Saying the Celtics will need a few months of adjustment before they're a well-oiled machine is to the NBA world what Umbrella was to 2007, it is the Song of the Summer (or at least of the past month), and it couldn't be more annoying to hear. The additions of Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving have made it so only four players from last years Celtics are returning, and the team is essentially brand new. It is argued that it will take some time before the team gets used to Brad Steven's system, and that Irving and Hayward in particular will need time to adjust to playing with each other in that system. This is not the case.

In examining the two All-Stars' stats, it becomes clear that on paper the two players are more similar than meets the eye. While Irving's career average of 21.6 PPG is clearly higher than Hayward's 15.7, and Hayward gets more rebounds a game than Irving, their percentages are near identical. Each make about 45% of Field Goals, each hover around 37.5% when shooting for 3, and while Kyrie's 87% is better than Hayward's 82% of Free Throw shots made, they each are constantly around 85% there too.

These percentages are both really consistent with Isaiah Thomas's percentages in both his rookie year, and his past year Boston. The genius in acquiring Thomas in the first place was that his percentages were high but his PPG were not as high as they could be because of the teams surrounding him in Sacremento and in Phoenix, he was being undervalued. Boston's fast paced, pass heavy offense under Coach Brad Stevens allowed his PPG to rise dramatically. Even in the last year he added 6 points to his per game average because of the addition of Al Horford and his great pass game as a big man. With Hayward and Irving's percentages being similar to Isaiah's, we can assume this Al Horford-Effect will be true here as well, with Irving in particular becoming more of a ball handler than he was in Cleveland. We also can assume many of the plays that were created for Isaiah don't have to leave our system because we have not one, but two players who - percentage-wise - can hit the same shots.



Outside of just shooting percentages, the Celtics actual style of offensive play is a perfect fit for Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. As mentioned, the Celtics under Stevens rely on quickness, passing, ball handling, and playmaking to get wins, and no play is as essential to our success as the Pick and Roll. This has been a key to the Celtics offense as far back as the 1980s, as seen in this breakdown by some Celtic OGs. Al Horford's pass game is crucial to our winning culture, but what's also a huge part of our gameplay is his ability to set picks for ball handlers. Last year Horford ranked in the top 20 in the NBA in an under-looked stat, Screen Assists. Beyond just being a top 20 player in those regards, Horford also lands in the top 15 when looking at players who play 20 or more minutes a game, and makes the top 10 when taking into account players who play 30 minutes or more. The same can be said about few other players, and that short list includes the Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert, and the Cleveland Cavalier's Tristan Thompson.

Both Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving are coming from teams where bigs setting Screen Assists are in the DNA of their gameplay, and Pick and Rolls are plenty. Gordon Hayward not only has experience coming off of the Pick and Roll to score, but can set screens and pass like the best of them. And the best of them just may be Kyrie Irving. Not only is he a dominate ball handler and passer which makes him a great threat for these sort of plays, he can attack the closeout with ease (a skill shared with the GOAT, Jaylen Brown). Both Kyrie and Gordon's percentages, and skill set allow them to be interchangeable targets on the floor, allowing us to make the same play calls while one sits on the bench, or allowing us to double up with two similar offensive threats at once.

Enter the Spain Pick and Roll, the latest revolution in gameplay in the NBA, greatly analyzed in this video by BBALLBREAKDOWN. Multiple screens in succession, opening up multiple targets on the floor. The Celtics are aware of it, it was used against the Celtics by the Wizards as seen in 5:07 of that breakdown video, and Boston had a defensive scheme prepared for it (albeit not the most effective). Coach Nick's suggestion at 5:30 of the video is easy to imagine being executed by Hayward, Horford, and Irving based on their skill sets. With the ability to set screens, pass, or attack the closeout well, the Spain Pick and Roll opens many doors for the Celtics offense. If the defense is too tight and sees the play coming, the Pick and Roll can always be transformed into a Pick and Pop by Irving or Hayward. They don't need to use passing as a crutch with their Step Back skills.



The Step Back is often used as a game winning weapon across the NBA. Gordon Hayward is no stranger to the it (nor is he the only Indiana-Bred Celtic to make videos explaining basketball fundamentals). In college, coached by the Celtics' own Brad Stevens, he used it often. He also has successfully used it in the pros to beat big time threats like the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cav's themselves also saw it come into play often with Kyrie Irving, and his talent with it was essential to their gameplay in beating the Warriors in the 2016 NBA finals. It also aided them against the Celtics in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals.

All in all both Kyrie Irving, and Gordon Hayward are not just All-Stars who will make the team better just because they're good at basketball. They both share similar percentages, both are masters of the Pick and Roll, and both are skilled at Step Backs and ball handling. Not only are they similar to each other, they're similar in percentages to Isaiah Thomas, and come from backgrounds in which there own game is a perfect match to what Coach Stevens has created and Al Horford has enhanced. And although only four Celtics from last year are returning, many of the '17-'18 Celtics have played together in other respects. Aron Baynes and Marcus Morris both entered and exited the Pistons at the same time, leaving the team with two years of playing with each other as a Wing and Big tandem under their belts. Five current Celtics have played with each other in Summer League, making the total number of players who have experience playing with each other ten of the fifteen, not to mention Hayward has played under Stevens before. This team already has chemistry, and where it doesn't, the play style, and the numbers show a match made in heaven. Ainge is such a good match maker, it's incredible he doesn't have a job working for E-Harmony, but GM of the season-ready, Finals-contending Celtics will do.