New Orleans Pelicans: One thing to learn from the Boston Celtics
Who needs a center?
The Boston Celtics are showing the rest of the league that you don’t need a traditional center to thrive in the NBA.
Boston is one of the best defensive teams in the league and does it with 6-foot-8 Daniel Thies playing most of the minutes at center.
Thies is an effective rim protector, but hardly a dominant defensive force, so how are the Celtics doing it?
The Celtics have taken the “positionless wing” strategy to new heights with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart all able to defend multiple positions.
The Celtics can switch on just about everyone, which is why teams are not able to take advantage of the fact that they don’t really play any bigs.
The Pelicans need to get some players in the mold of Tatum and Brown, as they really don’t have any wings who are two-way players. Brandon Ingram is an elite scorer, but he can’t defend.
The Pelicans have to get a few of these versatile 6-foot-7 wings of their own, guys like Brown who can not only knock down shots, but can defend several positions. The Pels cannot have one-dimensional defenders like Derrick Favors, who can only really defend the post and can’t step out.
The Celtics are also very difficult to defend on the other end, as they are always presenting matchup problems for bigs in the pick-and-roll.
The Pelicans could play a similar style with Zion Williamson at the five if they had more wings who could defend. That should be their top priority in the offseason, as the NBA is trending towards positionless wings who are versatile defenders.
New Orleans has the potential to be the best small ball team in the NBA, but first they need some wings.