The Boston Celtics are, on paper, one of the NBA’s most intriguing teams heading into 2015-16.
This is both a good and bad thing. The Celtics are intriguing because they’re so damn deep, and that’s good. But that leaves head coach Brad Stevens with the task of deciding whom to play, and that’s a steep undertaking for a team with so much NBA talent, even if it isn’t championship-level talent.
Stevens, though, does have an idea of what types of lineups he will be running, per Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News:
#Celtics coach Brad Stevens: I have a pretty good feel with who I want to play with whom.
— Scott Souza (@scott_souza) October 11, 2015
Problem(s) solved.
But not really.
Although the Celtics have a ton of bodies at basically every position, their frontcourt rotation, as of now, is a jumbled mess of questions. It’s easy—or rather, easier—for Stevens to make decisions in the backcourt, where most of his available talent isn’t experienced or proven enough to demand a certain amount of playing time. But, as Jared Sullinger himself pointed out, it’s a different story up front:
#Celtics Jared Sullinger: I'm not here to make it rivalry (w/ other frontcourt) guys. If means me scaling back minutes, got to stay ready.
— Scott Souza (@scott_souza) October 11, 2015
#Celtics Jared Sullinger: All 5 frontcourt players have been starters in this league. Will be tough for Brad to tell one he won't play.
— Scott Souza (@scott_souza) October 11, 2015
David Lee, Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller and Sullinger all have a case as potential starters. Someone like Jonas Jerebko also figures into the “Who should see ample playing time, even if it’s as a reserve” conversation. And good luck sifting through that logjam without bruising at least two egos and chaining someone to the bench who would be earning substantive minutes elsewhere.
It’s typically good to pick the younger guns in this situation. The Celtics, for all their playoff potential, are rebuilding, and Olynyk, Zeller and Sullinger fit more neatly into that vision than the 32-year-old Lee and 28-year-old Johnson. At the same time, the Celtics didn’t acquire Lee, adding salary in the process, for no reason. And they didn’t throw Amir Johnson $12 million to sit on the bench and look pretty.
That’s the dilemma. At least one player, though probably more, will find himself on the outskirts of this crowded frontcourt corps. And it’s on Stevens to figure out who that will be and to what degree they will be marginalized.
Decisions don’t usually get any tougher.
