Celtics’ Opening Night Starting Lineup Predicted by Insider

After an incredibly eventful summer, the Boston Celtics are going to look much different this season. They will have three new starters in the lineup after two straight seasons of being title contenders.

Boston decided to trade Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday away in order to shed salary. Jayson Tatum will likely not see the court this season while he recovers from his torn Achilles.

With all of the changes, the Celtics are going to look like a brand-new team. One insider believes that this will be the starting lineup that goes out there on opening night.

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Celtics insider gives a prediction for the starting lineup

Chris Forsberg and his colleagues at NBC Sports Boston took a stab at predicting the starting lineup.

"Our five: Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, and Neemias Queta," Forsberg projects.

This is the starting lineup that makes the most sense based on the roster that they currently have. The frontcourt remains a massive question mark, though.

There's a chance that the Celtics decide to move Sam Hauser to the small forward position and slide Brown to the power forward spot in order to help with defensive matchups.

Brown is a much better defender than Hauser is, and he has a bigger body to be able to deal with guys in the post. That would make the most sense from a defensive standpoint.

The Celtics believe that they can still compete this season, even without Tatum in the lineup. That will be a question that Boston has to answer once the year starts.

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The Celtics will likely make Anfernee Simons come off the bench

At this point, it looks increasingly unlikely that the Celtics are going to be able to trade Anfernee Simons before the season begins. That means he's going to be on the roster for training camp.

Simons looks like he will be used as a sixth man off the bench for the Celtics instead of a starter. He's more of a scoring guard than a point guard, so that's why they will likely use him in that role.

The Celtics like what Simons can do on the court, but they still don't want to pay the salary he is owed this year.

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