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Gman
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Injuries and CV19 conspired to torpedo Boston last season. The Celtics finished a lackluster 36-36 and were quickly drummed out of the playoffs in the 1st round.
Change in the leadership structure soon followed: GM Danny Ainge retired, HC Brad Stevens ascended to GM to replace Ainge, and first time HC Ime Udoka replaces Stevens.
Change too on the court, as (most notably) the Celtics had to forfeit resources to jettison the pricey and declining Kemba Walker. Unfortunately, Kemba's time here in Boston was marred by injury... and the C's decided to cut bait now rather than later.
But with all of this change, perhaps the most important is that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have finally ascended to become the clear-cut best players on the team. No more wondering if Kyrie Irving is in charge, or Kemba Walker... it's the Jay's turn.
I think it's important to note how relatively young both Brown and Tatum are. Jaylen will turn 25 shortly, and Jayson is only 23. They are both entering that delicious young prime phase of their careers... they always had talent, but now they have great experience and their bodies have developed to better compete in a man's league.
Just on those two alone... we still have something good cooking here in Boston. And beyond them, the C's have done a lot to fix their main issue (other than injuries/CV19) from last year: weak depth. As many guys missed time last season, the C's lack of bench offense was really exposed... and the results speak for themselves. But looking down the roster this season, the team has made strides to get more seasoned and quality depth... I firmly believe this overall team is significantly improved from last season.
So what's the real potential here for '21'22? The Celtics (yet again) appear to be sitting in that 2nd tier just beneath true title contention. We're good, perhaps very good... but not "in the mix". Many see this as a 'holding pattern' year and look ahead to Boston being a player to add a 3rd star (Beal?) in '22'23...
... but we've seen the past few season that with a break or two, a "2nd tier" team can ascend and shake up the NBA... (Miami, Milwaukee, Atlanta). It seems like we're due to get lucky after the series of bad breaks we've had recently... but who knows? And let's not forget that "Bartering Brad" has multiple trade exceptions and that a hunt for a 3rd star could possibly be accomplished this season. Stay tuned.
Here are my annual strengths and weaknesses for the Boston Celtics:
Strengths
Change in the leadership structure soon followed: GM Danny Ainge retired, HC Brad Stevens ascended to GM to replace Ainge, and first time HC Ime Udoka replaces Stevens.
Change too on the court, as (most notably) the Celtics had to forfeit resources to jettison the pricey and declining Kemba Walker. Unfortunately, Kemba's time here in Boston was marred by injury... and the C's decided to cut bait now rather than later.
But with all of this change, perhaps the most important is that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have finally ascended to become the clear-cut best players on the team. No more wondering if Kyrie Irving is in charge, or Kemba Walker... it's the Jay's turn.
I think it's important to note how relatively young both Brown and Tatum are. Jaylen will turn 25 shortly, and Jayson is only 23. They are both entering that delicious young prime phase of their careers... they always had talent, but now they have great experience and their bodies have developed to better compete in a man's league.
Just on those two alone... we still have something good cooking here in Boston. And beyond them, the C's have done a lot to fix their main issue (other than injuries/CV19) from last year: weak depth. As many guys missed time last season, the C's lack of bench offense was really exposed... and the results speak for themselves. But looking down the roster this season, the team has made strides to get more seasoned and quality depth... I firmly believe this overall team is significantly improved from last season.
So what's the real potential here for '21'22? The Celtics (yet again) appear to be sitting in that 2nd tier just beneath true title contention. We're good, perhaps very good... but not "in the mix". Many see this as a 'holding pattern' year and look ahead to Boston being a player to add a 3rd star (Beal?) in '22'23...
... but we've seen the past few season that with a break or two, a "2nd tier" team can ascend and shake up the NBA... (Miami, Milwaukee, Atlanta). It seems like we're due to get lucky after the series of bad breaks we've had recently... but who knows? And let's not forget that "Bartering Brad" has multiple trade exceptions and that a hunt for a 3rd star could possibly be accomplished this season. Stay tuned.
Here are my annual strengths and weaknesses for the Boston Celtics:
Strengths
- Versatile, Tough Defense - We should have a top 5 defense, period... especially after trading out Kemba and Fournier for Richardson and Hoford
- Two Allstar Wings - The all-around strength of Brown and Tatum is the backbone of this team
- Improved Depth - I like the platoon we have at PG (Smart, Schroeder, Pritchard)... combined with competent veterans like Richardson, Horford and Kanter we should have some team offense even when Brown or Tatum or both aren't on the floor
- Outside Shooting - Too many sporatic shooters on the depth chart (Smart, Richardson, Horford, Schroeder, Nesmith, Langford) not to call this an area of concern
- Playmaking - In terms of creating offense for others. Brown and Tatum have showed improvement every year they've been in the league, but the last big hurdle they need to clear is demonstrating a consistent ability to get their teammates involved
- Player Development - Even without a 1st round pick last draft, the C's still have a number of young players that need to show improvement... (Grant Williams, Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith)... too many mixed-to-poor results in this category in recent years. A big wildcard this season is whether or not Pritchard, RWIII and the rest already mentioned can make strides or not
