2017-18 Record: 55-27 (2nd in the Eastern Conference)
Players Added: Robert Williams (draft), Brad Wanamaker (free agent), PJ Dozier (free agent), Walter Lemon Jr. (free agent)
Players Lost: Shane Larkin (free agent), Greg Monroe (free agent), Abdel Nader (traded), Jarell Eddie (free agent), Kadeem Allen (waived), Jonathan Gibson (free agent), Xavier Silas (free agent)
Projected Team MVP: Kyrie Irving
In a contract year and after pledging his allegiance to Boston, Kyrie is going to be in prove it mode this season. He watched from the sidelines as Boston fell one game short of an NBA Finals berth, and Irving is certainly ready to show yet again why he’s one of the best point guards in the league.
It’s apparent Irving has bought into Boston’s win-now mentality, and combined with his ball-handling, shot creation and ability to take games over in crunch time, he’ll be the focal point of success for the Celtics this season. Other contenders for MVP on this stacked squad are Gordon Hayward, assuming he begins returning to form in the second half of the year, and Al Horford, who should continue his top-tier play on both ends of the floor.
Team X-Factor: Jayson Tatum
After his electric rookie year, Jayson Tatum is the talk of the town as Boston’s next superstar. While Irving and Hayward are eased back into heavy minutes, Tatum and fellow up-and-comer Jaylen Brown are going to be relied on to keep the ship floating along.
Head coach Brad Stevens is going to make sure Tatum gets his shots, and after a summer of working with Kobe Bryant and others, he’ll be ready to show off how his game has evolved. Marcus Smart is another option as an X-Factor for Boston. His defensive firepower was felt throughout the season, but it was in the playoffs last year, with a return to the floor against the Milwaukee Bucks that he helped lift Boston to make its run through the playoffs.
Terry Rozier is likely looking over his shoulder after Irving’s public commitment to Boston as the next man out of town, and Smart should continue to see heavy minutes as the team’s premier defensive stopper and utility man.
Best Case Scenario: Everything clicks for the full-strength Celtics. Tatum picks up where he left off in the playoffs last year and elevates even higher as one of the top young players in the game. There are enough shots to go around for Brown to take another step forward while Irving and Hayward don’t miss a step in their recovery from respective injuries.
Boston rolls through the regular season without any setbacks, blitzes through Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors and dispatches the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals to hang banner 18. Irving re-signs with Boston at midnight and the Celtics are set for the next five years or so.
Worst Case Scenario: Everything goes to hell almost immediately. Irving is injured on opening night and Hayward never returns to form. Tatum hits a sophomore wall and Brown regresses with not enough shots to go around. Terry Rozier can’t find the magic from last year and at 32 years old, Al Horford has lost a step after last year’s big season.
Nothing seems to work for Brad Stevens and the Celtics take over the No. 4 seed behind Toronto, Indiana and a surprising Milwaukee team led by MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. After winning their opening-round playoff tilt, Boston falls to Toronto in five after the Raptors turn into a juggernaut with Leonard at the helm. Despite all his talk, Kyrie bolts to New York, the Celtics are stuck with Hayward’s inflated salary and Boston is forced to rebuild around Tatum and Brown.
