Much has been made about who will start and who will come off the bench for the Celtics this season. We can definitely assume Jayson Tatum will start; we can almost certainly assume that Derrick White will start; and I think it’s probably safe to assume that Paul George will start.
Beyond that, the last two spots are anyone’s guess. They could go with either center option, as there is a strong case to be made that Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson are both worthy of the job. And at the other guard spot, they could go with Payton Pritchard, arguably the team’s best true point guard and best scorer and creator after Tatum.
But Pritchard has excelled in a Sixth-Man role, and the team may rather trot out a defensive ace in Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, or Baylor Scheierman, or go with the team’s best shooter and floor-spacer in Sam Hauser.
In the first preseason game with all of those players available, Joe Mazzulla rolled out White, Tatum, George, Walsh, and Robinson as starters. But I wouldn’t read too much into that, as it’s only one preseason game; many bench players ended up playing more minutes than the starters, and Joe loves to experiment and make tweaks.
Boston has 10 players who could all start for most NBA teams
Furthermore, I think the biggest takeaway may have been that it doesn’t really matter who starts. What’s important is that the Celtics have 10 players who are worthy of starting on any given night, and whatever unit Joe chooses to go with, he’s going to have an entire second unit on the bench that can come in and change the momentum at any time.
There aren’t many teams that can comfortably go 10-deep, and certainly not to the extent that Boston can. Joe can also mix and match his groups however he wants, and we know that Tatum and D-White are going to play heavy minutes. But after that, Mazzulla can pull whatever strings he wants and trot out a lineup that gives him anything he wants.
Queta and Robinson are almost interchangeable. Pritchard and White are both capable point guards. Tatum and PG can be go-to big forwards. And Hugo, Walsh, Baylor, and Sam can complement any players. If this were hockey, the Celtics would have two outstanding lines and could change them up however they wanted.
Obviously, in basketball, things are a little different, and some guys are going to play a lot more than others, but this is an amazing luxury for Mazzulla and the Celtics, and it allows him to be creative and selective and put out the perfect five-man combination for whatever the situation calls for.
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