Examining How Celtics' Starting Lineup Might Shapeshift This Season

Nine players received at least eight starts in Joe Mazzulla's first year as the Celtics' head coach. Boston's versatility affords its bench boss plenty of options while navigating the 2023-24 season.

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At Kristaps Porzingis' introductory press conference, he told Inside The Celtics of pairing with Robert Williams and Al Horford, respectively, on defense, "Those guys are really high-level defensive players, and both are really good protecting the rim. I'm gonna be out there also protecting the rim.

"And those guards that are on the team, I think they're all dogs. And they're gonna make life even easier for us defensively as bigs. They're gonna put even more pressure on the ball when guards are driving by and stuff like that. And this is a special team that I'm gonna be able to join."

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Porzingis partnering with Williams to start games seems more likely, in this author's opinion, but the former can mesh with either of Boston's other two top big men at both ends of the court.

The Time Lord's also proven he's willing to come off the bench. And Horford's versatility defensively allows the seven-foot-three former All-Star who thrives in drop coverage to hang back and protect the rim. Plus, when those two share the floor, it's easier for the Celtics to play five out and maximize floor spacing offensively.

But what happens when one of those three is out of the lineup?

Porzingis has a history of lower-body injuries; Williams has had durability concerns throughout his career, which even factored into why he fell to Boston at 27 in the 2018 draft; and Horford's 37.

Neither of the latter two played both ends of back-to-backs last season, and the same could hold true for the former in the upcoming campaign.

From a talent standpoint, the logical choice is to slide whoever's coming off the bench between Williams and Horford into the starting unit. That creates opportunities for Luke Kornet, who performed well in his role in 2022-23.

The seven-foot-two center held up in drop coverage and operated effectively on dribble handoffs. The six-year veteran also showed an ability to make quick decisions with the ball and deliver accurate passes.

But whether it's the Time Lord or the former Florida Gator, that individual continuing to work as one of the anchors of the second unit with Malcolm Brogdon makes it easier for Joe Mazzulla to manage the rotation and keep at least one of the team's top two available big men on the court.

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If that's what the Celtics' second-year bench boss prioritizes, Sam Hauser seems the most likely candidate to slide into the starting lineup. Although, there's also the option of bumping Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown up a spot and making Brogdon or Payton Pritchard a member of the first five on the floor.

Starting the team's top two available big men has higher odds of being Boston's preference than keeping the second unit intact, from this author's vantage point.

However, outside of Brogdon coming off the bench throughout last season, Mazzulla proved willing to play around with the starting lineup. Nine players received at least eight starts, and 11 logged three or more.

That brings us to the following: will the plan for managing the reigning Sixth Man of the Year remain the same for 2023-24?

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The former Virginia Cavalier played 67 games and averaged a career-low 26 minutes. That kept him fresh for the playoffs, but unfortunately, a partial tear in the tendon coming out of his right elbow that leads into his forearm, an injury that worsened while boxing out Kevin Love in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, derailed his production.

He averaged 5.7 points in the series against the Heat, shot 30.8 percent from the field, and made less than one three per contest on 16.7 percent shooting beyond the arc.

It also resulted in the Clippers backing out of the original three-team deal that would've seen the Celtics acquire Porzingis while sending Brogdon to Los Angeles. That also could've led to a separate trade where Marcus Smart joined the Grizzlies, where he still ended up, and Boston added Tyus Jones, who instead wound up with the Wizards.

If the Celtics want to keep Brogdon in a role where he's exclusively coming off the bench, Pritchard, who registered only three starts and logged 13.4 minutes per contest, will fill in when Derrick White's out.

While who finishes games matters more than who starts, Boston's versatility affords Mazzulla plenty of intriguing options to play with this season. It'll be interesting to see his preferences and how many different versions of the starting lineup he deploys as the Celtics navigate the regular season.

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