RealGM

I don't want to come across as being negative but this year's team is actually worse than the one from last year. And yes I realize Brad is probably not done yet but so far this current teams sucks. Teams worse than the Celtics? I would say the Magic, Wizards, Cavaliers and maybe the Wizards and Pistons. Pacers are at around the same level as the Celtics.

I sort feel like we’re at the Ricky Davis/Paul Pierce core Celtics days with our luck and Ainge’s inability to replace Hayward. I think this roster with Richardson for Fournier misses the playoffs. I hope it doesn’t make us an E coast black hole and cost us our duo of Tatum/Brown.

No need for overreactions.
We are still a decent playoff team, I don't get the ones who see us not making it to the postseason. We'll end up in a 3-6 position range depending on injury luck and some other factors.
Last season was a bit disastrous yeah, but it's excusable considering our bad luck with injuries and COVID.
I'm optimistic looking into the new season cause:
1) JT is a real deal. He can carry the load
2) JB is amazing tooooo
3) 2018 playoffs Celtic's soul and mentality is hopefully back with Horfie
4) I believe that at least one of our young pieces will positively surprise us with his play
And I'm okay with Brad counting on the next offseason. Like we're not going to win it anyway this season. Nets or Bucks are still standing. I'd rather have a cap space and hopes for the future then spending all the money on mediocrity.
Empty cap space is much better then having a 30 millions/year Lowry and Max. Contract Butler

This years team will be far better defensively, and with the addition of Richardson and Horford i think will have better ball movement. If Tatum and Brown both take another step forward in their development then they can battle for the 4 spot. Unfortunately thats all best case scenerio and i anticipate some hiccups during the season so i think we rank in the 5 to 6 spot behind the Nets, Bucks, Heat, and Sixers.

This is a play-in team. The starting lineup is pretty good, with all 5 guys that could average 12+ pts/game and all above average defenders. But the bench will be a complete disaster. You've got Langford and Nesmith (a combined 7 ppg last year) as your main wings. People seem to very high on them here but they're still largely unproven and would need to take a huge leap this year to be even considered a rotation staple for a playoff team. Your backup 4s are Grant and Jabari. Yikes. Pritchard is okay but still got quite a few flaws and is inconsistent. We probably might still add a couple more vets but reports of not using the MLE at all and Brad pigeonholed towards chasing Beal next year, there's a good chance we're rolling with this current group.

Between poop and contender

As of now, our roster can't compete with the top 10 teams in the league. They don't come close.

Last year's team was a fluke year. They were better than their record but all the injuries hurt the team's chances of any success.

But I feel this year's team is going to be more fun to watch and surprise some people.

There is a lot that needs to happen for this current roster to be really good.

Here are some of the positives I see:

1. Our bigs should be better. Horford/RWill/Kanter/Bruno
2. Our defense will be better with Smart at PG instead of Kemba. Additions of Horford and Richardson should help.
3. Of of Nesmith and Langford is going to make a jump, if not both.
4. We will be a better passing team with Horford.
5. The unknowns- If Parker is on the team and in shape, there is a chance he has a good year. Yam might surprise people as well and if he isn't ready then Pritchard should also make some progress.
6. Kanter gives us something we didn't have last year, even if it's only for about 15-18 minutes a game. And that is a legit low post scoring option.

So I’m seeing people say top five in the East and I wish I could be as positive. I do expect the Jays to show improvement, maybe Neismith takes the next step, but on top of that I’m just not seeing it. Losing Kemba and Fournier is a big blow, and they both went to the Knicks no less. On paper this team got significantly worse. And we need to stop with the COVID/injuries excuse, a lot of teams had the same issues. I’m just hopeful that some of the young guys can improve and develop some trade value, I have a feeling that’s Brads goal also with the lack of movement.

Patsfan1081 wrote:So I’m seeing people say top five in the East and I wish I could be as positive. I do expect the Jays to show improvement, maybe Neismith takes the next step, but on top of that I’m just not seeing it. Losing Kemba and Fournier is a big blow, and they both went to the Knicks no less. On paper this team got significantly worse. And we need to stop with the COVID/injuries excuse, a lot of teams had the same issues. I’m just hopeful that some of the young guys can improve and develop some trade value, I have a feeling that’s Brads goal also with the lack of movement.

Things do have to break right for us but I don’t think it’s so far fetched. Instead of comparing to last year, I’m really ignoring last year altogether because of not just injuries but just the general detachment of the team. Our team had always been hard nosed and tough competitors, and last year we weren’t. Some of it was tuning out Brad but a lot of it was poor defense, from weak defenders. It was demoralising. On offence we were actually not too bad but still not nearly as efficient as we could have been due to a lot of chucking. To me this is where Kemba hurt us.

So if we can get back to the way we played two years ago, I think we can get back close to a .667 winning pace which is 55 wins. We don’t have Kemba and Hayward but between improvements by the Jays, Al coming back, and if just a couple of young guys step to quality role players I think 50 wins is not nuts. Health is crucial, and other teams have gotten better on paper but pretty much every team thinks that this time of year, and in reality some move up and some go down.

I’m basically giving a mulligan for last year. All we have to do is wipe last year off the books and get back to what we were building before last year’s debacle. We still have that same core, they are still young, and they are still improving.

Realistically this team is a 7-10 seed. Not bad enough to miss the play in tournament but not good enough to miss it either.

I also have us in that 7-10 range, 7th or 8th seed would be my prediction.

Our team is clearly better than last year. Kemba contributed so little due to injury and Brown missed end of season. Covid also cost team so much time and rendered Fournier irrelevent until playoffs.

JRich and Al Horford are major additions. Kemba and TT subtractions will have no impact. Nesmith and possibly Langford are now able to be legit contributors so who knows what impact that could have.

The rest of conference did get better. Bucks, Nets, Heat are top 3 teams. Sixers are a mess but still have great talent. What happens with Simmons will determine if they are clearly ahead of Celtics. NY Knicks way overachieved last year but they did get better and have a great coach. Atlanta also overachieved but they are a team on rise. I think Celtics could be as high as 4 seed or as low as 7 again.

#1 with a bullet.

Probably between 5th - 8th seed.

50+ wins, EC finals. The J's are the best duo in the East, and the defense has been fixed (on paper anyway). Brooklyn, Miami and Atlanta may have better overall rosters, but injuries and other unanticipated things can happen over the course of an 82 game season.

I am usually more pessimistic than you guys , but dang I still see Boston (current roster) as a 3 - 6 seed easy. The loss of Kemba will do a major jumpstart for our defense (major drop off last year) no more over helping which lead to numerous defensive breakdowns.

Tatum will once again take it up a notch. More "down Hill drives" to the Rim and drawing fouls is my prediction.

*Health of course is our Biggest obstacle, but a healthy RW will go along way. Horford is a nice big man compliment to the Js.

Nesmith is the real deal. Defense, shooting and the underrated little things he does will all come together.

**** We have a coach who we all hope can motivate and make our guys play Smarter (J Brown and Smart)

Still torn on getting Denis Schroeder though.

It is a terrible team.

Even Cleveland is better, even with horrible mismanagement they do have two of the best youthful centers.

Detroit has gone past Boston, by a lot if they can find a shooting guard.

Obviously Boston and their four shooting guards starting lineup is very flawed.

Celtics continue to suffer due to their bad 2014 draft. Randle on Boston would mean a balanced roster.

Orlando and the foreign team will continue to tank for high picks. Celtics have refused to get players to improve the team. They are stuck in the boring area where they have no chance of winning and no chance of a high draft pick.

That they want to get rid of fan favorites, like Tacko, shows they won't even do anything to get fans interested.

Surrounding Tatum with three players from the planet BallHogia, plus either R Williams or an elderly and injured Al Pujols, it is not good.

Another wasted year.

At least can look forward to pick 10 instead of the usual pick 14.

Will guess 5th worst in the East.

Two tanking teams are worse. Cavs are better on paper, but if they try three point guards, or even two again, they fall apart. Will guess another team with injuries/turmoil goes bad too, which could be Indiana or Washington or Charlotte.

Meh, the pessimists are out in full force. Two things that I've said before:

1. All young players get older. Some also get better.
2. Defense is as important as offense, and this team got much better defensively.

Last years roster was predicted at 4. This year's team is already better assembled. Balanced with youth size defense and offense. New coach new commitment. Tatum should score 30+ ppg. Brown 25+. They're the scorers. Green light all day. New defensive focus to keep teams under 105 ppg. We should be shooting for 115 ppg. Go for the 3 seed. I like Stevens approach so far. Fix the issues and play to our strengths.

playa-hater wrote:I am usually more pessimistic than you guys , but dang I still see Boston (current roster) as a 3 - 6 seed easy. The loss of Kemba will do a major jumpstart for our defense (major drop off last year) no more over helping which lead to numerous defensive breakdowns.

Tatum will once again take it up a notch. More "down Hill drives" to the Rim and drawing fouls is my prediction.

*Health of course is our Biggest obstacle, but a healthy RW will go along way. Horford is a nice big man compliment to the Js.

Nesmith is the real deal. Defense, shooting and the underrated little things he does will all come together.

**** We have a coach who we all hope can motivate and make our guys play Smarter (J Brown and Smart)

Still torn on getting Denis Schroeder though.

Schroder would be a big get playa. He doesnt shoot it as well as Fournier but he's much better in open space. He gets alot of layups. And will open things up for JT JB and RWill. Should score in the high teens. The depth chart and rotations will be interesting. If anything I hope we play with more pace and urgency. The new coach should prioritize that. Tough d and uptempo o.