Would an ultra-big lineup with Kristaps Porzingis work for the Boston Celtics?

After trading Marcus Smart in a three-team deal for Kristaps Porzingis, Brad Stevens had some interesting comments during his press conference and interview. Stevens mentioned the different lineups that the Boston Celtics will have at their disposal, but he mentioned an interesting one involving Porzingis.

The interesting lineup would feature an ultra-big crew of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Porzingis, Al Horford, and Robert Williams. This lineup is crazy, and it makes you wonder, would an ultra-big lineup actually work?

If the Boston Celtics were to utilize the ultra-big lineup, they would have by far the wackiest starting five in the NBA. The different combinations that could be used on the offensive end would be absurd. I think defensively, the lineup makes a ton of sense because their paint defense would be utterly insane. Having Williams and Porzingis protecting the rim would be a cheat code for the Celtics. Also, having length at every position would make the Celtics almost impossible to score on.

The offensive end would concern me because of the spacing. With Horford’s shooting regression and William’s lack of an offensive game, what would be the Boston Celtics’ offensive attack? This is not 1990, so planning to utilize an ultra-big lineup like this is a risky move.

The Boston Celtics are overthinking it with ultra-big lineup

The Celtics may be overthinking this one, and I hope that this lineup is not the main plan. I think that the team considering this lineup shows that they are all in on analytics. The term ultra big lineup feels like it comes from a computer, which shows how analytically driven the C’s are.

Trying to win based on analytics has killed the Celtics in recent seasons, especially with their love of the three-point shot.

I will be interested to see how often Joe Mazzulla defers to such a gimmicky lineup and if it will be used in key moments.