Tatum as the 6th man

[KGBirdBias]

I believe Tatum would be a great 6th man next year. I think he can still finish games but by being the 6th man it makes him more aggressive and assertive on offense. If he's starting its limiting his touches and effectiveness with Hayward, Kyrie and Brown. Let Tatum play verse other backups and destroy them.

I watched him stand around too much on offense when he should've had the ball. He can run off 8-10 point runs by himself. Yes, he could easily start but putting the offense in his hands and watch him go to work would really take pressure off the starters. We probably wouldn't have those droughts when starters sat down. Rozier, Smart, Tatum, Morris and Theis...or Baynes if Smart is gone.

Objections?

[Csfan1984]

Kind of like see who we are up against and then using the depth to match up

[CelticsElite]

Not happening. rather see him dunk on lebron

[gouki88]

I'm not so sure. I'd rather get him in with Kyrie and GH, and start all our killers like GSW

[PhoSita]

Tatum's gonna be the second or third scoring option on the team next year.

I think he may be an even better scoring option than Hayward, especially considering Hayward's recovery from his injury.

There's no way he's coming off the bench.

Kyrie - Brown - Hayward - Tatum - Horford

That should be the starting lineup at the beginning of next season, barring injuries.  Knock on wood. 

That may create some issues against teams that play two traditional bigs; the team may desire to spare Horford the wear and tear of being a full time center all season long.

However, Jaylen might be ready to defend 4s (and even 5s), so I wouldn't be surprised if he's the starter at the 4 spot next season.  Either that, or perhaps Jaylen will be the 6th man.

I also wouldn't be altogether surprised if Hayward starts the season coming off the bench as a do-it-all utility reserve / glue guy, at least while he's catching up to speed.


Under no circumstances would I bench Tatum.  He should be a major part of the gameplan moving forward.  He's the future.  Might be the best player on the team as soon as a year or two from now.

[mrceltics2013]

Not happening. rather see him dunk on lebron

Lebron don't even know what a bench is. Don't matter if Tatum is a 6th man or 10th Lebron will be in the game lol.

[chiken Green]

Well, I do see the logic here... He would be Awesome coming off the bench because he was simply amazing all year as a starter...   ESPECIALLY in the playoffs...

Curry was awesome off the bench when he came back this year when he came back from Injury...  wonder why they didn't leave him there (scratching head)

[Somebody]

Not happening. He's proven enough that he should start given he continues to improve with an offseason of work.

[RJ87]

Celticsblog has jumped the shark.

[liam]

Celticsblog has jumped the shark.

Is this the third or forth thread on benching one of the Celtics starters next year? Seems like a common theme...

[KGBirdBias]

LOL, well alrighty then. Just remember McHale and Havlicek could've easily been the starters but they were considered the 6th starter. Many don't even realize they were coming off the bench because they were finishing the last 6-8 minutes of every game.

I think either Brown, Hayward or Tatum need to come off the bench. Does starting in the NBA really mean THAT much?

[droopdog7]

Well, I do see the logic here... He would be Awesome coming off the bench because he was simply amazing all year as a starter...   ESPECIALLY in the playoffs...

Curry was awesome off the bench when he came back this year when he came back from Injury...  wonder why they didn't leave him there (scratching head)

Not only the logic, but also the log jam.  I realize everyone is trying to squeeze Hayward, Tatum, and Brown into the starting lineup but the reality is none of them are Lowe forwards, and could thus struggle against certain matchups. 

I would not be shocked in the least to see one of those three come off the bench.  One of those three not named Hayward that is.

[CelticsElite]

Positionless basketball

I feel like 30% of threads are circular discussion reminding people that the nba is positionless since 2013

[bellerephon]

On the one hand one can certainly see how bringing one of these guys off the bench might work. As has been pointed out multiple times big time players like McHale and Hondo did it. At the same time I think it is also true that Brad has already shown his interest in the starting lineup of Irving, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, and Horford. Now that Tatum and Brown have shown how good they are, why would they be less likely to start? If Hayward is not 100% then I could see him starting on the bench with limited minutes, but if he's at or near 100% he is arguably the best player on the team, and at least the second best. While that lineup could face some match up problems, I don't think it would occur all too often. And any team that did have a big lineup would be totally unable to guard the Celts.

[kmart12]

You'd think that Tatum had earned his spot in the starting lineup after this impressive year and even more impressive playoff run. He has a chance to be on par, if not better, than Hayward next year. I'd rather see streakier scorers like Jaylen or Rozier come off the bench to handle second unit offensive responsibility.