Ranking the NBA’s No. 4 options: Celtics’ Jrue Holiday headlines group of elite role players

(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
Anyone can list the best players in the NBA, but basketball is as much about chemistry as it is talent. Within each of the league’s 30 teams is a hierarchy, and how well each of the five players on the court understands and performs his role within that hierarchy is every bit as important as his individual skill.

Ideally, a lineup has its superstar, a deferential co-star, a third star who owns his role, a fourth option and a fifth starter to tie it all together — clear Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. In this series, we rank the five best players from each tier for a broader look across the league. How close does your team come to an ideal lineup?

No. 4s: The Fourth Options

What is a No. 4? Generally, he is not a star; if he is, he better be a role player first. And if he is both, then your team is a bear. At the very least, he should be too good to ever deny a starting spot. He can be a table-setter or a rim-runner, but his skills have to complement everyone above him in the pecking order. He can get you 20 points on any given night, but he will not on most, because his defense is of greater import. You cannot be a one-dimensional fourth option, for if you are, your team is likely not very good.

It is a funny thing: Nos. 4 and 5 can be comparable in ability, and if they are both good, your team is good. And if they are both not good, your team is not good. It is often here where teams are separated — where delineations become a little clearer and rosters decline a little steeper. And money plays a part in that. You do not want to pay your fourth option a max contract, but you want to pay him what he is worth, and whether he provides value could mean the difference between contending or pretending.

Without further ado, your five best No. 4s …

1. Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics

The beauty of the Celtics is that either Holiday or Derrick White could be considered their fourth option, and either one would rank among the best players here. Holiday has the longer track record. He was a No. 2 on a New Orleans Pelicans team that reached the second round of the playoffs and a No. 3 on the Milwaukee Bucks, who won a championship with him in that role. The Bucks traded him for a No. 2, Damian Lillard.

In Boston, he needed only to flex his muscle as arguably the best perimeter defender in the league, a catch-and-shoot 3-point threat and an occasional playmaker on secondary actions. He played it to perfection, averaging an uber-efficient 13-5-5 and making the All-Defensive second team. He stepped up into a larger role in Kristaps Porziņģis’ injury absence, even warranting consideration for Finals MVP.

What other fourth option in the NBA now could make the Hall of Fame? Holiday is a two-time All-Star, a two-time champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a six-time All-Defensive pick. His résumé speaks for itself, and it says the Celtics are the deepest team in the league — before we consider White.

2. Aaron Gordon, Denver Nuggets

Gordon’s career was floundering in Orlando, where he was at times the Magic’s No. 1 option. The Nuggets targeted him as an ideal candidate to fill specific roles, defending multiple positions, demonstrating his athleticism around the rim, occasionally spacing the floor and filling in as a reserve small-ball center.

It was Gordon’s forceful play that grappled the Heat into submission in the 2023 Finals. He punished smaller defenders, playing off Nikola Jokić’s vision as a post-up player or lob finisher. And when Miami’s game plan forced him from the basket, he found other ways to make them pay as a shooter and cutter.

As one of the greats in dunk contest history, Gordon’s strength and agility make him pliable against bigger or smaller opponents on both ends of the floor. He had all the raw tools to be a primary focus on a worse team, but by limiting him to his strengths he became an overqualified No. 4 on a contender.

3. OG Anunoby, New York Knicks

The Knicks were 23.9 points per 100 possessions better when Anunoby was on the court last season, the highest on/off efficiency of anyone — even Jokić, according to Cleaning the Glass. This was no fluke. They finished 20-3 when the 27-year-old was in the lineup during the regular season and 6-2 in the playoffs, bound for the Eastern Conference finals when he suffered a hamstring injury. If only he can stay healthy.

Otherwise, Anunoby can do a bit of everything. He is one of the most versatile defenders in the league and one of its most cerebral, too. He has shot 38.3% on more than five 3-point attempts per game over the past four seasons. He keeps the ball moving, perpetuating the flow of the offense, and he can put it on the floor if needed. And he is 6-foot-7, 232 pounds. If you built a No. 4, he would look like Anunoby.

4. Brook Lopez, Milwaukee Bucks

A decade ago, Lopez was still a back-to-the-basket big man and a good one — a one-time All-Star and No. 1 option on a Brooklyn Nets team fighting for relevancy. He was unceremoniously shipped to Los Angeles, where he established little else but confirmation that he was no longer a star to build your roster around.

The Bucks signed him off the scrap heap in 2017, when we discovered he was a building block best fit around a star. In one of the more remarkable career transformations, Lopez made himself into both a floor-spacing shooter and an elite rim protector. His 3-point attempts skyrocketed in his ninth season, rising from roughly none to a handful per game, and he made his first All-Defensive roster at age 31. In his mid-30s now, Lopez remains a safety valve for Milwaukee’s offense and the backbone of its defense.

5. Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers

The fit between Allen and Cavaliers teammate Evan Mobley is a bit wonky, if only because neither big man has expanded his game beyond the 3-point line, but there is no denying Allen’s talent as Cleveland’s fourth-best player. The 26-year-old rim-running and -protecting center made an All-Star team in 2022.

Allen was never expected to be more than he is — an athletic 7-footer who can clean up around the rim on both ends of the floor — and he is damn good for what he is. He has averaged a double-double in 32 minutes per game over the past three seasons, making 65% of his shots. He has improved as a passer. We only want more from Allen because Mobley has not (yet) developed into what prognosticators projected for him. But Allen deserves his flowers, even if he is some other team’s fourth option by season’s end.