ESPN Recognizes Bright Future for the Celtics

The Boston Celtics surprised a lot of people by making the playoffs last year but it was preceded by a sub .500 season and followed by a sweep in the first round. The Celtics are not far off from the beginning of a rebuild and they still have many steps to take before they can be considered contenders.

The one thing the Celtics have done phenomenally is set themselves up for the future. The Celtics have 11 players that are 25 years or younger and they still have one of the best collections of draft picks, including a potential lottery pick coming form the Brooklyn Nets.

Apr 12, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Paul Pierce (left) talks to center Kevin Garnett (2) at halftime of a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics have depth and youth at the guard and power forward position and they have legitimate prospects for every position on the team. There may be no one behind him but Jae Crowder is shaping up to be a top player on the team. Marcus Smart is showing signs of being a top point guard in the east and he is just the beginning of a long list of talented young guards.

Optimism about the Celtics’ future is not something only recognized internally because ESPN has just released their future power rankings and the Celtics landed the 10th spot. Being the 10th ranked team is nothing spectacular but when you take into account the fact that they had the 16th best record in the league during a season that they were considered to overachieve and ESPN is predicting significant improvement.

The Celtics are the team that had the biggest jump from their actual standing and there is very little doubt that they are well on their way to being contenders again.

The Celtics have all the young players and assets a team could ask for but none of them are the biggest reason for optimism in Boston. When the Celtics sent Doc Rivers over to the Los Angeles Clippers they lost one of the more successful and highest esteemed coaches in the NBA, and they have absolutely no regrets.

Brad Stevens has already earned the respect of the NBA. He is keeping pace with how the league is trending towards small ball and he has established an offensive system that had success with all kinds of different players in the lineup, none of which could be considered a super star.

Feb 11, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens watches from the sideline as they take on the Atlanta Hawks in the second half at TD Garden. The Celtics defeated Atlanta 89-88. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Stevens has a record of 65-99 in his NBA career but that tells you absolutely nothing about the job he has done with the team. Just last season, the Celtics traded away their two best players in Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green and he still managed to keep the overall team unit strong.

Once Stevens had a rotation that could be settled into after the all star break the Celtics had one of the best runs in the eastern conference.

The Celtics are currently all about youth and it starts and ends with Brad Stevens. The Celtics may never land their super star free agent or have a franchise changing trade but Stevens may never need that. The Celtics have a chance to build from the draft and allow Stevens to guide and shape all the potential prospects into exactly what the team needs.

The Celtics have a lot of work to do but they are much further ahead in their process of rebuilding than expected. They have completely changed the team since Stevens has arrived and they are in one of the best positions to grow into one of the power houses of the NBA.

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