Shut your eyes for a second and permit your self to examine a hypothetical situation in 2024.
The Celtics are driving a a six-game successful streak and are dealing with the Knicks at Madison Sq. Backyard. It’s 92 apiece with 3:30 remaining, the Knicks are on a run and the New York followers are getting rowdy.
Kristaps Porzingis are Jrue Vacation are sidelined with accidents. Jayson Tatum and Al Horford have each fouled out. Luke Kornet is out for private causes (I didn’t say it was a second of tranquility). The Celtics are in hassle.
However wait a minute. They nonetheless have Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta. Not too shabby! Taking pictures? Completely. Playmaking? You betcha. Chemistry? Off the charts. There’s only one query: Brown on the 4? Would it not work?
Effectively, in 2025-26 – with a guard-heavy, defensively unproven and considerably less-experienced roster – it might need to.
The great thing about that 2023-24 season was that irrespective of who was on the ground, you genuinely anticipated them to tug it out each time. Joe Mazzulla was a grasp puppeteer, and the gamers constantly rose to the problem when it mattered most – particularly within the playoffs, once they grew stronger and stronger to turn out to be an unstoppable unit.
Nobody on the skin is anticipating that type of season this yr (in case you are, I’ve acquired information for you, buddy), however in case you persuade your self it’s 2023, you possibly can nonetheless get pleasure from an lively and scrappy Pritchard-White-Hauser-Brown-Queta 5 that has years of enjoying collectively.
It’s like shopping for reduced-fat ice cream. Does it style like the true deal? Most likely not, nevertheless it’s nonetheless ice cream, and you’re keen on ice cream.
Pritchard and White have confirmed they know learn how to step up within the clutch. Hauser is a knock-down shooter who has expanded his sport since that championship season. Queta has come a great distance and appears poised for a breakout yr. However what about Brown on the 4?
If there’s one factor I’ve realized about Brown over the previous near-decade, it’s that the person completely loves a problem. Each NBA participant is aggressive, however Brown is on one other stage. Should you inform him he shouldn’t have been taken third total, he’ll show you fallacious. Should you inform him Tatum is the one famous person on the Celtics, he’ll show you fallacious. This yr, in case you inform him it’s a spot season, I’m pretty sure he’s going to show you fallacious.
You assume the person’s going to waste a yr of his prime? Suppose once more.
Placing the 6-foot-6-inch Brown on the 4 in crunch time places different groups in a bind. Should you go massive, Brown is absolutely able to digging in defensively and offering physicality and brute pressure. On the opposite finish, good luck to a stiff 6-foot-9-inch energy ahead making an attempt to gradual him down.
Should you go small, and attempt to battle fireplace with fireplace, benefit Brown. He has elite footwork, a steadily rising arsenal of put up strikes and is deadly in transition. Brown is best than virtually each different wing roughly his dimension, which implies the Celtics would have a bonus as effectively.
Would it not be excellent? Most likely not. Basketball hardly ever is. Nevertheless it’s so loopy, it simply may work.
I’m not saying he ought to play on the 4 your entire sport (Chris Boucher, Jordan Walsh and others deserve a shot). However late within the fourth quarter, with the sport on the road, you need your greatest lineup on the market. Anfernee Simons will definitely have an opportunity to enter the chat, however till additional discover, that lineup is Pritchard, White, Hauser, Brown and Queta.
They’ve achieved it earlier than, and so they can do it once more – and sure, they will do it with Brown on the 4.
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