Well, I'll venture an honest reply. I don't believe that without KG this team is a championship contender. That doesn't mean that I would not be ecstatic if somehow this team wins number 18 this year (injuries to Howard, Lebron and Kobe would do it), but we are just not one of the best 2 teams right now and we'll have to go through 2 (maybe 3) better teams to win. In the NBA, it's very hard for a less talented team to prevail in a seven game series -- especially without HCA.
I said at the beginning of the year that the rest is gravy after winning #17 last year. When we traded for KG, I prayed for ONE championship and although I will root with insane enthusiasm for more, I am genuinely satisfied with the KG era already.
My final point is that I hate the Lakers almost as much as I love the C's. I'm not proud of that, as it is silly to feel that passionately negative about a team. But, since I do feel that way, I deeply dread the thought of the Lakers beating the C's in the finals (my nightmare) -- as would happen in my opinion without KG. And, since I think the only thing that brings us to the FInals is an injury to LeBron, I am feeling myself gearing up for a rapid and temporary morphing into a Cavaliers fan. If it can't be a Celtics win, then my heart is all about 'beat LA'. I want #18 bad, but I want no part of Laker #15.