Obviously Stevens would have kept pre-injury Kemba--the team might well have already hung #18 if he had lasted one full season instead of 0.5 seasons.
That said, it's pretty clear that, once that was off the table, he likes de-smurfing more than Ainge, and wants to play a lot bigger at the guard positions. If someone like Lillard somehow came available then of course you bend that rule, but it seems like his blueprint is clear otherwise.
I'm pretty sure Ainge liked his smurfs but it also could have been personal. He seemed to have a thing for PGs who can POINTZ, but that may have been because Tatum and Brown weren't ready to carry the offensive load. This season, they also kind of lucked into Schroder.
Ainge's real problem was filling the end of the lineup with redundant players. There was really only 1 smurf a year getting significant minutes. Filling the end of the bench with players who need certain situations to succeed is stupid (Carsen Edwards needs to be 1st or 2nd option, can't play with Kemba, Tremont or PP really).
Now, pretty much all the non bigs can play with any of the other non big on the court. The restrictions are gone. This might mean the end of the bench will actually get used more. At the very least, it provides more possibilities. Having Carsen and Tremont on the same team with Kemba Walker/PP makes them virtually unplayable in non garbage time. Instead of playing with a roster of 15, they are playing with a roster of 12/13.
When would the C's as constructed, ever have used for a non elite smurf? PP provides the shooting. Schroder and Smart cover everything else. If there's an injury, maybe they would see a little time. Ironically, they'd have more use for a deep bench smurf this year than in year's past.
When would the C's as constructed, ever use a non elite big like Bruno? If one of TL or Al is in foul trouble or maybe even during specific matchups against small ball 5s that Grant cant cover. At the very least, he's a body, 6 fouls and should provide energy off the bench.
Having a smurf or two is fine. Going beyond that is a huge handicap. The C's had at least 3 last year, and another 2 who probably shouldn't be playing with smurfs (PP, Teague). Last year's team was such a mess. You had 3 bigs who shouldn't be playing together and 5 smalls. That's more than half the roster that has some type of restriction. Disgusting.
This year's restrictions mostly revolve around Kanter. PP should be able to play with everyone. Horford and TL should be able to play together at times. Smart/Schroder/Richardson on the court at the same time may be problematic shooting wise but I don't envision that happening often.
I knew the roster construction sucked last year and knew it was limiting... but writing this all out makes me realize it was even far more limiting than I thought. On paper, the team looked good. In reality, the sum of the team was far less than the individual parts There was no cohesion.
Brad has shown the ability to build a roster that makes sense. Whether it plays out on the court remains to be seen, as the talent on this team isn't any better than last years. The cohesion should be 10 times better but sometimes things don't play out the way they should. I'd personally guess that the cohesion will be worth at least 4-5 wins over last year's team.
And that cohesion comes at the expense of f'n smurfs. It's a win win.