Boston Celtics: A fully healthy C’s should dominate the Eastern Conference
If the Boston Celtics head into the 2018-19 NBA season with a clean bill of health, they should be in prime position to dominate the Eastern Conference
Despite falling one game short of knocking off LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs, and representing the Eastern Conference in the 2018 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics we saw last season are nothing like the team we could see in 2018-19.
Assuming health, we could be on the verge of witnessing something special from the Celtics this season.
With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward both returning from injury, this team’s ceiling is, at the very least, an NBA Finals appearance – even had LeBron James stayed in the conference.
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Now that LeBron is in LA, though, the door is open for the Celtics to tear through the conference. With a strong core of Kyrie, Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier, the Celtics have both the top tier talent and depth as good as any team not named the Golden State Warriors in the NBA.
The Celtics should dominate the Eastern Conference during the regular season and playoffs. While there are certainly some other talented teams in the conference, such as the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors, neither of those teams can matchup with the depth that Boston continues to develop.
The scariest part of this Boston team is that we don’t even know what their ceiling is going to be this season. We’ve only seen this team with Hayward, Kyrie and all their youngins on the floor at the same time for only a handful of minutes last season.
And even then, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum weren’t the players that we know they are now. This team is not only versatile, but also has the elite talent that it takes to win big in the NBA.
When he’s on top of his game, Kyrie is one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the NBA. He’s practically unguardable at times, and is arguably the best finisher in the league. Gordon Hayward is one of the most underrated all-around players in the NBA, who often gets forgotten because he missed all of last season with a gruesome leg injury.
Al Horford is one of the best two-way centers/bigs in the league, too. He’s the ideal center for today’s modern game. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown elevated their games so much last season that they could be in the conversation for potential all-star bids.
Terry Rozier might be the best backup point guard in the league and Marcus Smart is an absolute pest on the defensive side of the ball.
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The Boston Celtics are real contenders headed into the new NBA season, and it’s about time the rest of the league is put on notice. We could be on the verge of a very special NBA Finals matchup in 2018-19.