Boston Celtics: 5 big goals for 2018-19 NBA season

4. Figure out if the small-ball lineup will work

We’re still unaware of what the Celtics will do for starting lineups this season and that’ll likely stay that way as long as Brad Stevens is head coach of the team. We could guess the starting lineup will look a lot similar to the one that we saw during the first game of the 2017-18 season.

That lineup consisted of Irving-Brown-Hayward-Tatum-Al Horford. On paper that is a deadly group and one of the most talented lineups in the NBA. What could go wrong then? The two most probable ways would be injuries and not matching up with bigger lineups.

Other teams could look at that lineup and force the Celtics to play a bigger lineup. Tatum can play the 4, but would probably get bullied pretty quick if he’s not at small forward. Al Horford can play center as well, but also might find more success at the power forward position like he did frequently last year.

That would mean Aron Baynes would likely be the top candidate to be penciled in at the 5-spot. Then the team would have to figure out who comes off the bench, which could cause issues.

Sometimes having too much talent in the starting lineup can become a problem. There are so many mouths to feed and players can get selfish or frustrated at times. There could be times where a player would be better suited off the bench to help the second unit get in the groove a lot faster.

The Celtics must figure out if this lineup will work before it’s too late in the season to do so.