There are a lot of ways to create an efficient offense in the NBA in 2026, but most people still think of scoring and assisting. Obviously, that’s a huge part of it, but there’s so much more that goes into driving efficient offense. Mitchell Robinson is a perfect example of that, and it’s a big part of why the Celtics went out and got him in the offseason.
A lot of focus has been on Robinson’s defense and offensive rebounding, and those are both huge factors, but he can also impact the game with his screening, on or off the ball. The numbers bore that out in the past, but it’s great to hear him hyping himself up during media day and talking about how his screening can be an offensive weapon for Boston.
“I can get Tatum open. My screening, just alone, I think I can get a lot of guys open”
It’s one thing for the advanced stats to show this; it’s another for Robinson to actually be excitedly talking about this on the eve of training camp. And he is absolutely right. It’s fair that he points to Tatum, but Derrick White is outstanding at running dribble-hand-offs, Payton Pritchard can eat in the pick-and-roll, and Paul George is going to get easy buckets here as well.
Celtics can open up entire offense with elite screening
Beyond that, the Celtics have a lot of guys who can catch and shoot, like Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, and Hugo Gonzalez, and Mitch is going to help those guys walk into easy looks constantly.
It’s easy to get fixated on what the Celtics lost in Jaylen Brown- lots of scoring and tough buckets- but JB wasn’t very efficient with most of his actions. The players who are going to take on more usage have a chance to be more productive with their opportunities, and should get easier looks in general thanks to guys like Robinson opening things up for them.
Tatum with an elite screen partner has always been extremely dangerous, and now he should have that for 48 minutes a night between Robinson, Neemias Queta, and Luka Garza. Boston’s offense is definitely going to look different this year, but in a lot of ways it should be better, and things should come a lot easier.
Nobody is going to match Brown’s scoring output from last year and replace him as a true second star next to Tatum, but it’s fair to expect a big leap from a lot of different players and for the overall whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. A lot of that is about the guys who will be scoring the ball, but a lot of it is also about the position they’ll be in to do so, and Robinson and his elite screening is going to be a huge reason why.
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