Back in 2020-2021, then head coach Brad Stevens insisted on playing double bigs with Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis starting together in the frontcourt. It faltered early and by the end of the experiment, Thompson-Theis played 34 games together (starting 24) and posted a 0.5 net rating (113.5 offensive rating, 113.0 defensive rating). It wasn’t exactly the picture of winning basketball, but the seeds of change had been planted.
That would prove to be Stevens’ final season on the Boston bench before moving up to the front office. No, it wasn’t because he couldn’t make fetch happen with TnT, but over the last three offseasons, you can see the throughline of all his moves.