The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
BOSTON CELTIC
2023-24 end
Offseason moves
Additions: Lonnie Walker IV, Baylor Scheierman
Subtractions: Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk
Complete roster
The Big Question: Are the Celtics that motivated to repeat?
The Celtics posted the highest net rating of any team in five years, won 64 games and never played more than five games in a playoff series, cruising to last season’s championship. And they returned the entirety of the deepest playoff rotation in the league. There should be no doubt about this season’s title favourite.
The NBA hasn’t produced a repeat champion since 2018 — for good reason. It is rich in talent. Players feel freer to exchange uniforms, and even if all wants to stay, the new collective bargaining makes it more punitive to keep them. The basketball landscape is changing just as quickly as the rest of the world, and the Celtics ownership group’s intention to sell the team carries another degree of financial uncertainty.
Then again everyone was paid. Al Horford, 38, who has made nearly $300 million in his career, is the only one in the rotation not signed through next season. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White have both inked long-term extensions, and both seem like comfortable concessionaire touches. There are no contracts to wrangle.
But beware of human nature. Championships come with many potential distractions from the game. Everyone in the team sacrificed the last season to collectively reach the ultimate goal; how motivated are they to achieve the same goal this season? Do their goals become individualized? Is Jayson Tatum driven to win an MVP award? Does that affect his partnership with Jaylen Brown? Chemistry is shattering in many ways.
Neither Celtics executive Brad Stevens nor head coach Joe Mazzulla expressed any reservations at media day about how their team would react to the challenge of chasing a second straight title.
“They understand the purpose they have [on their backs],” Stevens said. “They understand how human nature will play a role against you. They understand that it’s going to be very difficult to win the first game, win the second game, play 82 of them, and then see where you land after that. They lived through it.”
Meanwhile, a trio of elite Eastern Conference opponents improved their rosters. The Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks all signed wings this offseason in their quest to land Tatum and Brown. New York’s additional acquisition of Karl-Anthony Towns may have further narrowed the 14-game gulf between the Celtics and second-place Knicks last season, and any erosion of Boston’s championship run could close the gap altogether.
To which Brown said in a media day, “I could care less what happens around the league.”
It doesn’t help that Kristaps Porziņģis is sidelined to start the season. The Celtics are optimistic about his rapid progress from a rare ankle injury, but they must be careful with the oft-injured 7-foot-2 unicorn. Is it too much to ask of Horford? Are Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman playing more heavily in the center mix? Boston won its title largely without Porziņģis in last season’s playoffs, but the margins are slimmer.
In theory, the Celtics have all the answers, and they supported them during their reintroduction to the media. But there are no theoretical titles. They are tangibly sewn into the banner that Boston will raise on opening night. Time to chase another. Time to see if those answers were just lip service.
Best case scenario
It doesn’t take a genius. Porziņģis returns healthy and stays that way, raising Boston’s ceiling to unimaginable heights. Everyone on the roster is better for their championship experience and plays with a confidence that sharpens a lethal rotation. Mazzulla brainstorms his roster to detach completely from the last title and cling only to the idea of another. And they are doing what the past five champions could not – repeat, cementing themselves as a budding dynasty and one of the greatest teams in history.
If everything falls apart
Porziņģis’ health concerns remain during a season of hell. Tatum’s shooting continues, and his stubbornness to shoot through them disrupts the vibes of the NBA’s best starting five. Brown’s rising star overshadows Tatum, and chemistry crumbles from top to bottom. They can’t fix it in time to avoid an early playoff exit, and the new ownership group doesn’t want to pay for the current roster next season. What made the Celtics so great, their depth, is gone, and so is their championship window.
A fancy spin
Shifting from the uncertainty surrounding Porzingis’ health, fantasy managers are becoming equally anxious. Porzingis’ ADP fell to the ninth round over the past week – a 10-point drop to 98th overall. That said, you have to take him if he slips past the mid-late ninth round. A true draft and preserve, KP offers too much upside even if he requires a faster program after his targeted December return date.
In the meantime, Tatum, White, Brown and Holiday will hold it down for fantasy managers as top 70 players. One other player to keep an eye on is Payton Pritchard. Thanks to Jaylen Brown’s honesty and trollingwe learned that the Celtics could plan to get more opportunities for their key rotation players against inferior opponents. As the supposed sixth man, Pritchard proved to be an effective and efficient fantasy asset whenever he gets at least 20 minutes of action. – And Titus
[Create or join a Yahoo Fantasy hoops league for the 2024-25 NBA season]
schedule 2024-25
Boston could win 60 games in its sleep, with or without Porziņģis. Take the upper hand.
