Ranking top 5 way-too-early 2023-24 NBA Championship favorites
2. Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics have been one of the top teams in the East for the past few years, but have yet to get over the hump and win a championship yet. However, I feel like it’s almost just a matter of time before they do so. The duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown is one of the best in the league, and as long as they are together the Celtics will be a top 3-5 team in the league in my opinion.
However, there are some questions about whether the duo of Tatum and Brown is good enough to win a title, but I think the criticism of them not winning a title together yet is somewhat overblown. It’s easy to forget that Tatum and Brown are just 25 and 26, respectively. It’s easy to forget that Jokic didn’t win a title this year until he was 28, Giannis didn’t win one until he was 26, the Warriors didn’t win until Steph was 26, and even LeBron did not win a title until he was 27. It’s very tough to win early in the NBA.
Nevertheless, there has been speculation about the future of Jaylen Brown in Boston. Even if the Celtics do decide to move on from Jaylen Brown, they will get quite a return that would likely be heavy on impact players. The Celtics are not going to go into a rebuild. Picks won’t be very important to them. Even though a trade is possible, I honestly believe that the Celtics should bring Tatum and Brown back and just attempt to build a better roster around them. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, both players are still fairly young. The question will be however, whether the Celtics will be ready to give both guys those max contracts (Brown this summer and Tatum next).
In an attempt to upgrade the frontcourt, the Celtics traded Marcus Smart as part of a three-team deal to land Kristaps Porzingis. And they may not be done making improvements to the rest of their roster.
Most of Boston’s rotation from this past year is under contract for next season. Malcolm Brogdon, Derrick White, Al Horford, and Robert Williams all have at least two more years remaining on their deals. While all of those players are talented and important to the team, it would not surprise me if at least one is moved as Boston might look to spice up their team a little.
Grant Williams is the team’s biggest pending Free Agent. Mike Muscala and Payton Pritchard both have team options ($3.5 mil and $4 mil respectively) and then Blake Griffin is also a FA. Everyone else is under contract (although some could be moved in trades).
This will be an offseason full of difficult decisions for the Celtics, but I believe they will be extremely talented next year no matter which moves are made (although what moves are made (if any) might decide whether Boston contends for a title or finally wins one).
As it feels has been the case for the last several years, it looks like Boston will have the talent next year, but the question is can they finally get over the hump and dethrone the defending champs.