Boston Celtics: How Cs stack up against conference rivals

It’s hard to imagine the Boston Celtics get much worse than they were last season.

However, after a quiet draft night and an even quieter first few days of free agency, it’s plausible that the Cs fall in the East’s power rankings despite fortifying their defense and rebuilding their coaching staff.

Brad Stevens has made it clear that the Celts are not content on repeating last season’s mistakes, but they are also satisfied on missing on free agents this season, so they have more flexibility next summer. That means something has to give and, unfortunately, it’s the C’s free agency activity.

There’s no problem with having long-term goals, and the team’s plans are both very promising and plausible.

However, Boston’s conference rivals do not share the same level of patience, seeing as almost every one of them has had an active free agency window.

It’s not to say all the teams that made moves passed the Boston Celtics on the Eastern Conference power rankings list but, instead, to point out that the teams around them are improving significantly.

This article will look at all the moves the Boston Celtics’ potential playoff opponents have made and how they match up against each of them.

First up are the Brooklyn Nets, who may have lost a key contributor in Jeff Green but picked up another in Patty Mills.

An already formidable opponent picking up one of the best catch and shoot guards in the league is a scary move, and it gets even worse seeing as no one knows what the Nets will be receiving for Spencer Dinwiddie from the Wizards.

So far, the Nets have retained Blake Griffin, signed Patty Mills, and drafted one of the best scorers in this past Draft class in Cam Thomas.

Last season Brooklyn got exposed in the playoffs due to their insufficient depth, but now they are shaping up to be one of the deepest teams in the league on top of having the best Big-3 in basketball.

The Boston Celtics will not be better than Brooklyn and should look to avoid them in the playoffs.

Next up are the Milwaukee Bucks, who are coming off an awe-inspiring championship run and have had a relatively quiet offseason.

They have retained Bobby Portis, a key bench piece, but lost Brynn Forbes and PJ Tucker to the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat.

The Bucks replaced Tucker with Boston’s own Semi Ojeleye and will likely let Donte Divincenzo fill in for Forbes as he was before his injury. Regardless of their quiet offseason, the Bucks remain a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference, and a team the Boston Celtics will unlikely surmount in the standings.

Following the Bucks are the Miami Heat, who have been one of the more active teams as of Monday and are shaping up to make another run at a title after scraping by in the 2020-21 season.

The Heat acquired Kyle Lowry in a sign and trade for Goran Dragic and Precious Achiuwa, two relatively underwhelming pieces in South Beach last season. Lowry will provide excellent off-ball value as a shooter, elite on-ball playmaking, and high-level guard defense.

The Heat acquired PJ Tucker from the Bucks outside of that marquee move, adding to their excellent defense and they’ve re-signed Duncan Robinson. The Heat will likely be at the top of the league’s standings and be a tough out in the playoffs — the Cs will not be on their level this season.

The Atlanta Hawks are poised to make another run at an Conference Finals appearance to their young core, seeing as they did not lose any of their key contributors so far.

Trae Young will likely improve, along with the Hawks’ other young talents like Kevin Huerter and John Collins, whom they just maxed out.

Atlanta has tons of perimeter creation and a solid defensive foundation, making them the perfect dark horse in the East, just as they were last season.

The Boston Celtics can be better than them, but given their underwhelming shooting and depth, it’s unlikely they pass the Hawks in the standings.

The Philadelphia 76ers are in one of the worst positions in basketball from an on-court, financial, and off-court perspective.

They have a proven superstar in Joel Embiid, but that’s it.

Their coaching is abysmal, and their supporting cast is even worse. They lack actual perimeter creation and are about to lose one of their crucial floor spacers in Danny Green, on top of the fact that there are no Ben Simmons or Tobias Harris suitors on the market.

The Sixers are stuck, which means the Boston Celtics have already quickly passed them in the Eastern Conference power rankings.

The New York Knicks have picked up two of Boston’s own in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, but that doesn’t make them any better of a squad than the Cs.

The Knicks are still being led by one of the biggest time-bombs in the NBA in Julius Randle and still have some very questionable spacing problems. Last season we saw Kemba Walker try and play off-ball, and it didn’t exactly go too well.

Walker and Randle on the same team is a half-court disaster waiting to happen, and I don’t think Fournier alleviates that problem.

The Boston Celtics still have the two best players between the two groups and are a more versatile and cohesive unit.

Lastly, we have the Chicago Bulls, who have made many moves since missing the playoffs last season.

They’ve reinforced their back court’s defense, acquiring Lonzo Ball in a sign and trade and picking up Alex Caruso from the LA Lakers.

These moves make a lot of sense because Nikola Vucevic can’t be played outside of drop coverage. Chicago is making Vucevic more of a defensive contributor than he was last season by stacking up on good point-of-attack defenders.

Their other big move was getting involved in a sign and trade for DeMar DeRozan from the San Antonio Spurs. Chicago needed a play initiator, but they traded one of their best defenders in the process in Thad Young.

Given their superior half-court creation, the Boston Celtics could easily surpass Chicago in the power rankings, but don’t be surprised if the Bulls are one of the better regular-season teams, given how good their shooting and passing are.

Overall, I can see the Boston Celtics as high as a fourth seed or as low as a play-in team. Brad Stevens needs to get the roster some more shooting if they genuinely want to be contenders, which, as of right now, it’s not looking like they will be.