The Boston Celtics may be in the best position in the NBA to compete with the Warriors
The Boston Celtics made it clear that they have a core they believe in. They have held together this core as much as possible, and are giving them an opportunity to compete for a championship this season, while utterly dominating the East.
With the pieces they have, the Celtics are ready to contend right now, while having the brightest future in the NBA. They have embraced probably the best depth in the NBA, and should be confident that this core can be relevant and contending for many years.
Taking that into account, this season could change everything. The Celtics are clearly going to give this team their chance to prove how good they can be, but they still need to prove it.
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If this season is a disaster, and the Celtics are forced to reevaluate what they can expect out of this roster, we could be in line for another overhaul.
Right now, there is a lot of certainty about Marcus Smart‘s future, Terry Rozier becomes a free agent, Kyrie Irving becomes a free agent, and who knows what will happen after Al Horford‘s contract is up.
When thinking about the situation of the Celtics, you are taking into account a lot of money just for those players. Some team is going to give Rozier a chance, raising his price, Irving is obviously getting a max contract and, given his age, it is hard to tell how valuable Horford will still be by the time it is up.
If all goes well this season, and the Celtics are as good as everyone expected, they will keep everything in tact. They will dish out the money and secure these pieces long term, allowing them to grow with a young core that will be ready to truly lead a contending team themselves soon.
Those young players are also the reason why the Celtics could change things up if things do not work out this season. They can test the market and find another max contract free agent that they believe in more, and let that transition into the young core taking over this team.
The best part of that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with Brad Stevens can keep this team relevant for a very long time, and if they do not believe their top players this season are good enough, they are not tied down and could look to do something drastically different.
With the Celtics, you can never rule anything out. It feels like the organization is done looking outside, and want to embrace the core they have now. Allowing them all to grow and develop together is an asset and greatly benefits Stevens as well.
Next: Boston Celtics competing with the Warriors
It would have to take a collapse of epic proportions for the Celtics to go backwards again in their rebuild, but you can put anything past this organization. In the end, this means the Celtics still have the kind of options that very few teams end up getting, further solidifying how well they have protected themselves from disaster during this rebuild.