The Boston Celtics are coming off an impressive season where they made it to the Eastern Conference finals and took LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games.
This was a superb achievement considering that they went without small forward Gordon Hayward for the entire season and without point guard Kyrie Irving for a good chunk of the regular season and the entire playoffs.
After Losing to the Cavs in the conference finals for the second straight season and failing to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, the Celtics are looking to reign supreme in the Eastern Conference now that LeBron has moved out west to join the Lakers.
The Celtics didn’t make too many moves this offseason as they mainly focused on re-signing key players such as power forward Marcus Smart and center Aron Baynes.
The Celtics are likely to get a lot better this year not only due to the return of Hayward and Irving, but because of the improvement of their young guys such as power forward Jayson Tatum, shooting guard Jaylen Brown and point guard Terry Rozier.
The Celtics are expected to go with the following players in their starting lineup:
Irving will be the point guard, Brown the shooting guard, Hayward will start at small forward, Tatum will start at power forward, and Horford will get the nod at Center.
Off the bench the Celtics could primarily go with Rozier at point guard, Smart at shooting guard, Marcus Morris at small forward, Daniel Thais at power forward and Aron Baynes at Center.
Overall the Celtics have a great starting lineup and should be one of the best in the league and arguably the best in the Eastern Conference.
Keep in mind that off the bench Boston has several players that could be starters in other teams such as Rozier, Smart, and Morris, who can provide some valuable scoring and should be a solid wing off the bench like last season.
When Kyrie Irving needs a break Rozier’s is capable of helping the offense with his playmaking ability and solid scoring off the bench.
Smart should be a valuable playmaker and an amazing defender off the bench and he should provide some energy and hustle plays for the Celtics. However, if he wants to have a chance to start for the Celtics he must improve his shooting and shot selection.
Daniel Theis last year suffered a season-ending injury and even though he’s an underrated player expect him to see a lot of minutes off the bench this season as he’s a solid rebounder and defender who can protect the rim and likes to hustle.
With LeBron out of their conference expect the Celtics to be the top seed in the East. They could win between 55 and 60 games and are among the conference favorites to make it to the NBA Finals.
