Ime Udoka is gone, for now. Joe Mazzulla is here, for now. The Boston Celtics are elite, for now.
Will the reigning Eastern Conference championships climb the mountain again? They’ve retained their core of stars and added veteran pieces at spots exposed in last year’s finals. Yet, organizational uncertainty clouds their future.
Last year, Udoka’s first as Boston’s head coach, the Celtics went 51-31. Their loss in the finals, a six-game series against the Golden State Warriors, was the closest the current core had been to hoisting the trophy. Yet, legitimate flaws were exposed, and promptly addressed in the ensuing offseason.
Will their additions be enough to top a tough Eastern Conference?
Boston’s Stars Offer a Promising Path
If there’s one thing Celtics fans can hang their hat on, it’s that their core is young, talented, and able to compete with any team’s across the NBA landscape. Jayson Tatum and his patented left-wing buzzer beaters will lead the way. He remains one of the handful of players that you can comfortably win a championship with.
Tatum is the full package as an offensive threat and has the competitive gene to match. He’s a better defender than most scorers of his lethality, too.
Strong defense is the key to Boston’s success, and it continues with their secondary star. Jaylen Brown is another effective scorer and known as one of the smartest players in the league. He isn’t the natural playmaker Tatum is, but where he lacks in creativity, he makes up for with the ability to defend the best ball handler the opponent can offer.
What makes them so good, though, is that he rarely has too.
Defending Their Eastern Conference Title
Brown is Boston’s second best backcourt defender. Marcus Smart has been relentless since his days at Oklahoma State. They’ve forgiven his cold streaks because of his ability to impact the game through contested shots and created turnovers. Smart has developed as a shooter and as a playmaker, but like his victims, he falls vulnerable to turnovers too often for the Celtics to feel comfortable with him running point.
As a result, they acquired Malcolm Brogdon. He’s the inverse of Smart in a handful of ways, most obvious being his facilitation prowess and struggles on the defensive end. He won’t be asked to carry too much of the load, but should play a big role in finding windows Smart couldn’t and keeping possessions on track.
Elsewhere, Robert Williams III headlines their frontcourt, but is expected to miss more than a month to start the season. The burden of rim protection will lie on Al Horford, Blake Griffin, and whichever smaller defenders they chose to help make up the difference. Their experiments in his absence may hinder the start to their season.
It must be noted that Boston’s roster is well-rounded and certifiably deep. A bench that includes Derrick White and Grant Williams is one ready for postseason play, and can amply fill in if a star is to go down. They can stand to add a slashing guard to the rotation, but this team is very, very good. Danilo Gallinari will rehab close with the team, too, and hopes to make an impact this season once fully recovered from his ACL tear.
Of course, the talent on the court won’t be the only factor determining the Celtics’ success. Udoka’s suspension and the uncertainty around it is a cloud handing over TD Garden. Handling the adversity of a season when off-court issues (serious ones at that) are constantly looming is no small task. We simply don’t know how this will play out, and while it is unlikely to tank such a talented team, it could very well stick around.
Will Boston Make the Playoffs?
DraftKings has the Celtics tied for the best odds to win the championship, at +600.
Vegas trusts that their stars will lead the way and the rest of us probably should as well. They are -3500 to make the playoffs and a conference-best +290 to win the East. Boston is a juggernaut when fully healthy and focused. Their additions directly addressed their weakest points and provided insurance for a marathon of a season.
Of the upper-level teams, few can sustain body blows in games like the Celtics, and even fewer can adequately deal with injuries to their stars. From an on-court perspective, there are minimal reasons to fade them.
Good organizations win out in the long run. Expect Boston to follow suit.