The knock on the Boston Celtics is that, by trading Jaylen Brown for Paul George, they are a less talented team. Guess what? That notion is not wrong, as Brown is coming off a legitimate MVP campaign while George is no longer producing at the level he once was. It's why fans aren't necessarily down on Boston, but divisive.
For what it's worth, Boston has been a situation similar to this. Many remember the infamous 2018-19 Celtics, i.e., the Kyrie Irving disaster. No, we don't have to rehash what's already been said because those who were there remember how painful that season was from pretty much beginning to end. Instead, let's take you back to the summer after that.
Irving left, which honestly fans weren't exactly heartbroken to see, but Al Horford did, which not only broke hearts but also made many scared for what was to come. When it was all said and done, the Celtics lost Irving and Horford and replaced them with Kemba Walker and Enes Freedom.
By all accounts, that's a talent downgrade, so even after a disastrous season, Boston should have been even worse, right? Nope, the Celtics were even better. Because as it turns out, because they lost a chunk of their overabundance of talent, Boston was able to figure out who could play what roles, culminating in a much more potent playoff run.
That's not to say talent isn't important, but too much talent can override what's equally as important: fit. That's why the 2019-20 Celtics succeeded where their predecessors the previous year failed. Now, Boston faces a similar challenge in the absence of Brown, who had his peak season.
Even if you disagree with the notion that Boston will be worse this season, you can see why the Celtics have a fair amount of skeptics after they traded Brown because he is a perennial All-Star about to enter his prime, so the Celtics trading him could impact their ceiling.
However, because Boston went through this with Irving's and Horford's departures and came through on the other side looking just fine, they deserve the same grace after Brown's departure.
The key difference between now and then
The 2019-20 Celtics lost a lot of their pieces and managed to do even better despite that with the key reason being that they were still an exceptionally talented squad at full stength, between Walker, Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart, they had an exceptional top five, arguably the NBA's best. In fact, if Horford had stayed, there's no telling how far that group would have gone.
Besides Horford's absence, what went wrong for that team was that their biggest strength was also their biggest weakness: they were top heavy. If one or more of those five went down, Boston was screwed, which is kind of what happened in the bubble.
This season's Celtics team doesn't have that level of upfront talent, but by extension, they don't have the same weakness. Their strength is how deep they are as a team that covers any potential weakness. In fact, they are so deep as a team that people are hyping up the likes of Devin Carter, a training camp invite, because of how he could fit into Mazzulla Ball.
If Boston perseveres without Brown, it's just another example of how fit and chemistry can override talent no matter how much undeniable talent is lost. Because the Celtics have done it before, they can do it again.
Add us as a preferred source on Google