Who Will Fill The Role of Sixth Man

by **dboss** Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:51 pm

I recently read an interesting article that examined the sixth man role historically for the Boston Celtics. We have talked about this in some capacity already as it relates to what happens this upcoming season. While the discussion has focused more on who should start, the focus for me is who is our best option to be our sixth man. It has nothing to do with who should start.

There are 3 obvious candidates for this all important role.

They include Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward.

The ideal candidate should be a multi-positional player and have multiple skills. All 3 of these candidates can play more than one position. All three of these candidates can play defense (2018-19 defensive ratings JB 106, MS 106.6 and GH 105.2)

All three of these guys can score and since I prefer the more inclusive TS% stat, I will use that now. Last year GH was 57.5%, MS was 56.8% and JB was 54.7% As you can see JB was several percentage points lower and that reflects his below average FT shooting. However Marcus has never been a primary scorer.

For rebounding, GH and JB are better on the glass than Marcus. GH 4.5, JM 4.2 and MS 2.9.

Both MS and GH can facilitate the offense. JB has yet to show that ability.

The needs of the team come into focus as we consider the all important 6th man role. It is also possible that Brad will rotate two guys into the lineup together thus blurring the impact of the sixth man.

If Brad is most in need of a facilitator, either MS or GH fit that need along with their other skills. If Brad needs a high energy guy to pick up the pace, score and defend then JB is the more obvious choice. . The guy that can do everything quite well however is GH.

In my opinion we are going to need a facilitator more than anything because we have less experienced depth at PG.

The other thought that I cannot dismiss is the Kanter factor. He is not a 30 MPG guy so it is very likely that Brad switches him out early. My conclusion is that Boston will not have a primary sixth man. Brad will go with the 2 in 2 out option, a big and a facilitator. The combinations could include MS and any of our 3 BU centers or GH and any of our 3 BU centers (Theis, Poirier, Williams)

I have not mentioned any of the rookies at this point but down the road Edwards and G Williams could be factored in because they were not one and done college players and both displayed the poise and maturity of seasoned college players that are more ready to take the next step.

One last thought here. Brad Stevens has never been shy about going deep into his bench. A more conservative approach to start the season may be a good idea. Nail down your top 8-9 guys first and let them develop chemistry before expanding the rotation out to 10, 11 or even 12 guys that get some rotation minutes.

by **kdp59** Wed Aug 14, 2019 5:02 pm

I've been saying this off-season that Hayward would be a great fit in the 6th man role.

his ability to run the offense is a big reason for me. He also seems to be the type of player who would be willing to thrive in that role and not see it as some type of demotion. Of course being one of the top paid player on the team can always help any player with that type of thing too.

that would mean my typical starting lineup would be Kanter, Tatum, Brown, Smart and Walker. No traditional PF there, but Hayward is not a PF either, so there is that.

I want to see Hayward be our 6th man and i want to see him THRIVE on that role as the leader of the second group.

by **dboss** Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:15 pm

Interesting

JT would likely start at the 4 and JB would move from the 2 to the 3 if that lineup was used.

I suspect we will see multiple starting lineups and no clear cut sixth man.

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Who Will Fill The Role of Sixth Man

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