Isaiah Thomas is a big check mark. Bradley and Horford are also. A healthy Crowder could be great. Amir is very good and underrated. Smart and Olynyk could be ready to "grow up" like Bradley did. Jerebko looked solid in the playoffs, but he is what he is. I could see him turning into a rotation guy on a championship team.
Jaylen is a rookie, but sometimes they are good. Plus there is Gerald Green who is not Pierce/KG ancient.
Of course we would have to win it all like the rare Pistons team with no so-called superstar. Maybe Isaiah counts. It is a long-shot that way with no diva star, but it is rare to end up with one of the best of the best players anyway. You can't be so cynical to think it can't be done. The whole could be greater than the sum of the parts.
Maybe we will be missing a Kendrick Perkins for those rare games when giant opposing centers pose a threat. That is a big question mark. Amir and Horford are good, but will they be up to the task?
My name is celtics pride on this blog, so you know I am wearing green goggles to think we could win it all as is.
I admit we probably won't, but I would not be surprised if we crack 60 wins. The only potential fireworks I see happening are the Brooklyn pick and a free agent for the following season. The trade rumors we hear about are too risky and usually for both teams.
I believe there are going to be a lot of easy wins.
Each Stevens' year we have started out slow then poured it on in the second half. But those teams were always unbalanced or up in the air and mediocre.
This year we should be able to pile on wins out of the gate.
Seeing that Stevens' teams usually get better as the year proceeds, we should be the talk of the town deep into the playoffs.
Ainge needs to let the GM game come to him and not do anything too risky. He has turned the corner with free agents. He got Al Horford.
Now we need to make the jump from a 48 win team into one that is considered one of the top five teams in the league. I think it's gonna happen. If we are one of the top five teams, then why couldn't we win it all? This is supposed to be a bridge year, but I think it will go much better than that.