Boston Celtics: Wing heavy team means positionless small ball

It’s possible that the Boston Celtics starting lineup this season consists of a guard and four true forwards as they shift to positionless basketball.

The Boston Celtics will sign Gordon Hayward, and now they have traded defensive star and starting shooting guard Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons for Marcus Morris.

Recently, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said that Boston has 3, not 5 positions on their roster.

He’s right, and the NBA as a whole is likely making a shift towards positionless basketball.

"“I don’t have the five positions anymore,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “It may be as simple as three positions now, where you’re either a ball-handler, a wing or a big. It’s really important. We’ve become more versatile as the years have gone on.”"

The key there is versatility. Boston has players that can play almost anywhere on the court, and that will help them compete with teams that are trending towards small ball. The Golden State Warriors, the NBA Champions, are a perfect look at what positionless basketball can be. While Kevin Durant is a small forward, he has the skills to run the point and be a ball handler as well. Boston will look to play a similar style in 2017-18 it seems.

With the addition of Marcus Morris, the Celtics are now loaded at the wing. They got even deeper there by drafting the highly-skilled Jayson Tatum out of Duke. Here’s a look at the current roster and where each play falls under the new positionless categories.

Ball Handlers

• Demetrius Jackson
• Terry Rozier
• Marcus Smart
• Isaiah Thomas

Wings

• Jaylen Brown
• Jae Crowder
• Gordon Hayward
• Marcus Morris
• Semi Ojeleye
• Jayson Tatum

Bigs

• Al Horford
• Jordan Mickey
• Daniel Theis
• Guerschon Yabusele
• Ante Zizic

Of course, not all of those players would make the Opening Night roster for Boston and more moves could come. One would think that Boston would like to add a center to protect the rim and rebound, but they may also be content with this squad going forward. Reports are that they aren’t looking to move Jae Crowder at all.

Another note from Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe is that Boston plans to have Guerschon Yabusele on their roster to begin the season. This comes even though Yabu is not on Boston’s Summer League roster.

With that note, here’s a look at how I think the Boston Celtics roster could look to begin the season.

Ball Handlers

• Terry Rozier
• Marcus Smart
• Isaiah Thomas

Wings

• Jaylen Brown
• Jae Crowder
• Gordon Hayward
• Marcus Morris
• Jayson Tatum

Bigs

• Al Horford
• Daniel Theis
• Guerschon Yabusele
• Ante Zizic

That’s a solid team that can match up with almost anyone in the NBA. The starting lineup could also be very fluid. Brad Stevens will have a ton of options to play with this year and it should be a lot of fun to watch. Here’s how I think the starting 5 should be assembled if no more big moves are made.

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Starters

• Isaiah Thomas
• Gordon Hayward
• Jae Crowder
• Marcus Morris
• Al Horford

While Al Horford is considered a big, his natural position is at power forward and he still has some wing-like abilities. We saw how he can knock down a few 3’s in the playoffs. This lineup would likely be very 3-point heavy with essentially four forwards and an undersized point guard on the floor to begin each game.

Rebounding will remain an issue for Boston, but Ante Zizic and Guerschon Yabusele should be able to ease that pain off the bench if necessary. Daniel Theis is a wild card for me, but he could turn into a huge surprise.

Next: Celtics trade Avery Bradley to Detroit for Marcus Morris

Do you like the idea of the Celtics playing small, positionless basketball? As always, let us know your thoughts and give us a follow on Twitter @CandCFansided!