After placing as runner-ups in the 2022 NBA Finals against the far more seasoned and experienced Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics have spent the early stages of their offseason retooling and revamping their rotation in an effort to better position themselves for ultimate success come 2023.
During their six-game bout against the dynastic Dubs, many of the team’s glaring weaknesses showed their ugly little heads and, in turn, served as the main reasons for their unfortunate demise after stealing Game 1 on the road and even seeing themselves go up 2-1 in the series at one point.
Right from the jump, as soon as Brad Stevens and co. were eligible to make transactions they did so, and kicked things off in a rather hot fashion with the signing of Danilo Gallinari and the trade that landed them Malcolm Brogdon, both of whom help shore up numerous areas of concern within the C’s rotation, most notably bench productivity (ranked 26th in the league in second-unit scoring and offensive rating).
Since these big splashes were made in early July, the front office has grown rather stationary with their dealings, seeing just two more moves being made coming in the form of two-way contracts bestowed to two of their Summer League talents, JD Davison and Mfiondu Kabengele.
However, despite all these actual happenings, all fans and media pundits can seem to talk about regarding the Boston Celtics is the idea that they could be in the running for All-World megastar, Kevin Durant.
Since it was announced that the wing wanted out of Brooklyn, many have gone on to discuss how the C’s could be a realistic destination for him, with the consensus opinion being that the front office has the pieces to construct the best offer that Sean Marks could possibly receive.
Of course, this presumed package would almost certainly have to include the likes of Jaylen Brown heading borough bound and, while to some such a move is one that is highly controversial, to the actual Boston Celtics franchise, apparently it is one that’s already been proposed.
Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania (subscription required), Stevens has sent out an offer to the Nets involving the 25-year-old being shipped out of New England along with Derrick White and draft considerations.
With this news, it has sparked the NBA world, and even Brown himself, to take to the Twitterverse to discuss their feelings on the matter, and, with this, there are a surprising number of Boston Celtics fans who seem to be rather open to the idea of seeing such an exchange go down, with an oft touched upon point being that Durant gives the team a better chance to win as soon as next season, with some insisting that his addition would make them title favorites.
Now, at this point in time, obviously, KD is the superior player to JB, and could even be argued as being the best player in the league today.
Naturally, with this all in mind, one may find it extremely easy to justify saying that having him in tow to run alongside Jayson Tatum would formulate the most menacing dynamic duo in the association and, as a result, would then thrust them to the top of the contender’s totem pole.
So, to sum it all up, having Kevin Durant would make the Celtics stronger title favorites for the upcoming 2022-23 season, right?
Well, yes… at least on paper.
Similar to the last two seasons, coming into each campaign Brooklyn has generally been viewed as one of the top favorites to win the NBA Finals, and a large reason for this has been due to the fact that they’ve been led by the aforementioned perennial All-NBA talent.
What has this all translated to for the Nets? An overall postseason record of 7-9 and, most recently, a first-round defeat via sweep fashion at the hands of the BOSTON CELTICS.
The term “title favorites” means nothing when heading into a season, for, in the end, whoever winds up winning the NBA Finals generally impresses when on the floor, not merely just on paper.
Even if the C’s ended up landing Durant this summer to have him partner with Tatum, we have no idea how well they’d play together and, perhaps even more concerning, we have no clue how many games they’d even suit up alongside one another (KD’s injury history over these last three years, what with missing 136 out of 226 outings during this stretch, is a bit worrisome).
On the flip side, we already know how well a core headlined by Tatum and Brown can perform, and it has seen numerous All-Star games for both combined, three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, and, most recently, an appearance in the NBA Finals.
Heck, even with the Jays in tow and not JT and KD, the Boston Celtics are already viewed as the favorites to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy this season.
So, while Kevin Durant would, in theory, give the shamrocks a great chance of raising banner No. 18 into the rafter back at TD Garden, it appears that the club as it currently stands is already viewed as highly capable of doing exactly that.