Five storylines to watch as Celtics training camp begins

Celtics training camp kicks off this week in the brand new Auerbach Center for one of the most anticipated seasons in recent memory. There has been almost endless optimism ahead of camp as Brad Stevens prepares to work with a fully healthy roster for the first time in the Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward era.

However, there are still many questions that have to be answered heading into camp, both with the rotation and where certain players stand for the team’s big-picture plan. With the start of the regular season just three weeks away, Boston’s brass won’t have a ton of time to get the answers they need but here are a few areas that you will need to watch as camp begins. 

1. How often do the Celtics use their best lineup as their starting five? It seems like a simple answer in theory. One year ago, Brad Stevens opted to go with Irving/Brown/Hayward/Tatum/Horford as his starting five and that group only got to play five minutes together before Hayward’s season came to an unfortunate end. The ceiling for that unit should be even higher a year later after such pronounced development from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum and conventional wisdom says they will get the lion’s share of starts during the regular season.

However, starting the best five is not always the default option for elite teams around the league.

Look no further than the Golden State Warriors, who have gone big at center in past years and bring Andre Iguodala off the bench. Boston’s wings don’t have to be protected like Iguodala but Stevens found a defensively dominant frontline last year in Aron Baynes and Al Horford. In order to protect an aging Horford, the case can be made to give Baynes starts against traditional centers like Joel Embiid, Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and others.

On the flip side, Boston’s lineup with Horford at center could run those bigs off the court due to their ability to stretch the floor at all five positions. The question we’ll find out during camp is which philosophy is the C’s coaching staff leaning towards. We’ll get a good idea during training camp based on what lineups the C’s are using and whether Baynes spends much time with the starters. With Embiid and the Sixers on the schedule for opening night, Stevens’ philosophy on this front should become clear early.

2. Will Terry Rozier get an extension? The point guard will have a window that lasts until opening night (Oct. 17) to agree to a potential extension with the Celtics. The common theory among league executives I have spoken with this summer is that the Celtics won’t be able to afford Rozier and Smart beyond next summer anyway. Barring a disastrous departure by Kyrie Irving in free agency, it just doesn’t make sense from a team-building perspective to pay two reserve guards well over $10 million annually when Boston has three max players on the books and a couple more that will be looking for similar deals (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown) by 2020. Rozier should command a higher annual salary than Smart based on his offensive skill set and a more player-friendly free agent market next summer.

The odds are that Rozier will end up hitting the restricted free agent market this summer since the Celtics don’t have an extensive track record of signing players to rookie extensions a year early. In fact, in Ainge’s 14-year tenure with the Celtics, only Kendrick Perkins (2006) and Rajon Rondo (2009) have agreed to an extension on their rookie deals with Boston ahead of the opening night deadline for former first-round picks. The team came close last year with Smart before the point guard opted for playing out the season (a bad bet in hindsight that cost Smart money).

Barring a surprise trade of Rozier this fall (someone would have to overpay for him with assets), the team seems content to let the market play itself out with Rozier next summer. Smart has better odds of being around past this season than Rozier (due to his contract and defensive fit) but we all know Ainge has a soft spot for the former Louisville standout. This situation will be one to watch next month and into next summer.

3. How healthy do Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward look? The reviews have been overwhelmingly positive for both players in the month of September as each has played some pickup 5-on-5 since returning from their respective injuries. However, there is nothing that is a true test to one’s body like an NBA game, something that Irving acknowledged as he went through his recovery.

“I can only feel like myself playing out there in an NBA game,” he said Monday at media day. “I had great opportunities this summer to be around some great people. Lived in Seattle for about 18 days or so. Jamal Crawford did a great service to me by putting together some runs for me to get reacclimated to the game, knowing what I was coming off of in terms of my injury. And it was just great to be up there and get some quality runs in to really get back in the game. I missed it so much.”

The ceiling for this group is largely based on Irving and Hayward playing up to their potential and that level may have changed over the last several months. Our own Dr. Flynn broke down the issues to keep an eye on for both players over the next few weeks but the next few weeks will be huge for both, from both a physical and mental perspective.

4. Can Guerschon Yabusele show that he’s got a long-term future in the NBA? For many players on first-round rookie deals, having one’s contract option picked up by the team in the third year is a certainty (see: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown). The same can’t be said for Yabusele as starts his second season. The Celtics have to make an initial decision on his future by opening night, deciding whether they want to commit $3.1 million to him for the 2018-19 season. That’s not a big chunk of change but it is quite a bit more than the league minimum and that will matter to a Celtics front office that will be pushing hard into the luxury tax next summer after handing out a new contract to Irving. Whether or not Yabusele will be a part of Boston’s plans past this year remains to be seen but the key for him in getting that kind of money locked in by the Celtics now is showing that he has the potential to be an asset for some team, somewhere.

Odds are it won’t be in Boston (he doesn’t look ready to contribute to a contender in the next couple years) but Yabusele’s age (21) may make some team willing to gamble on him. If the Celtics feel like they can fetch something for him in a trade (even a second round pick) they could pick up the option. For that to happen though, Yabusele has to have a standout preseason in what will be a limited sample size. The pressure will be on the Frenchman to show measure strides when he does get his opportunities. Otherwise, he’ll be looking at an uncertain future.

5. Can Marcus Smart play his way into the closing five? Despite his faults, Smart has always managed to find his way into closing situations since arriving at the NBA level. Whether it’s his defensive versatility, effort on the glass or propensity to make a reasonable percentage of his 3-point shots during crunch time, his intangibles have always been appealing to Brad Stevens. Entering this season though, there’s no clear spot for him in the closing five lineup with three All-Stars in place and a pair of emerging double-digit scorers in Brown and Tatum. Neither of those youngsters has Smart’s defensive ability but their offensive upsides may very well outweigh what Smart brings to the table in crunch time. The guess here is that there is no set closing group -- at least right away -- on a nightly basis, but Stevens will have to figure out what lineup he wants to ride with when all the chips are on the table. Training camp should go a long way in helping him figure that question out.