Ranking the Boston Celtics among the league’s elite teams

Following a 11-2 start to the season, it’s easy to put the Boston Celtics at the very top of the pantheon of elite NBA teams. Should fans pump the brakes in praising the Shamrocks to that extent just yet in 2019-20?

There’s only a handful of teams that can win an NBA championship. That’s the old adage at least. For the past several years, the Boston Celtics have been on the cusp of the discussion, teetering back and forth between the Kevin Durant-era Warriors’ greatest nemesis and a team with too much in-fighting to make anything happen.

This off-season was a sort of NBA hard reset. Golden State was dismantled, left in its wake an injury-riddled roster that is currently being led by Alec Burks and Eric Pashcall. Anthony Davis joining a healthy LeBron James on the Lakers creates a duo that ranks as perhaps the league’s most daunting.

Then again, that honor might actually go to the Los Angeles Clippers’ star wing duo. While we may still have to wait before seeing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard finally share the court on the same time, we will get to see a team that is built to sustain itself in case of injuries or even in case of a postseason mid-game slump.

The depth of the Clippers is perhaps their most noteworthy feature. It is what separates itself from the rest of the pack. Boston Celtics fans will get an up-close look Wednesday night at a team that features several major archetypes of championship role players. Lou Williams is the bench scoring extraordinaire. Montrezl Harrell is the dog in the paint that’s willing to get grimy down low. Pat Beverly is the perimeter pest.

Across town, the Los Angeles Lakers have surrounded their super-two with role players that–if they play their part–are easy to imagine parading down Figueroa Street with the Larry O’Brien trophy in tow. Danny Green, a proven championship piece on several teams, spaces the floor about as well as anyone (he sports a 42% 3-point clip on over seven shots per game). Rajon Rondo is the veteran bench leader that can serve in the Shaun Livingston role as he continues to get integrated into the rotation. Then there’s the ultimate wild card: Dwight Howard. On a championship team, imagine his role being that of a 2011 Tyson Chandler. Then again, Javale McGee could just as easily fill that role for the Lakers.

The other two squads in the NBA’s top five teams record-wise, the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks, are multi-All Star units with one defining, transcendent player that controls the team’s fate. James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the offenses for their respective squads. Their singular talents possess a gravity that suckers in defenders, putting the need on the last two league MVP’s to elevate their teammates with aware and opportunistic ball-handling.

Now you’re probably wondering: where do the Boston Celtics fit in with all of this? Well, to be honest, they belong at the bottom of the pile. That pile, of course, is the teams in the top five spots in the standing with any realistic shot at winning a title.

It is possible that Boston wins it all. It’s just not as possible as it is with teams that feature more established bench options. You see, teams that are young could do well in the regular season, but ultimately it comes down to all of the different “break-glass-in-case-of-emergency” options available at a team’s disposal.

Right now, the Celtics would be too over-reliant on their top five guys if the postseason began tomorrow. They don’t feature a proven bench scorer like sweet Lou Williams or an Eric Gordon. They instead have the inexperienced Carsen Edwards and the journeyman Brad Wanamaker being leaned on for support from the second unit back-court.

Instead of featuring a defensive presence from the center spot that can also throw it down on the more glamorous side of the ball (like Harrell or an “it-all-worked-out” Howard), the Boston Celtics are featuring the defensively-challenged Enes Kanter.

Even floor-spacing shooters like Kyle Korver and Danuel House (shooting 42% and 45% respectively) are guys whose roles the Boston Celtics have yet to be able to integrate…though not for a lack of trying.

Long story short though: the team lacks the pieces to be in the very highest echelon in the league. Luckily, they have time before the deadline to rectify that. Moves for more of a two-way presence at the 5 and a more established sixth man are what the team need to enter the championship conversation.

Until then, catch Boston right at the cusp of the very best in the league–with room to grow into the top dog spot with sly maneuvering from Danny Ainge before February’s deadline.