On their 33rd attempt, the Boston Celtics managed to grab their 18th title to move ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers as the all-time NBA leader for Championships won. It took 16 years of team building and coming close to landing that last title on 18 June, but you’d find few fans around the league who’d dispute their title credentials.
Now, of course, the eye turns to next season and if the 2024/25 campaign will see the Bs on top again.
The all-conquering Celtics primed for more
The Boston Celtics enjoyed a superb regular season. With 64 wins and 18 losses, all other teams in the Eastern Conference were left in the Celts’ dust. Over in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder came the closest overall at 57 wins and 25 losses.
So, a loss in the postseason would have been catastrophic. Given that the 2021/22 season ended with a defeat to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals after the Celtics won the Eastern Conference, it’s made very clear for the franchise that a dominant regular season showing doesn’t guarantee postseason success.
Then, Boston dropped only three games en route to the trophy. It was an incredible, all-conquering display that was worthy of the team moving to become the all-time leaders. The Celtics won Game 5 just as mightily, taking the day 106-88.
A focal point throughout has been the very friendly rivalry between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for the Finals MVP crown. The two had won the Eastern Conference MVP title in 2022 and 2024, and usually, the conference winner ends up as the Finals winner.
This proved to be the case on 18 June, even though Tatum consistently put up better stats than Brown throughout the playoffs and in the Finals. With such a dynamic duo at the core of the team and clearly enjoying playing as a unit, it won’t come as a surprise that, as they’re expected to stay, the Celtics are next season’s frontrunners.
As of 24 June, the NBA odds see the Boston Celtics as the fairly heavy favourites to retain the throne come the end of the 2024/25 campaign. At 3/1, Boston’s expected roster of much of the same is clearly seen as stronger than the rest of the field. The Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Thunder are the next-closest contenders and are all at 8/1.
Potential speed bumps for Boston
Overall, the Boston Celtics are expected to come through the 2024 NBA offseason unscathed. Uniquely, the reigning NBA champions don’t have any of their top seven players with pending expiring contracts, all are signed on for next season, and the most pressing concerns won’t impact the core of the team if they depart.
You’ve got Oshae Brissett with their $2.5 million player option. Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta are waiting on their team options to be declined or taken for $2.1 million and $2.2 million, respectively. However, there’s the UFA status of Xavier Tillman and centre Luke Kornet, as well as the age and injury concerns of Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis.
On the latter, a talented big from the NBA draft would be a wise and cost-effective way to fill the potential gap. Horford was a very reliable piece of the Championship-winning team, and Porzingis is was a key contributor when fit, but having the two being the team’s primary bigs is easy to point to as a potential problem area.
After all, with all of the contracts in place and the surrounding teams clearly not yet being on the level of the Celtics, injuries will be the main concern. The playoffs were nearly as short as they possibly could have been for the Celtics, but it was still 19 more games than half of the NBA. Big is where they’re most vulnerable to long-term injuries.
Elsewhere, the core isn’t ageing, contracts aren’t really an issue, and there’s clearly a tremendous amount of team chemistry. Address the need for a centre in the draft, let them learn as much as they can from the two title-winning bigs on the team and give them a run out to ease the burden on Porzingis is and Horford.
Doubling up on Championships isn’t unheard of or unprecedented even in the modern NBA, and by the looks of the roster, if they can stay fit, the Boston Celtics look primed to have a run at the title again in 2024/25.
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Author: Team Dunkest
July 3, 2024 | 10:01 am
