Who will be the fifth starter on opening day?

https://www.celticsblog.com/2022/10/11/23397777/topic-tuesday-boston-celtics-opening-night-starting-5-marcus-smart-jaylen-brown-jayson-tatum

Who should start against the Philadelphia 76ers next week?

By Jeff Clark  Oct 11, 2022, 9:00am EDT

We’re a week away from Opening Night against the Sixers. The preseason is winding down and it is time for the games that count to start counting. So, let’s lock down the starting lineup, shall we?

Since this discussion is for the start of the season, we’re taking Robert Williams III out of the equation. I think it is pretty safe to assume that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford will all be starting. I think the team is pretty committed to Marcus Smart starting as well. So, what we’re really talking about here is the 5th starter.

You could make a case for Malcolm Brogdon, but the team seems set on bringing him off the bench in a 6th man role. Joe Mazzulla may have tipped his hand by starting Derrick White in all the preseason games thus far. That lineup leans into small-ball and gets ball movers on the court together. However, they do lack the length that last year’s double big lineups provided.

You could make a case for starting Luke Kornet, who has missed all the preseason games thus far due to a sprained ankle. He and Horford could maintain the double-bigs lineup from last year, just not at the same level it was at with Robert Williams. I could see this being an option if Rob was only going to be out for a few weeks. You could get people used to their normal rotations and swap Rob in for Luke when the time comes. However, with as long of a recovery as Williams has, you might as well adjust the plan to the next best lineup.

What about splitting the difference by putting Grant Williams into the starting lineup? At his height, it wouldn’t exactly be “double big,” but he can play the traditional stretch 4 role allowing Brown and Tatum to stay at the 2 and 3 respectively. Then again, do traditional positions even matter anymore?

You could get even more creative with the starting lineup by inserting Sam Hauser. That might be the last reasonable solution unless you’re a really big Payton Pritchard believer.

We can assume that four of the starters will be:

Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford.

Who will be the fifth starter on opening day?

My first thought was about our roster and then I remembered that we will be playing the Sixers on opening night.

They are likely to start Maxey, Harden, Harris, PJ Tucker and Embid.

The best matchup vs Tucker is Grant Williams.

The 2 big lineup worked to perfection last year but the fact of the matter is that we do not have Rob.  No other big on this team can defend the way that he does.

Kornet has yet to play a game in the preseason.  He may be available on Friday.  If he looks good you may want to give him a shot to start.  

If the Celtics want to put their 5 best players out there then I think you have to look at starting Brogdon.  

The reality is that 280 lb Embid is going to pound on whomever tries to check him.  

I want to see the Friday game but for the time being I will go with Grant Williams at the 4 to match the girth and strength of Tucker.

I'll go with Derrick White.

That means small ball. Let them react to us.

We need Grant Williams to come off the bench when Al Horford sits to cover Embiid, sort of tag-team style. Blake Griffin can help a little bit in the "covering Embiid" department.

I really wanted to go with Luke Kornet, just to have a single player (big) replace Rob Williams' time on the floor until he can return. With Kornet spraining his ankle and being out of service, the opportunity to test this in a pre-season game may be lost. Maybe on Friday?

There is vote cancelling, so if we see it play out that Luke does have some success with the starters, I may change over to him.

Normally I would go with White starting, but in this case have to agree with dboss, better to match up with PJ Tucker with GWill and like having 3 guys that can all match up with Harden. I think GWill and Pritch are going to up their games this year, as will 2 J’s. Great having so much young still evolving talent!! White has looked improved too in preseason.