Does anyone believe Boston will be even more dangerous ....

[TreyAllen34]

Celtics will 3-Peat

[TommyPoints]

Celtics will 3-Peat

"ANYTHING'S POSSIBLE!"

[Dr Aki]

celtics got 1-2 years remaining of playing at their best before the decline in their big 3 outweighs the improvement in their role players

it pretty much goes without saying that theyll be top of the EC for at least that timeframe

of course, celtics arent the only team challenging in those 1-2 years, lakers will have add additional dimensions to their lineup with bynum and ariza coming back fit

and if boston dont offer posey their full MLE, another contending team *cough* such as the lakers will

especially if artest isnt opting out, and it doesnt look like he will

[Frosty]

especially if artest isnt opting out, and it doesnt look like he will

Yah, he still seems a little wishy washy on if he would opt out to play for LA

Ireland: “Would you be willing to take less money to go to a contender?”

Artest: “Oh, never. Not in a million years. Actually, not in 10 million years.”

Ireland: “Really?”

Artest: “Make that more like 3 million years.”

[greenbeans]

What I do know is that every yr the odds of injury increase and that just like the last Celtics big 3 these guys are pretty much untradable and strap the Celtics for many yrs to come.

Ainge has said publicly that if he were the gm of the 80's teams he wouoldve traded some of the big 3 before they were out of their primes.

[JordansBulls]

I don't think the Celtics will win 66 games next year, but I do believe they will get 60 wins. Maybe between 60-64 wins. However, if they win 60 games, will that be good enough for HC Advantage throughout the playoffs?

Really a team that has won a championship doesn't depend on homecourt as much as a team that has not, however whenever a team is a top seed in a conference they are the favorites to win it all.

[triplet1984]

Boston will be a title contender next year.
The year after that, they will be good, but not a title contender.
Third year, they will be mediocre.

[hoop_head]

James Posey. Boston needs to keep him, his contributions coming off the bench are fairly significant.

[TommyPoints]

Boston will be a title contender next year.
The year after that, they will be good, but not a title contender.
Third year, they will be mediocre.

That is just silly and there is no way to predict what the team will even look like.

[Teen Girl Squad]

I agree its silly to predict it like that. I think they will definitely be in the mix next year and years after will depend on how the youngsters develop/continue to develop.

[microfib4thewin]

If the Celtics want to win a title again, they have to do it next year. Not saying that I can predict two years ahead, but with the Big 3's contract they really can't make any moves aside from MLE and signing for veteran minimums. Having the roster on deadlock is a great disadvantage, so the chances of them repeating are grossly overestimated.

[KyleCleric]

If the Celtics want to win a title again, they have to do it next year. Not saying that I can predict two years ahead, but with the Big 3's contract they really can't make any moves aside from MLE and signing for veteran minimums. Having the roster on deadlock is a great disadvantage, so the chances of them repeating are grossly overestimated.

talk of a slide to mediocrity or worse is grossly premature ...

[Th3TrueDynesty]

I agree with what everyone is saying about James Posey, if he's not on the team that's a huge loss for them and they probably wont repeat.

[DEEP3CL]

The Celtics may be still good next season, but as far as being dangerous that's stretching it. As past champs know every team will play them tough game in and game out. Great teams are going to play them even greater, good teams will play great and bad teams will play good.

Bottom line is it all depends on the make up of their roster next season. If they lose Posey who do they replace him with ? And you can count on Cassell, House and may be Brown being gone . Young tender Celtic fans seem to think they're about to go off on some 4 to 5 year run of titles while real more mature guys who know ball know that is the far from the truth.

While it is easy to point to the obvious things like age and future injuries, the root of their problems may lay in the fact that finances will play a role more down the line then any other reason. People have to realize that in this modern era of basketball it's only been 4 franchises to repeat. Those teams are the Bulls ( 2 3-peats), the Lakers ( 1 back to back and a 3-peat) , the Rockets ( 1 back to back) and Pistons ( 1 back to back).

And that's starting from 1987 and 88 with the Lakers first repeat, so were talking 21 years and only 4 repeat champions. Don't get this twisted I'm not saying the Celtics can't do it but it's other factors involved then just players going on the court and playing. The business side more then anything is what broke down all 4 of those teams. Finances in the league have gotten tougher each decade and the free agency process has gotten even stiffer with just trying to sign second tier players. Most teams put all their hopes on using the MLE and BAE to pursue free agents.

Bottom line is if the Celtics want to continue this run they better spend wisely and draft well because money will be a factor as with all good teams.

[KyleCleric]

this anti-celtic crap is just wishful thinking ...

[Cracked Fingers]

Depends on their FA vets. House, Posey, and PJ killed LA. They need to keep at least two of those.

[P2]

As long as the Acting Amigos are together and Posey is retained you can't completely dismiss Boston's chance to repeat, but a lot depends on what they do with the MLE. The Celtics are going to have to upgrade at the point guard position as well as get another quality big man since ET and PJ Brown aren't going to cut it next year.

There shouldn't be a problem for the current Champions to find a quality backup PG.

[Frosty]

The Celtics may be still good next season, but as far as being dangerous that's stretching it. As past champs know every team will play them tough game in and game out. Great teams are going to play them even greater, good teams will play great and bad teams will play good.

So? Someone needs to beat them in the playoffs.

While it is easy to point to the obvious things like age and future injuries, the root of their problems may lay in the fact that finances will play a role more down the line then any other reason. People have to realize that in this modern era of basketball it's only been 4 franchises to repeat. Those teams are the Bulls ( 2 3-peats), the Lakers ( 1 back to back and a 3-peat) , the Rockets ( 1 back to back) and Pistons ( 1 back to back).

And that's starting from 1987 and 88 with the Lakers first repeat, so were talking 21 years and only 4 repeat champions.

You realize that in the time frame you quoted, most of those 20 years saw repeat champions. Something like 15 out of 20 years.

I don't think anyone says they will win 4 straight but they should be contenders for at least the next 2.

[Curmudgeon]

Well obviously the challenge for Boston is whether or not they can rebuild on the fly and remain competitive when the "big three" start to decline.