2018-19 NBA Season Preview: Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics announced their arrival as big-time championship contenders with a fairytale playoff run last season despite being hobbled on the injury front, as their two premier scorers were unavailable during the run due to injury.
This season projects as a golden opportunity to make their first Finals series in 9 seasons, all things considered. The Eastern Conference is wide open for the first time in over a decade, and on paper, they have the best roster in all of basketball other than the Golden State Warriors, who really should be awarded the championship trophy and the rings given the seismic move they made of signing DeMarcus Cousins to the taxpayers' mid-level exception.
Let's take a look at how they shape up as a team for the 2018-19 season:
Offseason Activity
If there is one thing Danny Ainge has been wildly successful at during the past 5 seasons, it is to incrementally improve the Celtics' roster year-by-year. Drafting well has landed them Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as first-round picks, while the likes of Semi Ojeleye, Daniel Theis and Guerschlon Yabusele have proven their worth to the squad as fringe players from time to time.
Drafting Robert Williams aside, Ainge locked up all the major bench pieces the Celtics relied on during Irving and Hayward's injury absences. Aron Baynes has re-signed for about the perfect contract (2 years, $10-11 million), and the same can be said about Marcus Smart (4 years, $52 million).
There was little scope for the Cs to improve their roster during free agency given the situation of their cap space, and they're already above the luxury tax threshold for the 2018-19 season. It's possible that one or two of their rotation players, along with some of their juicy 2019 picks, will be shipped out by the trade deadline in order to reduce the repeater tax in later years.