Starting lineup by committee? Brad Stevens is open to the possibility

The Celtics will start Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford on opening night. After that, the possibilities are plentiful for the final two starting spots, while the final choices aren't yet clear.

As Brad Stevens tackles the challenge of a new season with a revamped roster and a plethora of starting options at multiple positions, the expected thing for him to do would be to settle on a regular starting lineup and try to build continuity with it for the entire season. However, the 40-year-old is one NBA head coach that isn't afraid of thinking outside the box and challenging that conventional wisdom.

With various players at shooting guard and in the frontcourt that could be a better fit alongside Kyrie Irving or Al Horford depending on a particular matchup, Stevens isn't set on a starting five just yet. In fact, the head coach told Bostonsportsjournal.com there is a chance the C's could mix up starting lineups all year long based on matchups.

"I think we have an idea obviously about who might be in our best lineups, but there is a chance we could do that," Stevens said of a potential lineup by committee possibility. "I've gone into every year thinking that is a reasonable thing to want to do.

"Sometimes throughout the course of the regular season, that's something that becomes more important to kind of establish a routine, and guys feel comfortable when they are coming into the game or starting or whatever the case may be. But hey, when we got to the playoffs, we played 18 games and we started how many guys? Ultimately, it's not bad to get into that idea or mindset early on.  We're certainly not set on a starting lineup, nor will we be for the next couple weeks."

The obvious danger of trying an experiment like this would be failing to build continuity within the starting five on a nightly basis, but that issue is not a major concern to Stevens.

"I think some of the continuity factor is overrated," Stevens said. "I think if you could establish that everybody is ready on a given night, everybody is ready to play a role on a given night, that's really good. Kyrie is going to start, Gordon is going to start, Al is going to start, but ultimately there are some matchups when one guy might be better than the other."

Stevens steered clear of mixing up lineups for most of the 2016-17 regular season. Horford was active for 68 games over that span and Amir Johnson started next to him at center for 63 of those contests. Stevens opted for a small-ball type lineup with Jonas Jerebko over Johnson for three games (twice against Houston), while Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Mickey filled in for an injured Johnson in two other contests.

Stevens was far more unpredictable during the postseason, however, as Gerald Green and Johnson each started eight games for the Celtics in the frontcourt, while Olynyk started two against the Cavs. The more frequent small-ball lineups helped Horford have a phenomenal offensive postseason, averaging 15.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. He also shot an incredible 58.4 percent from the field and 51 percent from 3-point range over those 18 games.

Horford told Bostonsportsjournal.com last week that he believes playing power forward for much of the regular season allowed him to put together a standout postseason.

"I think in the regular season, I played more at power forward and it helped me (in the postseason)," he said. "I was healthy and felt better when the playoffs came around, instead of taking all the time at the five. Once the postseason came around, I was able to deal with playing the center position more, and we were more explosive as a team. I think that’s why coach is probably going to mix it up more in the regular season."

While the Celtics are clearly leaning toward playing Horford at the center spot more this season after that success, Stevens isn't as concerned about the physical toll it might take on Horford.

"It's all about how people play now too," Stevens said of playing Horford at the five. "A lot of the fives don't post. Even some of the bigger centers don't post a lot. They are rollers. It just kind of depends on how that goes. We'll play Al at both spots. Al can be effective at both spots. Each game we will try to figure out where he can be most effective."