The Celtics are forcing the rest of the NBA to change everything

The Boston Celtics were the gold standard in the 2023-24 season. From the very start of the season, they were the best team in the NBA, and a 14-game lead atop the Eastern Conference solidified their dominance. They capped off their year with a championship, and now, they’re going for a repeat.

Brad Stevens brought back virtually the exact same roster, minus Oshae Brissett and Svi Mykhailiuk and plus rookies Baylor Scheierman and Anton Watson. There were no major changes, and more importantly, no major losses.

But the consistency of the Celtics’ roster isn’t the only thing that makes the team special. Nor is the title. It’s the way they won it.

The way the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA Championship will force the rest of the NBA to change

Boston built a perfectly well-rounded roster. Three-point shooting and high-level defenders up and down the depth chart, with a top six all capable of knocking down shots and switching on defense.

The front office put together an impenetrable fortress on the defensive end. It’s why they were able to slow down Luka Doncic. The Dallas Mavericks star wasn’t able to pick apart Boston’s defense because they refused to double. 

When Doncic got a favorable switch, the Celtics were fine living with it. And when they did double, they left guys open who they were comfortable letting shoot.

On the other end of the floor, the Celtics’ lineup is stacked with three-point threats. Doubling one player on a drive or losing track of a guy is a one-way ticket to an open triple. It’s Joe Mazzulla ball at its finest, and Stevens helped build the perfect squad to carry out that vision.

Now, the rest of the league will have to adapt.

Are the Celtics perfect? Absolutely not. Did they enjoy an easy road to the NBA Finals? Absolutely. But resting their championship success on that ignores the fact that they dominated the rest of the league for an entire season.

There are teams around the NBA capable of taking them down, but none are as perfectly put together as Boston. That’s where the change will have to come in.

It is extremely rare to see a team with five All-Star-caliber players, but that’s exactly what the Celtics have. And now, the best way to beat them will be to join them.

Look at the New York Knicks. Jalen Brunson is the head of the snake, but they brought in Mikal Bridges this summer—a high-level defender and efficient three-point shooter. He’ll match up beautifully with Boston’s wings. Add in guys like Josh Hart and OG Anunoby, and New York is building a versatile, two-way lineup.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way. But after getting bounced in the postseason last year, they traded for Alex Caruso—a high-level defender and efficient three-point shooter. The Isaiah Hartenstein addition doesn’t perfectly fit the mold, but even the Celtics have some non-shooting bigs. Plus, Hartenstein will help the Thunder deal with the elite bigs out West.

Beating the Celtics in a single game is very possible. Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown can have a rough night, their star role players can miss shots, or their defense could get caught napping. But taking them down in a seven-game series proved impossible last year.

The days of throwing together role players around two or three superstars may have been ended by Boston’s 2024 run. Now, the way forward will be centered around skillfully developed young stars and elite team-building.

The brand of basketball Mazzulla employs, combined with the roster Stevens meticulously built, created one of the best basketball teams in the last 20 years. And they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Now, it’s up to the rest of the league to match the play style or have a player dominant enough to dismantle it. And the latter option may not even be plausible.