Boston Celtics: why C’s arguably have the biggest advantage if NBA jumps right into the playoffs

Discussions on how the 2019-20 NBA season may start up again are on going, with many ideas being thrown around. One idea specifically could benefit a team like the Boston Celtics significantly.

Prior to the COVID-19 induced hiatus that commenced on March 11th, the Boston Celtics were, once again, having themselves and incredibly successful campaign.

Through 64 games the shamrocks had accumulated a record of 43-21, placed third in the Eastern Conference’s seeding, fifth in the league’s power rankings and were heading towards their sixth straight postseason after clinching a berth with a hard fought victory against the Indiana Pacers on March 10th.

Had it been a normal year, as of this publication, the playoffs would already be in full swing and in the early stages of the second round. However, the NBA season and, frankly, life as we’ve known it to be has been anything but normal, especially of late.

Because of this, many planned occurrences have been put on hold until it is deemed safe and responsible to have them commence… this includes the NBA’s playoffs.

Since early on into the league’s suspension, rumors, whispers and actual reports have surfaced about what might happen with the remainder of the season. From play-in tournaments to finishing out the season as structured, just a few months later, it appears the decision makers have been working their brains to decide which course of action would be best for the league’s constituents.

Recent rumblings would suggest that one of the heavy favorites of all the ideas concocted is to resume play at some point this summer at Disney World in Orlando and to simply push past the remaining games on the regular season’s schedule and jump right into the playoffs.

If this is the case, and the NBA winds up just sparking up the postseason — or even grant 3-5 exhibition games prior — a team like the Boston Celtics would have quite an advantage over some of the others in the league.

Not only do the C’s boast one of the most menacing cores in the league — Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart — but they’re also one of the youngest rosters in the entire association.

With an average age of 25.1 years of age, they are currently tied with the Golden State Warriors as the eighth youngest roster in the entire league and the youngest amongst those placed within playoff seeding.

Any other period in time, no doubt the more veterans you have on a roster, typically speaking, the better positioned one is when heading into the playoffs. Having numerous players who have ample postseason experience on board a championship-aspiring team is usually an incredible asset to have in one’s arsenal.

But these are not usual times.

If the regular season were to be simply washed away and we jump right into the “second season”, other legitimate contenders such as the Milwaukee Bucks (tied for oldest roster), Los Angeles Lakers (second oldest in NBA) and Toronto Raptors (tied for sixth oldest) might find it harder to produce at their highest level of play due to their older ages.

With veteran experience comes tread. With tread (after a hiatus as long as this) comes the very likely formation of rust in one’s game.

For the younger players in the league — like the ones Boston has a treasure trove of — it’s a lot easier to tap into their still youthful and unscathed athleticism and lean on that until they get back into the swing of things.

For the veterans in the league, things aren’t always as simple, which is why guys like LeBron James and Meyers Leonard are advocating for some regular season games before the playoffs begin. I’m sure players like Kawhi Leonard who are huge participants of “load management” would also be behind adding a few games before the NBA’s “second season” commences.

Still, as of this moment there is no set plan to how Adam Silver will decide to go about re-entering into the 2019-20 season, if at all. However, with a desire to wrap things up within a reasonable time frame seemingly being a popular avenue of thought, it’s quite possible we could see a scenario in which the regular season would come to a close and the postseason would start up.

If this turns out to be the case, the Boston Celtics could prove to have the biggest advantage against their “elder” competitors.