The Boston Celtics are 2-1 in the preseason, with both victories coming against Philadelphia. Peyton Pritchard has been the star of the preseason for the Celtics. Pritchard, who will see consistent minutes off the bench for the Celtics, has led the team in scoring in all three games. He has shot the ball exceptionally well and has been a pesky defender, though his ball-handling has been shaky.
Boston Celtics Rumors & Notes: Rotation, & Defense
With Boston likely going to go with a starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford to start the season, Pritchard will be the fourth guard as Derrick White appears destined to take over the C’s sixth man role. Pritchard projects to be the first guard off the bench if any starter gets injured or for load management.
Pritchard is not the only player who has shown out this preseason. Svi Mykhailiuk has been impressive in the last two preseason games. Known as a shooter, Mykhailiuk has definitely been stroking it well. The 26-year-old wing has scored 30 points in 45 minutes as he is 10 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 11 from the 3-point line. Mykhailiuk also has rebounded the ball well.
While Mykhailiuk is virtually a lock to make the team, I don’t necessarily agree with The Athletic’s Jared Weiss assessment that he is on his way to earning rotational minutes. Mykhailiuk has never been a true rotational player despite owning an average of 16 minutes of playing time a game for his career. Most of those minutes have come in starts for bad teams. Plus, he has not played more than 56 games in his career.
Moreover, Mykhailiuk struggles with ball-handling and on the defensive end. Additionally, the Celtics have Sam Hauser and Lamar Stevens on the roster; both are better defenders.
An excellent shooter, Hauser has started two of the three preseason games. He was also a rotational player for the C’s last year. Plus, Hauser is coming off his best offensive performance of the preseason after struggling in the first two contests.
Like Mykhailiuk, Stevens was a late free agent addition and has a nonguaranteed deal. He has seen action in all three games, averaging 16 minutes a contest. He is more of a slasher than a 3-point shooter, which is different than Hauser and Mykhailiuk as they are both basically snipers. Stevens has been a rotational player for Cleveland the last two seasons.
Celtics Defense
Boston has had a top 2 defense in the Association in the past couple of seasons. The Celtics, second in defensive rating last season, could be better this year with the addition of Holiday and Porzingis.
Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe believes Holiday and White could form the league’s best defensive backcourt. Holiday is a five-time all-NBA defensive selection, including a first-team choice last season. Meanwhile, White has earned all-defensive team votes in the previous two years, getting named to the second team last year.
“It’s fun,” Holiday said of playing alongside White. “I think the chemistry is there. Even just the first few days of training camp, talking to him about what he likes to do defensively, or even just asking him about certain things. But getting out there and being able to play with him a bit more, getting that court time has been good for us.”
Porzingis is known much more for his offensive prowess than his defensive ability. But the 7-3 big man is a solid defensive rebounder and shot-blocker. Additionally, Porzingis ranked fifth among all centers defending the pick-and-roll.
“I feel like he’s doing a good job with the attention to detail, especially on the defensive end,” Horford told Celtics.com Taylor Snow. “With us, we’re asking him to do a lot, to cover a lot of things. Already I feel like he has my back covering different positions on the court. Everybody knows his offense. His offense is great. We know he can do a lot of things. But on defense, he’s doing a good job of talking to us, protecting the basket, and really staying active.”
“I just think he has really good instincts. Sometimes, it’s not easy when you’re on the back line trying to recognize when to come help, when to drop off, things like that. It comes pretty easy, from what I’ve seen. He’s able to recover, make a play, and be able to help us.”
Two-Way Players
Even though Jay Scrubb tore his ACL and likely lost for the season, he is still one of the Celtics’ three players on a two-way deal. I believe Scrubb will likely be waived at some point so the Celtics can pick up another play. Even if he is cut, there is a good chance that Scrubb will be brought back once he is healthy.
Neemais Queta and JD Davison are the other two players on two-way pacts.
Queta has been a force in the interior in his limited minutes during his first season with the Celtics. The 24-year-old, 7-footer, a second-round selection of the Sacramento Kings in 2021, averages 8.5 points on 7 of 9 (77.8%) shooting and 3.5 rebounds with five of the seven boards coming on the offensive end.
Projecting the Rotation
Boston has two more preseason games to figure everything out. The Celtics host the New York Knicks on October 17 and travel to the Charlotte Hornets on October 19.
Boston has 13 players on standard contracts. It appears all of those players will make the club. That leaves Joe Mazzulla to choose between Stevens and Wenyen Gabriel. Based on the preseason, Stevens is the choice.
Boston is expected to carry 14 players on their 15-man opening night roster. However, Queta will likely be the C’s third center and be active for most of the team’s early season games. As a two-way player, Queta can dress for 50 games this season.
Regardless of the starting five that the Celtics use, their top six players are known.
The Starting Five
- Jayson Tatum
- Jaylen Brown
- Jrue Holiday
- Kristaps Porzingis
- Al Horford
The Bench
6. Derrick White
8. Peyton Pritchard
9. Sam Hauser
10. Luke Kornet
11. Lamar Stevens
12. Svi Mykhailiuk
13. Dalano Banton
14. Neeamais Queta (2-way)– Should see considerable time with the Celtics
15. Jordan Walsh — Expect him to spend some time with the G-League Maine Red Claws.
16. JD Davision (2-way) — Likely only to see any action with the Celtics if there are injuries.
17. Jay Scrubb (2-way) — Injured; May get released.
