The Boston Celtics have invested heavily in perimeter players. The team’s top five in minutes per game last year - Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, and Kemba Walker - are all best described as wings or guards. The difference between Boston’s fifth most relied upon rotation player, Walker, and the first big man to emerge on the list, Daniel Theis, is a full seven minutes per game.
Such a heavy emphasis on allocating playing time to the Celtics’ bevvy of talented perimeter options is in many ways an embrace of modern basketball.