NBA 2018-19 Preview: 5 intriguing lineups to look forward to

This past offseason has seen a number of tectonic shifts in the balance of power across the league, starting with LeBron James' decision to sign with the Lakers for the next 4 seasons. The biggest news of this summer aside, a number of teams across the league have made adjustments in their (likely futile) attempts to dislodge the Warriors from their perch at the top of the league.

Blockbuster trades and free agent signings have continued to bolster several playoff teams, and present an opportunity for various new head coaches to experiment with their lineups as the gap in quality between the best teams in the league and the worst ones continues to dwindle down.

Let's take a look at the most mouthwatering lineups in store this season:

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#5 Knicks

This lineup presents an opportunity for the Knicks to try out a 'longboi' lineup with length all over the floor

Lineup to look out for: Frank Ntilikina (Point Guard), Courtney Lee (Shooting Guard), Kevin Knox (Small Forward), Kristaps Porzingis (Power Forward), Mitchell Robinson (Center)

The Knicks received a lot of flak from several quarters for passing up the opportunity to select the likes of Dennis Smith Jr and Malik Monk in the 2017 NBA Draft, choosing instead to pick the relatively unknown French teenager Frank Ntilikina. While the flak is probably still warranted given the contrast between Smith and the Frenchman, Ntilikina has proved himself to be a solid defender and has been improving his jump shot through the course of the year or so that he's been on the roster.

This lineup presents an opportunity for the Knicks to try out a 'longboi' lineup with length all over the floor. Mitchell Robinson is a promising center who has pretty good length and figures as a pretty good backup to Enes Kanter at the center position. Courtney Lee has been one of the most reliable 3-and-D players in the league for years.

Kevin Knox has already shown off the ability to be a multifaceted wing, and there will be onlookers waiting for him to do something special on a nightly basis in his rookie year. Once Porzingis stages a comeback from his season-ending ACL injury, we might get to see one of the best two-way lineups in the league.

#4 Thunder

OKC's lineups with Jerami Grant have been borderline elite on both ends of the floor

Lineup to look out for: Dennis Schroder (Point guard), Russell Westbrook (Shooting Guard), Andre Roberson (Small Forward), Paul George (Power forward), Jerami Grant (Center)

Despite what a lot of people have to say about performers on a tanking team, anyone who actually watched some Hawks games over the past two seasons can see that Dennis Schroder is far from the one-trick pony he was as a rookie. He is now a proficient pick-and-roll ballhandler and can facilitate teammates at a high level.

Fielding him and Westbrook together would allow the Brody to return to an off-guard role for the first time since his UCLA days. Roberson would be deployed in his usual role as a small forward able to switch onto any of the best perimeter scorers on the opposition team, and George can in turn wreak havoc as a power forward on defense and a cutter along with Russ.

OKC's lineups with Jerami Grant have been borderline elite on both ends of the floor in the past season, as the 6'9" forward-center is a low-usage player who can shoot the occasional 3-pointer and allow Donovan to deploy 5-out offenses.

#3 Lakers

Lonzo, Ingram

and

Hart (L-R)

Lineup to look out for: Lonzo Ball (Point guard), Josh Hart (Shooting guard), Brandon Ingram (Small forward), Kyle Kuzma (Power forward), LeBron James (Center)

The Lakers' decision to stick with their young core for what looks like at least half a season from now is going to be put to a daunting test.

Rookies Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma seem to be perfect fits at their respective roles, while Brandon Ingram made sizeable strides as a sophomore and looks set for a breakout season under The King's mentorship.

Josh Hart figures as a 3-and-D player with playmaking skills and will compete with the likes of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Lance Stephenson for minutes as the 2-guard.

LeBron hasn't had to play small-ball center for more than nominal periods in the past couple of seasons, but the lack of a serviceable center on the Lakers' roster as of now indicates that they will deploy him in that role in the same fashion as in Miami under Erik Spoelstra.

James is an amazing player to play in the pick-and-roll in either role, and this lineup presents the Lakers the opportunity to go on high-scoring runs in games that they fall behind. Barring Kuzma, the rest of the lineup is a capable defensive outfit individually and as a unit.

#2 Raptors

The proposed lineup projects as one of the most stifling defensive lineups in the

league,

and that is no exaggeration

Lineup to look forward to: Kyle Lowry (Point guard), Danny Green (Shooting guard), Kawhi Leonard (Small forward), OG Anunoby (Power forward), Pascal Siakam (Center)

The Raptors have been adept at drafting mid to late first-round picks under Masai Ujiri, and that helped them find the perfect package deal to trade for Kawhi Leonard this summer. Poeltl, Siakam and Anunoby, in addition to the likes of Delon Wright and Fred van Vleet, presented the Raps with an intriguing young core.

The proposed lineup projects as one of the most stifling defensive lineups in the league, and that is no exaggeration. All five players are in the 90th percentile among defenders at their position in the NBA, and are comfortable with playing a switch-heavy style that is slowly taking hold of tactics boards.

Leonard will function as the lightning bolt for this offense, while the likes of Lowry, Green and Anunoby will be responsible for the floor spacing. All-in-all, this lineup allows new head coach Nick Nurse to match the Warriors at least on the defensive end.

#1 Celtics

Hayward in place of Smart will improve this lineup monumentally

Lineup to look forward to: Kyrie Irving (Point guard), Jaylen Brown (Shooting guard), Gordon Hayward (Small forward), Jayson Tatum (Power forward), Al Horford (Center)

With Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving finally available to play together (presumably) from the start of this season, we will finally get to take a sneak peek at a contender for the best starting lineup in the league.

This lineup already contains three perennial All-Stars in Kyrie, Hayward and Horford, while young bloods Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are well and truly off the mark in their race to basketball superstardom, as a lot of unsuspecting NBA fans found out in the playoffs last season.

The one thing that sets this lineup apart from literally over other 5-man lineup in the game is that all five players are sharpshooters shooting in the vicinity of 40% and beyond from 3-point range, all in the past couple of seasons. The Celtics' offense will be a sight to behold this season.