving forward.

Last, we see a much bulkier lineup to combat that of the Bucks’, who have behemoths like reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo & Brook Lopez along with the non-vertically challenged forward himself, Khris Middleton.

With a frontcourt that sees Theis and Thompson manning the middle on defense, it could prove to be a lot more challenging for players to drive the lane.

Not only this but, on offense, the Boston Celtics could run a less popular, though perhaps more effective 4-out, 1-in scheme, leaving TT as the sole interior presence to gobble up boards and, in turn, give his team second-chance opportunities (ranked fourth last season in offensive rebounds).

What say you Celtics fans. Do you agree with this hypothetical starting lineup?

Perhaps you have a different one you’d rather see.

Whatever the case may be, leave your ideas in the comments section below.