ESPN Title Forecast - Boston 5th most likely to win title

[Tr1boy]

The gates are open. Celtics are in the middle of the pack ready for a furious final push

That push may come if Jaylen Brown is the next special player or a major acquisition by the trade deadline occurs

[dannyboy35]

back in the summer of 2014, Simmons believed Stevens might go back to college bball and that we had no chance in the playoffs.

and now we might be the second best team in the East.

Well, I think if the team had failed to sign Horford and the picks coming from the Nets weren't likely to yield such high-caliber prospects, there might be a chance of Stevens moving on. 

As for the playoffs, the Celts have made the playoffs two years in a row now, but it's not as if they've been impressive there, winning 2/10 games.

Kinda sucks we came so very close to having a legitimate contender with a legitimate chance to win the title and stay a contender for the foreseeable future.  But instead Durant picked Golden State and tipped the balance of the NBA ridiculously in their favor on a pretty unprecedented level.  Now, we might indeed be the 5th best team in this league (Horford addition is huge), but there's such a chasm between the Golden State and the rest that we might as well be talking about trying to win a gold medal against Team USA's basketball team in the Olympics.    We'll have to settle for Bronze/Eastern COnference Finals at best.

Yeah, this. Big bummer he didn't come here but , to me too, a terrible result for the league that he went to golden state. I'm picturing interviews if Durant with confetti coming down and it's all like, well Ofcourse you win the title. Just no drama and a celebration for one person will be taking place all over espn/ abc. Booooring.

[dannyboy35]

Ofcourse I'm rooting for team USA but I don't like watching cuz every time I see Durant laughing I think, " he's gross and he messed up the league I love."

[Rondo9]

back in the summer of 2014, Simmons believed Stevens might go back to college bball and that we had no chance in the playoffs.

and now we might be the second best team in the East.

Well, I think if the team had failed to sign Horford and the picks coming from the Nets weren't likely to yield such high-caliber prospects, there might be a chance of Stevens moving on. 

As for the playoffs, the Celts have made the playoffs two years in a row now, but it's not as if they've been impressive there, winning 2/10 games.

What is the point of comments like this? That is just two giant steps from reality and you could say it about every team. If Lebron hadn't gone back to Cleveland and Kyrie couldn't stay healthy Cleveland would still be in the lottery....

Horford was about $5 million away from re-signing with Atlanta, so there's that.

Not such a stretch to imagine the Celts not signing a max free agent this summer.

And as for the Nets picks, it's been argued to death, but it was conceivable in 2014 that those picks might end up closer to the back half of the top 10 / late lottery, as opposed to yielding a top 3 pick this year, and probably another top 5 pick next year.


The point being, not such an outrageous thing to suggest, back in 2014, that the Celts might stall out a bit.

Okay.... but it didn't happen and Atlanta didn't really seem to be interested in giving Horford the max.

[PhoSita]

Atlanta didn't really seem to be interested in giving Horford the max.

This isn't accurate.  That makes it sound like Atlanta was happy to let him go, or that what they offered him was far away from what he wanted.

The negotiations reportedly came down to the wire, and for whatever reason Atlanta balked at offering the final $5 million on a 5 year deal that would've been worth well over $100 million.  It's odd, really.  But there's no basis for saying that the two sides were far apart, or that Atlanta didn't want to pay big bucks to bring Horford back.



I'm super thrilled that the Celts landed Horford.  I didn't expect it to happen.  It was a huge accomplishment for Ainge and the Celts brass that they convinced a player of Horford's stature to come to Boston.  Let's not pretend it was a foregone conclusion that they'd be able to pull off a move like that.

[Rondo9]

Atlanta didn't really seem to be interested in giving Horford the max.

This isn't accurate.  That makes it sound like Atlanta was happy to let him go, or that what they offered him was far away from what he wanted.

The negotiations reportedly came down to the wire, and for whatever reason Atlanta balked at offering the final $5 million on a 5 year deal that would've been worth well over $100 million.  It's odd, really.  But there's no basis for saying that the two sides were far apart, or that Atlanta didn't want to pay big bucks to bring Horford back.



I'm super thrilled that the Celts landed Horford.  I didn't expect it to happen.  It was a huge accomplishment for Ainge and the Celts brass that they convinced a player of Horford's stature to come to Boston.  Let's not pretend it was a foregone conclusion that they'd be able to pull off a move like that.

That's what I said, they wanted to keep him but they offered Horford less than he wanted. Prioritizing the likes of Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore over Horford.

[mctyson]

They should be at least 5th.  I don't see why Boston couldn't challenge Cleveland in the East, and Cleveland is the defending champ.

We are greatly underrating the addition of Horford to a team that should have won 50 games, and beat both Cleveland and GSW on the road.  This same team has all the potential trade chips it needs to add another star at the deadline. 

I am excited to see what they can do.

[PhoSita]

Atlanta didn't really seem to be interested in giving Horford the max.

This isn't accurate.  That makes it sound like Atlanta was happy to let him go, or that what they offered him was far away from what he wanted.

The negotiations reportedly came down to the wire, and for whatever reason Atlanta balked at offering the final $5 million on a 5 year deal that would've been worth well over $100 million.  It's odd, really.  But there's no basis for saying that the two sides were far apart, or that Atlanta didn't want to pay big bucks to bring Horford back.



I'm super thrilled that the Celts landed Horford.  I didn't expect it to happen.  It was a huge accomplishment for Ainge and the Celts brass that they convinced a player of Horford's stature to come to Boston.  Let's not pretend it was a foregone conclusion that they'd be able to pull off a move like that.

That's what I said, they wanted to keep him but they offered Horford less than he wanted. Prioritizing the likes of Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore over Horford.

They wanted to sign Horford for less than he wanted, sure, but to say they "weren't interested" in offering him what he wanted is a gross oversimplification. 

Again, my point is that Atlanta made every indication that they wanted to retain Horford, even if they drew a bizarre arbitrary line in the sand just a little bit short of the five year max.  Every thing I've read has said it was a tough decision for Horford that came down to the wire, even so.