With the Boston Celtics officially clinching a spot in the play-in tournament, it is safe to say no one expected that outcome for this season.
Many experts and fans expected the Cs to finish at least as a top-four seed with home-court advantage in the first round, and possibly even posing as legitimate title contenders.
Instead, they will finish with the seven seed which, with the recent changes to playoff rules, isn’t even a guarantee to make them a playoff team unless they win a winner-take-all one-game elimination, NCAA style matchup against the eighth seed (whoever that may be).
Based on the expectations, this season went about as poorly as it possibly could have.
However, despite all of that, the Boston Celtics are still in a great position to compete for a championship, not only for next season but for the many to come as well.
That may not be what many fans are thinking right now, but that’s mainly due to how result-based and impatient the passionate Boston sports faithful can be towards their favorite sports teams.
With everything that’s happened this season, it’s completely understandable for Celtics fans to not feel good about the current state of the team going into next season.
However, on somewhat of a lighter note, here are 3 reasons why fans should actually be optimistic about the team’s future, specifically next season, despite a down year in 2020-21: