The Celtics are one of the more difficult teams to project ahead of the 2019-20 NBA season, largely because Boston’s roster underwent a rather significant makeover this summer.
Kyrie Irving and Al Horford are gone, signing with the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively, while Kemba Walker, Enes Kanter and several hard-working rookies have arrived in the hopes of rejuvenating the Celtics after a relatively disappointing 2018-19 campaign.
ESPN.com published its 2019-20 NBA season preview Monday, and the Celtics checked in at No. 11 in the preseason power rankings, which were based on where voters — more than 40 ESPN NBA reporters, insiders and editors — believe teams belong ahead of the regular-season tipoff. Boston is the fourth-ranked Eastern Conference team, trailing the Milwaukee Bucks (No. 2), 76ers (No. 3) and Nets (No. 9).
ESPN Forecast projects the Celtics to go 48-34, and BPI predicts Boston will go 49-33. FiveThirtyEight is a bit less optimistic, calling for a 46-36 record from the Green.
Jackie MacMullan was tasked with breaking down the Celtics’ outlook for ESPN’s season preview, and she sees a 57-25 record as being the “best-case scenario” for Boston. Here’s how the Celtics can get there, according to MacMullan:
Shamrock Nirvana would mean that Jayson Tatum becomes as comfortable behind the 3-point line as chillin’ in a chaise lounge, and Gordon Hayward drives to the basket without fear, shooting and dishing and morphing back into that indispensable vet Utah hated to lose. It would mean Jaylen Brown takes a big leap forward on both ends and Kanter proves his defensive metrics from his spirited stint with Portland in the playoffs are not an aberration. Nirvana is Kemba refining his All-NBA chops, the rookies finding ways to chip in, Vincent Poirier shocking us all as a key rotation player and Robert Williams III discovering there are actually other virtues besides blocking shots.
Hard to argue with any of that.
The Celtics entered last season with NBA Finals aspirations after pushing LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals without Irving and Hayward the year before. The C’s couldn’t overcome some chemistry issues, though, and ultimately fell short of their goal, going 49-33 in the regular season and losing to the Bucks in the second round of the playoffs.
Will this season be any different? While expectations aren’t quite as high for Brad Stevens’ team, there’s still plenty of talent in place. And if nothing else, there already seems to be a lot of positive energy surrounding the group, which wasn’t exactly the case for much of last season.
