The Boston Celtics already had enough motivation to make some changes this summer. A No. 2 seed getting eliminated at the hands of a No. 7 seed in the first round is pretty telling that changes are coming. However, Boston now has even more motivation to go all-in this summer than they already did back in early May: the East proved itself to be truly wide open.
The New York Knicks' going scorched earth on it is further proof of the lack of competition in the conference. Sure, they stumbled when the postseason first started, but now it's been over a month since they last lost a playoff game.
They beat both the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers with relative ease, the latter of whom had come off two difficult seven-game series against their prior opponents in Toronto and Detroit. If that's not a pretty telling sign that the conference is right there for the taking, then I don't know what is.
That's not a shot at New York at all. These playoffs have clearly confirmed that they are in a league of their own compared to the rest of the East. However, they have also shown the rest of the conference to be weak enough for them to only lose twice throughout the course of their NBA Finals run.
The Celtics can get to that level, but it will depend on who they acquire
It's been hard to look at the glass half full for a few weeks now, and it will continue to be just that hard until Brad Stevens makes his move(s). However, Boston still has one of the best duos in the league and can write off Derrick White's slightly disappointing season (offensively) as a one-off.
All they need are multiple game-changers who can give them as strong a rotation as the one New York has, if not stronger. They have the assets to pull this off, and the options at their disposal give them a variety of ways to return to the level they once were at.
Gone are the Al Horfords and Jrue Holidays, but that doesn't mean they couldn't replace them in the aggregate. They just need players who alter the entire landscape of the game by themselves. That doesn't mean they should go out and get a 20-point scorer, though that wouldn't hurt, but they can go out and get a player or two who raises their ceiling.
The Celtics' impressive regular season play overshadowed the low expectations they had going into this past season. With Jayson Tatum hopefully entirely back to normal, and with hopefully more reinforcements along the way, the Knicks shouldn't be alone in the Eastern Conference hierarchy next season.
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