A major theme of the offseason for the Boston Celtics was building sustainable depth, as Brad Stevens traded away a second-team All-NBA superstar, Jaylen Brown, preaching how much he valued a deep roster that he could keep together.
So far, it’s only been one preseason game, but we’ve already seen Stevens’ vision come to light. With the Celtics resting their likely starters and several key bench players, they entered the game without Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta, Mitchell Robinson, Ron Harper Jr., and Sam Hauser.
And yet, if you were watching the game, you wouldn’t have known it. Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh, and Luka Garza stepped in and looked like veteran stars, leading the way in the starting lineup.
Chris Cenac Jr., Dillon Mitchell, and Milos Uzan made strong NBA debuts and looked like they belong in the league immediately. Mike Conley was every bit the coach on the floor, the old man among the group of kids out there. And Devin Carter flashed star potential, showing glimpses of the skills that made him a lottery pick just two years ago.
Celtics may have 15+ players worthy of NBA rotation minutes
Although much of the rotation was missing in action, the bench players, deep reserves, and even some likely Maine Celtics and guys who won’t make the team stepped right in and kept the system humming. Even with Joe Mazzulla taking the night off and empowering his assistants to run the show, this game was a Mazzulla-Ball masterclass, and we saw that all of his players are ready for anything.
Everyone stepped into the spotlight and shined brightly, with nobody doing too much. Guys were elevated to bigger roles than they may be used to, but they all looked completely comfortable and confident, knowing that if they stuck to the script, they’d be rewarded.
Even without the starters and head coach, Mazzulla-Ball on full display
Boston got up 10 more three-point attempts than the Cavs, outrebounded them by 17 - including a whopping 21-6 edge in offensive boards - and comfortably beat a Cleveland team that was playing all of their starters except for James Harden from a team that just reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
Nobody is overreacting to the result of a preseason game, but it’s clear to see that the Celtics are absolutely loaded with NBA talent at every position. They have a lot of guys who are versatile and can play multiple positions and adapt their roles, and not only is there going to be competition for the final roster spot and two-way spots, but there are going to be some serious battles for minutes.
It’s a good problem to have for Stevens and Mazzulla to have to solve, but it’s also a luxury for the Celtics as they look to navigate a long, strenuous regular season, which will hopefully lead to a deep playoff run. There are inevitably going to be plenty of nights when guys are in and out of the lineup, and this game proved that they should be able to survive just fine with their ‘next man up’ mentality.
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