It has now been over two weeks since the Celtics were bounced from the playoffs in unceremonious fashion, but the sting hasn’t gone away. After watching round two play out, a few things have become very clear as they relate to this team from Boston.
The first thing that stands out is that, despite the Eastern Conference improving this season, it’s still a second-rate league. The Knicks have looked like a juggernaut since going down 2-1 to the Hawks, but it still feels like that speaks more to the competition than anything else.
The Pistons and Cavaliers have hardly covered themselves in glory, and yet, one of those flawed teams will be in the conference finals with a real chance to beat New York and make it to the Finals. As bad as the Celtics looked by the end of their round one series, it’s not that crazy to think that if they stepped on fewer rakes and finished off the Sixers, they could have wriggled their way past the Knicks and been in great shape to make the Finals.
Thunder and Spurs are on another level
Having said that, the other big takeaway from these playoffs is that the Thunder and Spurs are on another level, and they are only going to get better. OKC is 8-0 through two rounds, and it doesn’t feel like they’ve broken a sweat. They’ve done it without Jalen Williams, arguably their second-best player to boot.
They have two more top-20 draft picks this season, the roster is chock-full of young talent, and their stars are all under 30. This team is set up for the future, which is a scary thought as they are quite likely on the verge of consecutive titles. The gap between them and a team like the Celtics feels incredibly wide, and it should only get wider.
And that’s not even to mention the Spurs, who will meet OKC in the West Finals, led by a core of young players who have never even reached the playoffs before this season. Victor Wembanyama is unlike anything we’ve ever seen and is still just 22 years old. Dylan Harper Jr. is still a rookie and will probably be the team’s second star before long.
These two Western Conference teams were built for years through tanking, the draft, smart and savvy trades, and elite all-around long-term roster management. It was a slow, purposeful build, and it has led to two teams that may be levitating over the league for an entire era.
No clear and obvious path forward for Boston
It’s a tough conundrum for a team like the Celtics, and it’s what makes this offseason so difficult. Realistically, no one move can get them to the level of the Thunder and Spurs. Even trading for a player like Giannis would cost them enough assets to make things dicey on the margins. But on the other hand, they could convince themselves that mostly running it back would be enough to have them as favorites in the East.
It’s a real pickle, and it’s one that lots of teams are facing. But for Boston, with two players in the heart of their primes, who have already won a title, and would like to win more, it’s even tougher and more critical. It’s not like they can punt on the rest of the Tatum era and start a rebuild now. But they also can’t just go all in for the next few years, only to come up well short of the true class of the NBA.
Brad Stevens and company have their work cut out for them this summer, that’s for sure. There’s no obvious solution, and even the “right” answer may not end up being good enough. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s the reality of the situation at the moment.
Add us as a preferred source on Google