Which Celtics are starters on a Championship club?

[GreenEnvy]

This type of question is so context-specific that it's not even worth asking. You can construct teams where probably our top-7 guys ( IT, Bradley, Crowder, Al, Amir, Smart, and KO) are starters, because there's no objective value to delineate starting on a championship team. For example, Mario freaking Chalmers and Joel Anthony have rings as starters for their Heat teams.

Yeah, I've always hated questions like this (or the "_____ could never be a starter on a championship team!" statements.  You could put freaking Fab Melo as the starting C on the Warriors this year and they would STILL be championship favorites.  Without context (ex: could they be top 3 on a championship team?) or a more specific question (ex: what current Celtics starter(s) need(s) to be replaced in order for the Celtics to become a true contender?), it's a useless question

No it isn't. I actually find this topic quite interesting. Just watching IT makes me think he is not the 'ideal' point guard.  As LarBrd just pointed out, Avery would need a superstar next to him. Yes context is very important, but I think what the OP wants to know is which of these guys do you keep (and therefore which do you trade to fill needs).

But we can probably name 6-8 guys that could be starters if the team already has a big three. If asking who can be the best (or second, top 3, etc) player on a team, that's a better way to evaluate talent over simply who could start. Most championship teams have 1-3 starting role players. We go about 7 deep in good-great players. I don't believe any of them can lead to a championship, but if you swap Amir for Cousins, would you not consider the Celtics a legit threat?

Will Bradley need a superstar to win a title? Yes. Did Kyrie Irving? Yes. Kevin Durant surely believes he needs a better one (or more) than he had. It's a superstars league, and it's at the point where 1 isn't enough unless you have a very, very deep team led by 1.

[Kaz]

Cleveland won a title last year - once you go beyond their big 3 of Kyrie/Lebron/Love, who else in their starting 5 is as good as either of the Celtics I just listed?  Nobody.

I wouldn't necessarily see Horford as a lock for starting for either the Warriors or Cavs, TBH.  This has nothing to do with his talent level, per say, but both are situations where he would have to come off the bench.
I suppose he might technically start for the Warriors like Bogut did and Zaza does now, but their core unit only has Green as a big and Dray is a better fit for them.

People for whatever reason like to underestimate how important TT is the Cavs, especially with perimeter-heavy Love as the other big.  Without TT clearing the glass and providing second chances on offense, the Cavs don't get their ring.  Maybe Horford starts over Love.

[guava_wrench]

Cleveland won a title last year - once you go beyond their big 3 of Kyrie/Lebron/Love, who else in their starting 5 is as good as either of the Celtics I just listed?  Nobody.

I wouldn't necessarily see Horford as a lock for starting for either the Warriors or Cavs, TBH.  This has nothing to do with his talent level, per say, but both are situations where he would have to come off the bench.
I suppose he might technically start for the Warriors like Bogut did and Zaza does now, but their core unit only has Green as a big and Dray is a better fit for them.

People for whatever reason like to underestimate how important TT is the Cavs, especially with perimeter-heavy Love as the other big.  Without TT clearing the glass and providing second chances on offense, the Cavs don't get their ring.  Maybe Horford starts over Love.

I think you are missing the point. The point is that teams win championships with mediocre starters all the time. Mario Chalmers?

[GRADYCOLNON]

This type of question is so context-specific that it's not even worth asking. You can construct teams where probably our top-7 guys ( IT, Bradley, Crowder, Al, Amir, Smart, and KO) are starters, because there's no objective value to delineate starting on a championship team. For example, Mario freaking Chalmers and Joel Anthony have rings as starters for their Heat teams.

lol yeah they were parasites on James, Wade and Bosh