Predict the Celtics' Record/EC Seed 2014-2015

[Clench123]

45 Wins, 6th seed.

Rondo has a career contract year and plays like a top 5 player in the East. We add a rim protector and one of Olynyk, Sullinger, Bradley, Zeller have a break out season. We then add Love at the deadline.

If we don't get Love 40 wins 8th seed.

If we trade Rondo 28 wins

This.

By the way, anybody know when the deadline is?

Second half of February.

Ok.  Thanks.

[Phantom255x]

Point Guard           Rajon Rondo  Marcus Smart   Phil Pressey   
Shooting Guard   Avery Bradley    Marcus Thornton.  James Young   Chris Babb   
Small Forward.    Jeff Green.  Gerald Wallace. Chris Johnson   Keith Bogans
Power Forward.   Jared Sullinger   Brandon Bass   Kelly Olynyk   
Center                  Tyler Zeller   Vitor Faverani

This team can win 40+ games in this eastern conference.

I don't think the Celtics will keep Bogans and his 5.3M, probably Iverson or Moser get in. Still, there is potential for 40+ wins, there are a lot of IFS. It can be a 25 win season or a 45 win season. I think if Smart and Young average 8-10 points a game, Zeller plays solid, Rondo plays like an all-star, sully and Olynyk are effective at the PF position, and Green+Bass avg 10-15 pts a game, we have a good shot at the playoffs. Again, that's a big IF tho.

[RJ87]

So many "if's" to really answer... If Zeller can carry over what he did at the end of last season, he may just end up being the best center we've had since Shaq (that's not setting the bar too high. His stiffest competition is the corpse of Jermaine O'Neal). I'm going to make a bold statement and say Marcus will be the starting 2-guard on opening night. Still don't know what to expect from Smart on the offensive end, but I think he'll beat Avery out in training camp. Still no traditional rim protector, but our perimeter defense should be very good. A lot will depend on what we get out of Sully and Olynyk. If one of them can take another step, we should be solid.

I'm going to pencil us in for .500 ball.

[Cman]

With the roster as of July 14, 2014: 20-30 Wins.

[LarBrd33]

30 wins 12th seed

[celticsclay]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

[blink]

my guess is 32-38 wins.  a bit out of the the playoffs at 9th or 10th place.
but some improvement.  the roster is better, the coach is more experienced, full time Rondo back, talented rookies.  I can't see how we aren't at least 6-8 more wins than last year.

[LarBrd33]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

Celtics were 6-24 in games Rondo played.

I changed my mind...  if Rondo plays the full season, we'll win 16 games.

[celticsclay]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

Celtics were 6-24 in games Rondo played.

I changed my mind...  if Rondo plays the full season, we'll win 16 games.

Great point!

[Cman]

There will likely be some improvement with Rondo back the full season, and more or less healthy.
But I think there are a number of other teams that will be hard to beat. Yes the Heat got a bit worse, but Cleveland got better, as did the Wizards, and Detroit. I'm just not sure that the Cs can beat that many of the other teams out there.... hence the 20-30 win projection.

[Fred Roberts]

42-40, 7th seed. Taking the glass half full angle here.

*C's were the 'hard fought loss' crew last year. I don't believe they were trying their hardest to win (duh), and even then, they were for the most part semi-competitive. This year they are healthier and will ball out trying to get W's.
*We had no center to speak of.

Every player on the roster (other than Wallace, Green, Anthony & Bass) and the coaching staff should be better than last year. Bradley, Rondo, Sully, KO and Fav ought to give us more than they did last season. Zeller, Smart, Thornton and Young are interesting new additions.

There will be a trade to consolidate the roster most likely, and potentially add another vet, and I think this will all add to what we've got. Hey - maybe Crash and Thornton have bounce back seasons? I am excited to see this team.

[Smokeeye123]

1. Chicago
2. Cavs
3. Washington
4. Raptors
5. Hawks
6. Heat
7. Nets
8. Hornets

9. Pacers
10. Magic
11. Knicks
12. Celtics
13. Pistons
14. Bucks
15. 76ers

[Smokeeye123]

Celtics (If no Love deal goes down) will be tanking again. Expect Ainge to unload Bass, maybe before the season even starts, and possibly Green too. I think Rondo stays unless a team gives us a steal of a trade proposal.

Also people are insane to think the Nets wont make the playoffs. Lopez, Dwill, and Johnson are enough to make the sixth seed unless one of them is injured.

[celticsclay]

Celtics (If no Love deal goes down) will be tanking again. Expect Ainge to unload Bass, maybe before the season even starts, and possibly Green too. I think Rondo stays unless a team gives us a steal of a trade proposal.

Also people are insane to think the Nets wont make the playoffs. Lopez, Dwill, and Johnson are enough to make the sixth seed unless one of them is injured.

You realize Lopez has played in 96 games in the last 3 seasons combined?
Deron has only played in over 65 games once in the last 4 seasons.
Johnson has been the healthiest of the bunch, but also just turned 33 and has a ton of career minutes under his belt. It would be a bit of a minor miracle if all 3 of them did stay healthy.

[twistedrico]

Its hard to make this prediction now, because the roster is not set in stone.  As the team looks today with a healthy Rondo, Sullinger, and Bradley, I'd say 42-44 wins, 6 to 8 seed