Andrew McCeltic wrote:Not sure what to expect from this year's team.. the mood is better, but I think it'll be a big test immediately to see how much weight some of the players can bear. If Brown and Tatum truly step up, we could be a 55+ win team. I'm worried they both need at least another year - Tatum to develop physically, Brown to develop his skills. We're also going to be leaning on young and unproven players across the roster - Rozier's out, Edwards is in, plus Langford - Baynes, Horford and Morris are gone from the front court, where we're going to gamble on Grant Williams at the 4, Rob Williams, Poirier, Theis, and Kanter at the 5. A great opportunity for Ojeleye to step up and be counted, I hope he grabs it.
It looks to me like a developmental year, 45 wins, with Kemba and Hayward as better versions for us of guys like Amir Johnson, or Reddick for the Sixers - good enough and smart enough to keep us competitive and provide leadership and consistency through the team's ups and downs. Smart, if his shot's truly locked in, is a veteran presence, too.
More than 45 wins will take some precociousness from the Williams, career defense from Kanter, consistency from Tatum, without a breakdown in muscle mass over the course of the season, and a step up from either Jaylen or Langford as a scoring threat. Or, I guess, Smart.
We look more set up to trade away Hayward, Kanter, Theis, maybe Jaylen for younger assets than to make a splash getting someone like Beal. My bet is that we have some ups and downs and maybe make some trades that look like lateral moves and wreck chemistry. Hope I'm surprised.
Well for one, i’m really excited with the upcoming season, and all the possibilities for our team. First of, we replaced kyrie with kemba. Kyrie may have been a better talent, but fit and chemistry matters. Kemba may have been used to shoulder the load in charlotte, as evident with his iso mentality in the recent fiba, i think he can be a good playmaker here in boston. He’s coachable, humble and very likable. Next, we expect Hayward, to return to form this season. I’m sure he will be more confident and aggressive. When fully healthy, he can be our best player. Tatum and Brown can definitely take a leap this season. Especially Tatum, after that humbling experience last year. Both those guys have the tools to be really good offensively and defensively. I expect Brown to take a leap defensively. Smart with brown and Tatum can be really disruptive defensively with their length and athleticism. Kanter gives us another offensive option that we don’t have for years. His ability to post up gives us an inside outside option, that we don’t have with Horford and Baynes. I used to hate horford with his pick n pop on top of the key just outside the 3pt line. He may have hit them at a decent rate, but it’s still a low percentage shot, and we have less chance of getting an offensive board, with our big guy camping outside the 3pt line. I think Brad will be the key to our season. I’m positive he can develop kemba and kanter into decent defenders, or at least improve our team defense even with the two. I think we can be a top 3 team in the east easily if things works out. We have a better lineup than the nets minus KD, the raps and pacers. If a team of Lillard and CJ, can be top three in a loaded west, we can easily be in the east. or we could struggle with chemistry and Brad continue to suck as last season
Either way, can’t wait for the season to start. Good vibes this time!
