Boston Celtics Season Preview – NBA Predictions
The Boston Celtics went just 41-40 last year, and they were dispatched of pretty quickly in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Danny Ainge decided in the offseason to speed up the rebuilding process and ship off a couple long-time Celtics stars. It wasn’t necessarily a popular move at first, but I think it ends up being a big boost to the Celtics hopes in the long run.
Boston Celtics
Eastern Conference
2012-2013 Record: 41-40
Odds to win Title: 150/1 from Bovada
Odds to win Conference: 66/1 from Bovada
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Boston Celtics
Key Losses
Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry were all traded to the Brooklyn Nets. These guys were a huge part of the team last year, and it will be impossible for Boston to just continue on without missing their production.
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Pierce was expected to be a Celtic for life, and he was considered the leader of this team for many years. Garnett made this defense one of the best in the league the past few seasons. In addition, the team lost Coach Doc Rivers in the offseason, and he was able to do a lot of good things with this franchise in the past few years.
Top Newcomers
The newcomer that will have the biggest impact on the team this year is Kelly Olynyk from Gonzaga. The center was the Celtics first-round draft pick this season. Olynyk has been superb in the summer league and preseason action, and the team is very high on him. I think Olynyk will do well here, but his preseason success probably has some too high on him at this point. The other top newcomers will be Marshon Brooks, Gerald Wallace, and Kris Humphries who came over in the trade with Brooklyn. Arguably the biggest newcomer of them all is Brad Stevens, who did an excellent job coaching at Butler in college.
Top Players
Rajon Rondo- Rondo is still injured and he won’t be ready for the beginning of the regular season. The team needs him to come back healthy and ready to fit into the system that Stevens runs.
Jared Sullinger- Sullinger has had a rocky offseason, and he was injured quite a bit last year. The team needs him to step up and be one of their top players in the year to come. [ad-6571516]
Jeff Green- Green wasn’t well received when he first came to Boston, but he is a versatile player who can get a lot done for this team. Expect him to have a good year this season.
Strengths
The Celtics biggest strength right now is their future. They have a lot of financial flexibility in the coming years, and that will make this team very good again in the future. Boston got a first round draft pick from the Clippers for Doc Rivers, and they got three first round picks from the Nets.
Weaknesses
Boston has no super star right now, and they really only have one star (Rondo). Rondo isn’t always happy, and right now he isn’t healthy. This team is going to struggle this year, because there just isn’t enough talent on this roster.
Prediction:
Boston fans won’t be happy with the team the Celtics put on the floor this year. The Celtics will almost certainly miss the playoffs, and it probably won’t be close. I do like what the team did in the offseason though, and I think Stevens was a great hire. Look for the Celtics to be contenders again soon, but it won’t be this year.
