MEMPHIS — The preseason means nothing. At least, not when it comes to rotations. “Zero,” Joe Mazzulla told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe when asked about how much stock can be put into his preseason lineup decisions. “I’ll save you the time.”
The Boston Celtics are a completely different team from last year. Well, that’s not completely true. Jaylen Brown is ready to roll. Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser are still in town, too. But those four are the only remaining members of Boston’s core nine-man rotation from last season. (Jayson Tatum is still around, just recovering from a ruptured Achilles.)
Wednesday’s preseason opener against the Memphis Grizzlies will likely feature a wide array of Celtics lineups. The Celtics rolled out a first five of White, Brown, Hauser, Chris Boucher, and Xavier Tillman Sr. in their first preseason game.
The Celtics' preseason lineups don't matter
Inevitably, some of the players who get onto the court won’t ever see regular-season minutes in Boston. That’s the nature of preseason.
Boston has been preparing for weeks. A large chunk of the roster has been in the gym at the Auerbach Center for almost the entire summer, and the Celtics have had a week of training camp as a ramp-up period.
In that time, Mazzulla and the coaching staff have undoubtedly been able to gauge what works and what doesn’t. Does Mazzulla want to get a look at a jumbo lineup with Brown at the two? Why was Neemias Queta left off the slate? Could Tillman enjoy a bounce-back year? What will Boucher look like with the rest of the guys?
Mazzulla says not to read into it.
But even if it’s just for a few fleeting possessions, some of the concepts could still be applicable. Even if only one of the Celtics’ projected rotation players is on the court, their role could be similar to what it will be at the end of October.
The Celtics head coach has a history of keeping his cards close to his chest. He refuses to reveal starting lineups during pregame press conferences. He doesn’t like to get too buddy-buddy with opposing head coaches, and he certainly doesn’t like them entering the Celtics’ coaches' room.
Perhaps he truly plans on hiding all of his plans during the preseason. Keeping Anfernee Simons and Pritchard on the bench wasn’t on many people’s bingo cards. Neither was the absence of Queta in the first five.
Nothing be clear until the regular season.