The future is bright for the Boston Celtics. The 17x NBA Champions finally got over the Eastern Conference hump and back into the NBA Finals last season, before eventually coming up short against the Golden State Warriors.
After making their first Finals appearance since 2010, the Cs went out and got better, bringing on Malcom Brogdon in a six-player deal with the Indiana Pacers and Danilo Gallinari via the TPMLE to bolster their bench.
Brogdon and Gallinari join a roster with three former All-Stars, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and a center that’s ranked ahead of the reigning DPOY to become this year’s winner in the starting five. That goes without mentioning second-unit studs like Derrick White and Grant Williams who had key contributions during the Eastern Conference and NBA Finals series’.
Bleacher Report reinforced that point of view–that Boston should be in a position to return to the top of the standings and to the deepest points of the postseason–in a recent power rankings list assessing the outlook for all 30 teams over the next three seasons.
B/R’s Andy Bailey gave Boston some serious respect, putting them at the top of the power rankings:
"When OKC made the Finals in 2012, KD, Russ and Harden were in their age-23, -23 and -22 seasons, respectively. There seemed to be no ceiling for them going forward, and then they made the infamous trade that sent Harden to Houston. The Thunder had their chances to compete over the coming years, but nothing that would erase the “what if” that resulted from that deal.Ten years later, the Boston Celtics put together a similar run to the Finals. This past season, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams and Jayson Tatum were 25, 24 and 23, respectively. And instead of breaking up that core with a trade, Boston added Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari without giving up much more than fringe rotation players.With those three and a supporting cast that includes the aforementioned new additions, Marcus Smart, Al Horford, Grant Williams and Derrick White, Boston figures to be a staple of the contending tier for the next three years."
Right behind the Boston Celtics at No. 2 was the 2020-21 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, and trailing them was the reigning NBA Champions from the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors.
Don’t get me wrong, being on top of a Bleacher Report power rankings list is an enviable position for many teams. Still, I’d go out on a limb to say Boston would gladly trade places with the Warriors to instead have an NBA Title.