Celtics Season Predictions: Larry Bird Is Not Walking Through That Door!
Jeremy Gottlieb, BDC Staff Record: 27-55 Playoffs Y/N: No Place in Division / Conference: Fourth in Atlantic Division, 13th in Eastern Conference The Skinny: The Celts may win a couple more games than they did last year as a result of the younger guys getting a little better as the year wears on and Brad Stevens’ tremendous coaching ability. But no go-to guy, no true big man and a roster that looks to remain in flux all year long will doom them to another lost season. Celtics Sixth Man: Marcus Smart NBA Champion: LA Clippers League MVP: Blake Griffin
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Adam Kaufman, BDC ContributorRecord: Here’s a cop-out: If Rajon Rondo isn’t traded, 35-47. If he is, 28-54. Is that fair? I’m doing it anyway. Playoffs Y/N: No playoffs for this rebuilding bunch, but they’ll be in the fight come season’s end (again, if Rondo is around). Place in Division / Conference: 3rd in Atlantic, 10th in Eastern Conference The Skinny: This team, barring injury and my standard Rondo disclaimer, will surprise people. Tank-talk should be a foreign concept. Expect entertaining and largely competitive games, and breakout development from Jared Sullinger. Marcus Smart will get some ROY votes, but he isn’t ready to man the point in a starting role for Boston just yet. The rookie will obviously be a difference-maker defensively. Danny Ainge has some roster decisions to make concerning Rondo, Jeff Green, and Brandon Bass, but I’m thrilled to see this club slowly being constructed in Brad Stevens’ vision. Pace and space, baby! From way downtown! Celtics Sixth Man: Evan Turner. NBA Champion: Cleveland. League MVP: Russell Westbrook. He’ll carry the load while Kevin Durant takes a load off with a foot injury.
Eric Wilbur, BDC Staff Record: 22-60 Playoffs Y/N: Hell no. Place in Division / Conference: Last in the Atlantic/14th in the Eastern Conference
That’s MVP candidate Kevin Durant in a cast last week.
The Skinny: Hey, did you hear that the Celtics got Smart and Young in the offseason? What a nifty tagline. Print the pocket schedules. Maybe there are tools to build around in Marcus Smart and James Young, but this season is going to be focused the ping-pong balls, once again, where potential NBA big men, including Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Texas’ Myles Turner await in next June’s draft. Rondo? Gone by Christimas. Celtics Sixth Man: Marcus Smart. NBA Champion: Oklahoma City League MVP: Kevin Durant.
Jeff Pini, BDC Staff Record: 32-50 Playoffs Y/N: No Place in Division / Conference: 4th in Division, 11th in Conference The Skinny: The Celtics are going to see improvement, although not much more from what they got in 2013-14. Jared Sullinger is going to have a breakout third season, while Kelly Olynyk will begin to develop into a solid NBA player, but they’re simply not a contender right now. You don’t spend a top-6 pick on a point guard if you are committed to Rajon Rondo for the long haul; they’ll trade the impending free agent once he proves he is 110 percent recovered from the torn ACL that cost him much of last season, as well as the broken hand that ended his 2014 preseason before it began. Celtics Sixth Man: Jared Sullinger NBA Champion: San Antonio Spurs League MVP: LeBron James
Brian Robb, BDC Contributor Record: 34-48 Playoffs Y/N: N Place in Division / Conference: 3rd Division, 10th Conference The Skinny: A nine-game improvement from last season may seem like a stretch for the 2014-15 Boston Celtics, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen from this roster throughout the preseason. Brad Stevens looks comfortable in year two at the helm, and a couple new philosophies on both ends of the floor fit the personnel on this team well. One player to watch is Jared Sullinger: he appears healthy and seems poised to be a double-double machine all season long. Rajon Rondo has plenty to play for in a contract year, and his presence should be worth a couple wins as well. Barring injuries and a Rondo trade, I expect this team to be in the playoff hunt for a large chunk of the season before Danny Ainge dismantles things by trading away a couple non-Rondo veterans. If nothing else, this group will be much more entertaining to watch than last year’s group. Celtics Sixth Man: Evan Turner NBA Champion: Chicago Bulls League MVP: LeBron James
Steve Silva, BDC StaffRecord: 35-47 Playoffs Y/N: No Place in Division / Conference: 4th in Atlantic Division, 11th in Eastern Conference The Skinny: Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. If you expect them to walk through that door, they’re going to be gray and old. And Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett aren’t walking through that door either. What they are is young, exciting, hard-working, and they’re going to improve. People don’t realize that, and as soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this town will be for all of us because there are young guys in that (locker) room that will be playing their asses off. (With apologies to Rick Pitino) Celtics Sixth Man: Evan Turner… he hasn’t underwhelmed here yet like so many other additions through the years. And a new environment might be just what Turner needs to get back to playing like he did when he starred at Ohio State. NBA Champion: Chicago Bulls return to greatness and take down San Antonio. League MVP: Kevin Durant scoring machine keeps firing on all cylinders.
Chad Finn, BDC StaffRecord: 28-54 Playoffs Y/N: No. They’ll be on track until the inevitable Rajon Rondo trade. Place in Division/Conference: 4th/11th The Skinny: Brad Stevens will get the most of this limited roster, which is both encouraging and probably is not the best thing for the franchise in the big picture. Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger will score, but are traffic cones defensively. Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley are electrifying defenders, but shooting from the backcourt could be an issue. Jeff Green will drive us all nuts, and we’ll be rooting for lottery luck again. Celtics Sixth Man: Marcus Smart NBA Champion: Cavaliers. Western Conference is much deeper, but they’ll beat each other up en route to the Finals. LeBron, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will mesh quickly like Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen seven seasons ago. League MVP: LeBron.
Gary Dzen, BDC Staff Record: 29-53 Playoffs Y/N: No Place in Division / Conference: 3rd place, Atlantic; 11th place, Eastern Conference The Skinny: If you’re reading this, you’re already aware of the stakes. The Celtics aren’t expected to compete for a playoff spot this season. They’re certainly not competing for a championship. But if you’re reading this, you know the upside as well. The C’s are full of promising players, Jared Sullinger, Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, and Marcus Smart at the forefront. They’ve got solid veterans. They lack star power, which limits their ceiling, but they should compete most nights. Because of that, they’ll be a lot of fun to watch. Celtics Sixth Man: Gerald Wallace NBA Champion: Cleveland (duh) League MVP: LeBron James
Chris Rattey, BDC Staff Record: 30-52 Playoffs Y/N: No Place in Division / Conference: 4th in the Atlantic; 13th in the Eastern Conference The Skinny: As stated by many above, the Celtics have some good, young talent and will be fun to watch throughout the season. It will be interesting to see how Marcus Smart develops, and what Jared Sullinger will bring to the table in his third season. Celtics games will be entertaining at the Garden, and there’s always Gino to look forward to. I’m also enthralled with the name Marcus Smart in a Boston accent. Celtics Sixth Man: MAHKISMAHT NBA Champion: I will also say Cleveland MVP: And I will begrudgingly say LeBron James
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