Should Teams Consider More Current NBA Playoff Tendencies When Evaluating Prospects?

The Boston Celtics have focused on two-end players, which are known to be effective in the playoffs - how much inspiration should teams with high draft picks take from that?

Apr 7, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4) game play against the / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

During any draft process, it's the individual who's in the focus - and understandably so. Teams are keen to figure out what a guy can do, how he projects long-term, and what type of role he could fill.

But perhaps lost in all this individualism is a larger, overarching question: How does this guy project as a playoff performer?

Let's take the Boston Celtics as a discussion point.

That team has put a tremendous amount of effort in building a team with as few weak links as humanly possible. Their top six players are all two-end players, who can - in varying capacities - scale up and down on offense as the team sees fit.

Such roster construction is created solely for the purpose getting far in the playoffs, where minimizing weak links is of utmost importance, regardless of the type of team you are.

As such, identifying players in the draft process, who can play in a Celtics-like template, should perhaps be a way to measure future use.

Would, say, a 175-pound Rob Dillingham who is known primarily to be an offensive creator, be a player you feel comfortable putting into a system where a high level of defensive dependability is placed on his shoulders?

On the other end, can you trust a guy like Donovan Clingan to consistently produce offensively, to the point where he can go long stretches as a main option?

(Both guys have oodles of talent, and could eventually get there, but as of right now, the above questions are fair to raise.) 

This isn't meant to read as "If you can't play for the playoff Celtics, you have no future in the NBA".

Because that's not how basketball works. After all, the Celtics haven't won the title since 2008, so there are clearly alternative avenues to win a title.

However, the NBA Playoffs clearly has a history of making life difficult for players who can't compete on both ends, and for long stretches. And given the ultimate goal of drafting well is to get to the Finals one day... this seems relevant.

In a class like this, with no obvious tiers of talents, the above could be one way to gauge talent, even if it's extremely simplified.

It's also partly why I wish to keep Alexandre Sarr at the top of my Big Board. His two-end upside absolutely allows him to become that type of playoff performer, assuming he pops.

However, during this thought experiment, I realized there's actually a decent number of players in this class, who eventually could fit the "Boston Celtics Archetype".

Cody Williams and Zaccharie Risacher are two wings with such significant two-end upside, it doesn't take a genius to see how they'd fit in on a team that takes a similar approach as Boston.

Stephon Castle, assuming he improves his outside shot, is another name you can throw into that conversation. As is Matas Buzelis, who has the same challenge ahead of him.

So while we don't yet know whether there's a hidden superstar in this class, there should be guys coming in, who could eventually find themselves playing on ESPN into the month of June.

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Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

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