We Will Be Champions Next Year, Right? Right?

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Up to ownership to pay up. What's this team costing Golden State? 178 million. 40 million more than the Celtics. Pay up Wyc and company!

Why should they?  Their rationale might be that "we fell 2 games short of #18 with numerous injuries".  Run it back with a healthier and wiser team.  It's not my rationale, I'm projecting what Wyc might be thinking.

if he cannot see major upgrades and changes aplenty are needed he needs to go. hit the road wyc if you will not invest to win.

[nyceltsfan]

I know I am going to sound like Debbie Downer, but this team, IMO, is miles away from being a championship team.  They have 2 stars with major flaws, no true point guard and no offense outside of their stars, not to mention no bench at all.

To make matters worse, they are hamstrung by the cap and have no picks to improve the roster.

Finally, if you look at the success they had this year, it came from defensive versatility and defensive prowess.

Every time I think about what can happen for this team to improve, I start with thinking about trading Smart or Al.  There are problems that arise with either thought.  I cannot come up with a true point guard that can come close to impacting the game defensively like Smart does.  On top of that, Smart's shooting has improved and his shot selection has improved.  Any move with Smart going out and a "true" point guard coming in (aside from maybe a Chris Paul or Jrue Holiday - both unattainable) will be a lateral move at best.  The offense will get better and the defense will suffer.

Trading Horford will be difficult because he makes more than he is worth.  Also, what he provides to the Celtics is more defensive versatility and the ability to stretch the floor.  Once again, what can the C's do to make a move to improve the roster and team chemistry?  I don't see it happening with moving Horford.

Perhaps the best and most tradeable asset outside of the Jays is Robert Williams.  He is on a good contract.  However, he must already be one of the top 10-12 centers in the game and he makes up for mistakes and gambles on the defensive end.  A trade of Robert Williams may end up hurting the team.

I think we are stuck with what we have and our only chance is improvement from within.  Tatum and Brown have to step up their games.  Smart needs to play smarter on the offensive end and turn into a true point guard.  Grant Williams needs to continue to improve.  Derrick White needs to work on his shot.  Pritchard needs to spend time learning how to run the offense.

Finally, the best improvement that can be made would be if Nesmith can turn into a legitimate NBA player.  He has the tools, but lacks confidence.

I'm happy to hear anyone's thoughts on the above, but I just feel like we are stuck with what we have, while the rest of the East has the ability to improve.

[Phantom255x]

If we make the right moves and commit to adding 1-2 more impact players (even off the bench) which would get us well into luxury tax range, then I believe so. People bring up the recent 12-year gap which is fair, but we knew the Big 3 era wasn't going to last that much longer and they still got close to reaching it again in 2012. Then after that, it was basically a 4-5 year rebuild in-between and a few years with those IT4 teams.

We're still a young group and I believe in Udoka. You don't have to make any significant trades, but if you mostly run it back while supplementing the roster with additional talent (another reliable big to replace Theis, another solid scoring option off the bench) then you absolutely are right there in the mix again.

[action781]

Yall are crazy and need to take a breather.

We are a young team that is going to get better just based on player development.  It won't be easy to win a title.  Milwaukee is a force.  Who knows what happens in Brooklyn or with the players in Brooklyn.  There are some strong teams in the West as well.  But based on how we finished out this regular season and postseason, with all these guys back, Boston is certainly a top title contender next season.

For every negative thing you all want to find to say about this team, 28/30 teams have at least 1 more negative thing that can be said.

[celts55]

I have to vote no. I truly believe they were lucky to get to the finals this year.

I don’t see they have the pieces to trade for a third scorer they desperately need.

Maybe Nesmith steps up, and off topic, he should have gotten some run in the finals. It wasn’t like anyone on the beach played well.

Maybe Tatum looks in the mirror and decides to improve his game. As far as I can see, he’s pretty much the same player he’s been for the last couple of years. Can go on stretchers where he plays like an all-pro, but disappears when needed. He’s an all star I guess, but not a top 10 player. He could be I think, but appears to lack mental toughness and the work ethic to get better.

Maybe Brown stops dribbling into traffic and turning the ball over. I will say, he seems to improve each year, except free throws for some reason. I have more hope for him then Tatum. He might have turned the ball over way too much, but at least he wanted the ball and tried to be aggressive.

Maybe Williams can stay healthy, and develop any kind of offense move. Love his defense, but needs more than lops.

Maybe they can get a bench. White is okay but totally inconsistent. Prichard could be a descent scorer off the bench, but needs to be more aggressive. After that?? I freely admit, I don’t get the Grant love. He has an occasional good game, but it’s pretty rare, and like Tatum spends way too much time complaining to the refs.

Maybe Smart can be a starting point guard, but I don’t see it. His bbiq is not impressive. Way too many poor decisions, forced passes, and terrible shot selection. I know he was voted DOY, but I honestly don’t see it. He certainly didn’t shut down Curry or anyone else I can remember and passed him off on switches when he didn’t need to. Perhaps that Ime’s plan, but it was weak.


I could go on, and I guess it makes me feel a little better to vent. All in all, this team went a lot further than I believe they should have.

If things don’t change dramatically, I don’t see them back in the finals

[jpotter33]

I'm sure we'll be competitive. Whether the stars align again, in terms of our group being injury free, and whether they take the learnings from this finals run, and whether our competition improves, and whether Brad chooses to make changes to the team and if so what they are, will all impact whether we make it to the Finals again. It's not easy to make the Finals, and even harder to win a championship. As they just found out. You can be the better team on paper but it's about who plays better when the pressure is on.

But we have a chance. And in this league, that's the best you can hope for. That's what we will spend all next season trying to find out, how good that chance is 

People got to stop saying this and not giving us the credit we deserve. We had two starters miss numerous games throughout the playoffs, with neither of them clearly fully healthy at any point. Also our star was clearly affected by injuries, too.

Not sure why everyone wants to point to other teams’ injuries and downplay our own. GS may not even had made it to the finals without Ja going down. Milwaukee doesn’t win last year without Brooklyn injuries.

[slamtheking]

I think the team will be in the hunt to get to the finals but they're definitely not the favorites to get there or win it without some serious roster and coaching changes. 

Improvement from the J's, Grant, TL, PP and Nesmith will only go so far.  Smart and White are who they are -- PGs that are not reliable scorers or particularly good at running an offense.  Team needs to seriously address the bench depth -- we got nothing out of the bench for most of the finals.  Also need to address the coaching philosophy on offense.  horrible offense that cannot score in the half court unless the team is having an atypical hot shooting night.

[droopdog7]

We open about 6.5 to 1 to odds of not being champs much higher

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I know I am going to sound like Debbie Downer, but this team, IMO, is miles away from being a championship team.  They have 2 stars with major flaws, no true point guard and no offense outside of their stars, not to mention no bench at all.

To make matters worse, they are hamstrung by the cap and have no picks to improve the roster.

Finally, if you look at the success they had this year, it came from defensive versatility and defensive prowess.

Every time I think about what can happen for this team to improve, I start with thinking about trading Smart or Al.  There are problems that arise with either thought.  I cannot come up with a true point guard that can come close to impacting the game defensively like Smart does.  On top of that, Smart's shooting has improved and his shot selection has improved.  Any move with Smart going out and a "true" point guard coming in (aside from maybe a Chris Paul or Jrue Holiday - both unattainable) will be a lateral move at best.  The offense will get better and the defense will suffer.

Trading Horford will be difficult because he makes more than he is worth.  Also, what he provides to the Celtics is more defensive versatility and the ability to stretch the floor.  Once again, what can the C's do to make a move to improve the roster and team chemistry?  I don't see it happening with moving Horford.

Perhaps the best and most tradeable asset outside of the Jays is Robert Williams.  He is on a good contract.  However, he must already be one of the top 10-12 centers in the game and he makes up for mistakes and gambles on the defensive end.  A trade of Robert Williams may end up hurting the team.

I think we are stuck with what we have and our only chance is improvement from within.  Tatum and Brown have to step up their games.  Smart needs to play smarter on the offensive end and turn into a true point guard.  Grant Williams needs to continue to improve.  Derrick White needs to work on his shot.  Pritchard needs to spend time learning how to run the offense.

Finally, the best improvement that can be made would be if Nesmith can turn into a legitimate NBA player.  He has the tools, but lacks confidence.

I'm happy to hear anyone's thoughts on the above, but I just feel like we are stuck with what we have, while the rest of the East has the ability to improve.

get me JOKIC to go with JB and JT. OMG.

we would have no money left and only G leagers behind those 3 right? LOLOL

[Rondo9]

I have to vote no. I truly believe they were lucky to get to the finals this year.

I don’t see they have the pieces to trade for a third scorer they desperately need.

Maybe Nesmith steps up, and off topic, he should have gotten some run in the finals. It wasn’t like anyone on the beach played well.

Maybe Tatum looks in the mirror and decides to improve his game. As far as I can see, he’s pretty much the same player he’s been for the last couple of years. Can go on stretchers where he plays like an all-pro, but disappears when needed. He’s an all star I guess, but not a top 10 player. He could be I think, but appears to lack mental toughness and the work ethic to get better.

Clearly you have not followed Tatum if you said that.

[slamtheking]

one of the concerns I have about next season is will this team be able to play D at the same level they play the second half of this season.  How will Al hold up?  how about TL?  they only did it for half a season -- is this something they can keep up for an entire season?  I'm more than a bit skeptical that we'll see the same effort on D that we saw this year. 

overall, I think the chances we regress as a team are almost as likely as the chances we improve (where we are clearly a favorite to get back to the Finals rather than just a team that has a chance at it)

[Vermont Green]

It is no given that the Celtics will even make it to the finals again.  Look at PHO last season.  They didn't get back to the finals.

I don't see a lot of change for the top teams.  Is MIL going to change much?  GSW get Wiseman.  But I think most of the top teams will have more or less the same core as they had this season.  Every team will have some player movement but I don't see a whole lot of stars or real impact players moving.

The Celtics will get better by individual players getting better.  Another year to build on Ime's systems.  Maybe they get lucky with a FA who blossoms.  But I don't foresee big changes.  The Lakers maybe trade Westbrook but probably not.  The Lakers could be better just by being healthy.

The Celtics will be in a good position but probably won't be the favorites/

[Kuberski33]

You've got teams you narrowly beat out - Milwaukee, Miami + Philly all trying to get better. And they're not run by idiots. Chicago made strides. Brooklyn still has Durant and Kyrie. And Toronto is one or two pieces away from contending and also has a GM who knows what he's doing. There are no guarantees. And that's before you think about major injuries, star players wanting out to play with their friends etc.

Brad could decide to return to coaching and Ime could hate the new GM and want out himself.  There's lots of stuff that can go wrong.

That's why this was such a missed opportunity. The Jays may never make it back to the Finals. A lot has to go right to even win a conference.

[keevsnick]

Its certainly possible, although not a certainty.

I think looking ahead at the east BOS should be cofavorites with MIL right now to win the east. BRK could be really good, but huge questions about spots 4-10 on that team. PHI and MIA have significant injury concerns and performance decline possibility due to age and James harden being fat.

BOS needs one more rotation level wing shooter, a ring chasing vet PG and maybe one depth big if they dump Theis.

[SparzWizard]

C's need to go all in and get as many rotational players as possible. Grab some offense.

We may not see the Finals for another 10 years thanks to how stacked the East is