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

Boston Celtics Media Day

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.

Squad weaknesses

Both Brown and Tatum are streaky 3-point shooters

The Celtics are pretty well-rounded as a whole, with a number of players having the ability to affect the game positively on both sides of the whole. These include the likes of Hayward, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Morris and Baynes.

It would be an enormous stretch for anything to be regarded as a legitimate weakness for the Cs this season, but their lack of a bigger two-way superstar than Hayward may be a slight detriment when they face the likes of Giannis, Embiid and Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs. There's only so much Hayward can do to even slow the Greek Freak or the Klaw down, never mind the idea of clamping them up.

Another slightly disconcerting weakness, one that barely registers as a blip on their radar, is the lack of a true knock-down spot-up shooter within their roster. Yes, starting five comprising of Irving, Tatum, Brown, Hayward and Horford are all legitimate 40% 3-point shooters, but both youngsters and Horford are streaky, while Hayward and Irving will command the attention of the opposition teams at all times.

Adding Kyle Korver to the mix would've made their squad the perfect one for this postseason.

Team strengths

What set the Celtics apart from the rest of the teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs this year was the fact that every member of their starting lineup was capable of making game-altering plays on both ends of the court - and particularly in isolation. Aron Baynes, whenever on the floor, lifted their defensive profile significantly, and is a low-maintenance player on offense who can also *gasp* shoot open 3-pointers when given the chance.

The Celtics can play at various tempos, use different personnel in different situations and the presence of defensive specialists like Marcus Smart and Semi Ojeleye raises their ability to contain offensive powerhouses of other playoff teams.

The only marginal problem they face will be whether or not every one of their players will be satisfied with the touches they get. Integrating Kyrie and Hayward back into the scheme of things will be a sizeable task, but early-bird COTY contender Brad Stevens has enough of a track record at generating enough touches for everyone on the team that this is a headache of the milder variety.

Opportunities and Threats

Boston Celtics v New York Knicks

Robert Williams projects as a center capable of stretching the floor, although during his time in college he was a dormant 3-point shooter. He already has a workable jumpshot that should only improve under the guidance of NBA-level coaches. This presents the Celtics with an opportunity to stay as a multi-headed monster in the future, and hopefully, they will be able to capitalize on that opportunity.

Daniel Theis was an interesting piece who could've swung the pendulum for the Cs on a couple of occasions in the playoffs this year. It remains to be seen what kind of use he is put to by them.

The major threat to the Celtics' fortunes at this point of the season is the form and fitness of their major pieces. Kyrie Irving has been injury-prone in the past, although he figures to have gotten back to 100%. If they're able to keep their squad fit and firing, they should be clear favourites to win the Eastern Conference.

Predictions for the season

Thus far, we've established how the Celtics are possibly the most well-rounded roster in basketball. They have the top-quality talent needed to be an elite NBA team, and there is a fair chance that their young studs Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum continue to improve and push their game above and beyond what they showed us in the 2018 NBA playoffs.

As probably the most well-rounded roster in all of basketball (in terms of overall depth), the sky is the limit for this iteration of the Celtics. Irving, Hayward and Horford are almost locked to feature in the All-Star game at this point, and in a LeBron-less Eastern Conference, they are legitimately the core with the greatest amount of playoff experience and ability to get it done.

I predict a rather slow start to the regular season that ends at a canter with the Celtics winning between 58-62 games and the first seed in the Eastern Conference. They will be regarded as favourites in any playoff series they play, and are bookies' odds-on favourites to finish runners-up to the Warriors this season for a reason. A 5-game exit in the Finals is my prediction for this team.