Boston Celtics projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
The Boston Celtics were one win away from the greatest series comeback in NBA history. Now forced to reflect and regroup, Joe Mazzulla’s rotation will look noticeably different in 2023-24.
The Boston Celtics finished last season with the second-best record in the NBA and entered the postseason as prohibitive favorites to win the Eastern Conference. The Celtics were close, too — getting all the way to Game 7 of the conference finals before falling to the plucky No. 8 seed Heat.
How the Celtics got to the precipice was, of course, less majestic than the fanbase would have liked. The Sixers took a 3-2 series lead in the second round and led in the fourth quarter of Game 6 before Boston made its comeback. The Heat then went up 3-0 on Boston before the Celtics clawed all the way back, only to crumble on the doorstep of history.
The Celtics were far from the unbeatable juggernauts fans hoped for and team president Brad Stevens has been unafraid to shake up the roster accordingly. Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, was dealt to Memphis in a three-team deal that landed Kristaps Porzingis. The Celtics also lost multiple rotation pieces to free agency — chief among them Grant Williams, who went to Dallas in a sign-and-trade.
Joe Mazzulla’s lineups will look very different next season. Here’s what we can expect from the Celtics rotationally.
Boston Celtics starting point guard: Derrick White
Derrick White was quietly the Celtics’ second-best player for long stretches of the postseason. The Celtics will probably shuffle Marcus Smart’s ball-handling duties to White, whose defense on the perimeter will increase in importance even more with the former DPOY out the door.
Much has been made about the lack of a traditional point guard and table-setter on Boston’s roster in recent years, especially since Kyrie Irving left. White can drive-and-dish and orchestrate the offense well enough, but he’s not a preternaturally gifted playmaker. He’s much better suited to operating off the ball and attacking closeouts, which he will still get plenty of opportunities to do. If anything, the Smart trade will place more playmaking duties on Jayson Tatum’s plate.
White is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He was rewarded with second team All-Defense (he probably should’ve been first team). He’s a hound on the ball, but he’s equally special roaming off of non-shooters and sneaking into passing lanes like a thief in the night. White also blocks more than his fair share of shots at 6-foot-4. He’s everywhere.
Primary backup point guard: Malcolm Brogdon
The Celtics tried to trade Malcolm Brogdon earlier in the summer but injury concerns scared off prospective buyers. Now, he’ll presumably spend another season in the Celtics’ sixth man role. It’s hard to feel bad for Boston, as Brogdon would start for 90 percent of teams around the league. He’s a portrait of efficiency: 14.9 points and 3.9 assists with only 1.5 turnovers on .484/.444/.870 splits.
Boston is the perfect spot for Brogdon to weaponize his strengths. He can run the show and get his own shot, but he’s much more effective cashing in on open 3s, torching rotating defenses, and playing connector instead of lead star like he did in Indiana previously.
He’s probably a top-75 player at worst when healthy. The Celtics will use him plenty in various different lineups, another benefit of Brogdon in this role. He’s a strong, versatile defender at 6-foot-5 with a skill set that can adapt to pretty much any group.