Why do people keep penciling Hayward in for major minutes at SG? Hayward hasn't played SG for years. Per Pro Basketball Reference, Hayward has played about 4% of his minutes there the last 3 seasons. I know that's an estimate but it jives with how he was used on the floor. He's a SF who can play PF in small lineups.
Good points. To turn it around, so to speak: the Celtics have quicker players in Brown, Smart, and Crowder who can take the quicker opponents; and since Hayward will be relied on to score, it's just more effective defense for him to guard bigger players. Add to that that he's got an impressive wingspan.
I think he might get a few minutes at SG in certain lineups but not many. You can't have Hayward trying to defend fast SGs and leave IT on the floor - that's a defensive lineup that would get killed. You need a defensive specialist or a quicker guy out there and that means Smart, not IT, paired with Hayward in the back court. But he should mostly take SF/PF minutes.
Excellent point about IT/Hayward. I would not call Smart a "defensive specialist", by the way (not that you did, but I've heard people say that).
Regarding how Smart was used last season: by far the most court time was with Isaiah also on the floor, not subbing for him but for Bradley, so that IT could play off the ball. Another significant slice of his minutes was with Rozier instead of IT, with Terry taking the opponent pg.
So I don't think that you'll see much of Smart/Hayward/SF/PF/C lineups.
The plan right now is for Brown to get the lion's share of minutes at SG. IT might get a few of those in certain lineups as it's been said before that Brad looks at IT as a PG/SG combo player.
About Brown: exactly. That he can switch onto 1-4 means that in any lineup with him and Gordon you can put Jaylen on the quicker player.
About IT as a 2: that's stretching the definition, I think (even if we continue to use the old 1-5 categories, which Brad Stevens is not). However, on offense, at least, Thomas has frequently been playing off the ball, where he is an excellent spot-up shooter and at using his speed to get free of his man.
Moreover, I wouldn't bank on any player seeing the floor for more than 32-33 minutes per game this year to keep players fresher for the playoffs. We have the manpower.
Danny Ainge has given this squad outstanding depth for the last couple of seasons; I think that in addition to adding more talent at the top of the lineup, this off-season he has also maintained the depth.
Another advantage to distributing minutes more evenly: younger players get precious floor time; again, we saw that last season, with Jaylen joining the rotation early on, paying dividends in the playoffs.