Training camp opens up for the Boston Celtics in about two months, there will be a few new faces added to the mix for the upcoming season. How will they mesh with the veterans? What type of chemistry will be created before the 2019-2020 season? Time will tell.
With the Kyrie Irving Era officially over, it almost seems like a burden has been lifted off of the Boston Celtics’ shoulders. While I still stand by the trade Danny Ainge made to acquire him, it definitely felt like Irving was holding the organization hostage for a whole season.
Was he going to re-sign with the Boston Celtics? Was he going to walk? What was the future of the team going to look like? He said all the right things back in October saying that “If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.” Clearly, according to the rumor mill, that may have went out the window back in December.
He then was referring to the younger players on the team as the “young guys” and saying that they don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. This was basically the same team that took LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to a game seven in the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. Oh and by the way, Irving didn’t even show up to that game seven to support his teammates.
Irving then admitted to speaking to James about “leadership” in January. Then there was the video footage of him and Kevin Durant at the All Star game being “buddy buddy” with Irving holding up two fingers, possibly gesturing that the Nets have two max contract slots.
As the playoffs came and went, with Irving putting up four lackluster performances against the Milwaukee Bucks, the writing was on the wall. When he skipped his exit interview with the team and refused to speak with reporters, everyone knew at that point he was gone.
Danny Ainge has come out publicly and said that he did have some incite that Irving was not going to re-sign with Boston and had started to explore other options. One thing Boston Celtics fans didn’t see coming was Al Horford bolting to the Philadelphia 76ers. Nobody can fault Horford for leaving for more money and years. I truly believe that Horford’s contract will be more harmful than good by the time it’s done in Philly.
The Celtics pumped in some new blood to the franchise this season. Kemba Walker was signed away from the Charlotte Hornets to take over for Irving. Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier were signed to take some of Horford’s minutes.
In this year’s NBA Draft, the Celtics selected four players: Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters. All of these guys may see some playing time and Ainge still may sign Tacko Fall after his productive and impressive summer league.
These players have already been saying the right things, showing the right attitudes and buying into the Boston Celtics organization from the beginning. Grant Williams came in and said “Man, I’m blessed and honored to be apart of the most historic franchise in the league. Ready to give it my all and work my tail off!”
Walker was quoted in saying, “I want to win. I want to be on a team that goes out and competes every night on a high level. Watching Boston over the years, man, that’s just what they’ve done.” He also had mentioned that being in Paris with Jayson Tatum was a big part of him signing with Boston.
I would also like to note that he got a workout in before his introductory press conference. Walker also describes himself as someone who is “easy to get along with” and who “ by example.” And for any New Englanders who watched him dominate at the University of Connecticut, you can definitely agree with him.
Kanter came into his press conference looking to get on the right side of the fans of his new organization. While holding up the #11 jersey (the same number Irving wore) he said “I want to be the reason that no one else will (wear the number 11 again).” He was basically trolling Irving from a Nike commercial he had done in the past.
Carsen Edwards, who was drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft, had a very impressive summer league. He averaged 19.4 points per game on 48% shooting from the field and 47.6% shooting from the 3-point line, which led to the Boston Celtics locking him up on a four-year, 4.5 million dollar guaranteed contract. After he slipped to the second round, he may have a chip on his shoulder with a lot to prove.
Add those players in with the returning veteran nucleus of Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart and this team could really make some noise in the wide open Eastern Conference. In my Eastern Conference prediction blog, I have the Boston Celtics as the #3-seed.
I think Philly should be really good with the addition of Horford, re-signing Tobias Harris and extending Ben Simmons. “The Process” should be complete for the 76ers and Philadelphia’s window is now. Milwaukee has the MVP, but they lost their best guard via trade in Malcolm Brogdon.
This Boston Celtics team is now a little more under the radar which I think will work to their advantage. Add another year of growth and development from Tatum and Brown paired with another summer for Hayward to get healthier, this team could be really good as well as deep.
I haven’t even mentioned Semi Ojeleye or Robert Williams, two players that have played some minutes but may get more opportunities this season with the departures of Irving and Horford. Ojeleye worked his tail off last off season and I’m sure he will do the same this summer.
Williams has the defensive skills that translate to the NBA and he showed off some of his offensive talent recently in the summer league. Williams ended up averaging nine points and just under 10 rebounds per game while only playing about 20 minutes.
With all of the negative energy gone from the locker room, Tatum, Brown and Smart have the ability to step up and be leaders. Walker will lead by example and I think Kanter will be a great addition to the locker room as well. Walker and Tatum will be practicing together in Las Vegas at the Team USA workouts and if you don’t think those two will look to form a dynamic duo there, you have another thing coming.
Talent will always prevail in the NBA, but I also believe you play better with teammates you enjoy playing with. Team chemistry is going to determine how far this team can go and I can see this Celtics team working together much better than last year. These guys have something to prove and I believe you’ll see more rooting for each other and less looking over their shoulders.
When it comes to this team and it’s young players, I’ve always been overly optimistic. People forget that Tatum is only 21 and Brown 22. Sprinkle in the veteran leaders and this team could have the perfect pieces to have a really good season. Training camp is going to be really fun this year!