Celtics: Projecting Brad Stevens’ Starting Five and Rotation

Sep 25, 2015; Waltham, MA, USA; Boston Celtics forward David Lee (42) during media day at the Boston Celtic Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Starting Center: David Lee

While Johnson takes care of all the dirty work on the inside, David Lee gives the Celtics the post scorer that they have been desperately waiting for. With a strong post game, elite pick and roll skills and a great shooting touch, Lee is one of the best offensive post players in the entire NBA. While he was mostly stuck without opportunity with the Warriors last season, the Celtics are going to give Lee plenty of opportunities to shine.

I think the Celtics’ offense is going to primarily work from the inside out this season, especially when Lee is on the court. The 10-year NBA veteran has an impressive 14.7 career points per game average, and that includes two seasons where he averaged over 20 points per game. As the focal point in Stevens’ offense, I think Lee has that kind of 20 point per game upside again this season.

Lee’s offensive game is elite, but that is not all he brings to the Celtics. He is a great rebounder who will also make a difference in the Celtics’ struggles to rebound the ball last season. Lee has a nose for the ball off of the rim, and similar to Johnson, always seems to put himself in the right place at the right time, both on the offensive side and on defense.

He is not much of a defender, but he is a try-hard player who mostly gets the job done on the defensive side of the court. Lee is also not a rim protector, so I could see teams looking to drive hard to the hoop against this Celtics’ starting unit.

However, with Lee bringing the well-rounded offensive skill-set and Johnson bringing the muscle, the Celtics have found themselves a well-balanced duo in the post. It will be interesting to see how they make this work, but I think the Celtics have found a nice mix of talents between these two.

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