Ramp to Camp: Bold prize predictions for 2024-25 Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Let’s take heart.
To start Week 2 of ours Ramp to Camp series, we asked our NBC Sports Boston panel to hit the fast-forward button on the 2024-25 season and make one foolproof prediction about an honor or award a member of the Celtics could win this upcoming season.
(Check the first five installments of Ramp to Camp here.)
Despite steamrolling the league last season, the Celtics didn’t exactly dominate the awards voting. Brad Stevens got perhaps the biggest nod as Executive of the Year. But beyond one All-NBA spot (Jayson Tatum) and two All-Defensive guys (Derrick White, Jrue Holiday), the Celtics didn’t get much hardware. The snubs were more notable than the winners.
So who will be a surprise All-Star this year? Who will make the kind of leap that gets them some postseason hardware?
Our pick is Jaylen Brown for First Team All-Defense. On the surface it’s a bold suggestion, as the Celtics already have two guards already cemented in an All-Defense spot. But we love the idea of Brown using all the frustrations of the past six months to take his defensive game up another level after last season’s vault.
Brown used some of the motivation from being snubbed during All-NBA and All-Defense voting to help win MVP of both the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals. Then Team USA added to the disrespect with their own insolence and now we’re all left waiting to see how Brown uses it for fuel.
Brown walked in Celtics Media Day last year and pretty much stated that he would show that he could be an All-Defensive player. He backed it up during the season, so much so that former All-Defense man in Al Horford was emphatically stumping for Brown to make an All-Defensive squad at the end of the year.
A player once defined by his offensive talent, Brown showed last season that he has the potential to be one of the most effective two-way players in the NBA. He showed it multiple times in the postseason with his willingness to defend the top scorers on the other team.
When we think of players on revenge tours, we tend to assume that will manifest in loud offensive outbursts. And, maybe Brown will do that too. But given Boston’s collection of talent, we’d love to see him flex his defensive potential and further herald his arrival as an All-Defensive player.
One of our favorite stats from last season was that, among the NBA’s highest-volume defenders (at least 10 shots defended per game; at least 65 games), Brown ranked 15th in the NBA in holding opponents to 2.4 percent under expected field goal percentage. . Opponents shot just 44.8 percent against Brown, which ranked him 11th among the 111 qualifiers in that high-volume group.
Brown has eliminated some of the crazy lapses in focus that once plagued him on the defensive end. He missed the challenge of defending the best players on the opposing team. It’s time for his defense to be recognized by the rest of the league.
Here’s what our panel sees in their crystal balls:
Sam Hauser takes his rightful place in franchise history alongside Paul Pierce and Larry Bird … winning the 3-point shootout.
Max LedermanMulti-platform producer
Jayson Tatum wins MVP.
I’ll be interested to see how Tatum responds to the Team USA drama this summer, as he’s never been publicly embarrassed like this before in his career.
The bottom line is that he’s 26 years old, the best player on the defending champs, and has finished sixth in MVP voting the last three seasons. It’s his time.
Mark Hazlett, Multiplatform producer
If we’re throwing up here, have to go with Payton Pritchard winning Sixth Man of the Year.
Horford will start until Kristaps Porzingis returns, so PP will lead the bench unit. He’s averaging 15 points, five rebounds and five assists per 36 minutes, so if he gets around 28-30 minutes per game, he’ll have a real case for the bench award.
White wins Defensive Player of the Year.
Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama will be heavily favored to win this award, which has gone to a forward or big man in 27 of the last 28 years. But White is following in the footsteps of the lone exception (2022 DPOY Marcus Smart) and leading all guards in blocks to take home the hardware.
Brown wins All-Star Game MVP.
Brown will add it to his growing trophy collection, which already includes an Eastern Conference Finals MVP and an NBA Finals MVP trophy. The All-Star Game is mostly a joke, but there’s always one guy who puts up a ton of points and runs away with MVP. Tatum did it in 2023 with an ASG record 55 points. Brown will give a similar performance this season.
If we’re going to be bold and unexpected, let’s roll with Derrick White for Defensive Player of the Year.
He finished eighth in the voting last season and earned his second consecutive All-Defense selection. The best shot-blocking guard in the NBA is finally starting to get the respect he deserves, so maybe this is the year his stellar defense is recognized nationally.
Kevin Miller, VP, Content
Jaylen Brown, All-NBA First Team.
