NBA Reality: Despite Stinkers, Celtics Window Remains Wide Open

The Boston Celtics have seen their season end in crushing fashion each of the past two years.

In 2022, they watched the Golden State Warriors celebrate and NBA Finals victory on the parquet at TD Garden, losing three straight games to relinquish a golden opportunity at Banner 18. In 2023, they crawled out of an 0-3 hole in their Eastern Conference finals matchup against the Miami Heat, only to fall on their face in Game 7 at home.

In looking at those two finishes, it would be easy for one to believe that the Celtics’ window is closing. Jayson Tatum has shown vast improvement in almost every year of his career, but eventually he’s going to settle in and become who he is. Jaylen Brown made an All-NBA team, but has literally fumbled away opportunities in two straight playoff runs and is on the precipice of costing the Celtics a small fortune to retain. Joe Mazzulla made adjustments and is deserving of a real run at being Boston’s head coach, especially after he and Brad Stevens swiftly rebuilt the coaching staff, but the leash might not be very long. Al Horford, Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon aren’t getting any younger, healthier or, let’s face it, better.

In short, it looks like the Celtics are maxed out and might not be able to get over the hump. That’s not the way the NBA operates, however.

There’s a long list of teams who have been in this exact spot before. The C’s have a great roster in place filled with superstar talent and some of the best role players in the league who have built a run of success that includes just about everything but an NBA Finals win. Let’s take a look at similar teams, and how long it took them to get over the hump.

2021-22 Denver Nuggets
If you were looking for some hope in this story, here it is.

The NBA’s most recent champions is the perfect example of a team who took a while to figure it out. It took two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic eight years to finally lead his team to a championship. It took his running mate Jamal Murray seven years, which included a year missed due to ACL surgery. A startling lack of playoff success from the two stars (one conference finals appearance in six years) suddenly meant nothing when they barreled through the field in 2023 on their way to the franchise’s first title. Denver’s front office built a solid core around the two big names through the draft (Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun), free agency (Bruce Brown) and trades (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon).

The Nuggets’ window opened in 2018 when Jokic became a star and Murray played well enough to earn a supermax contract. It took them five years to eventually become champions.

1990-91 Chicago Bulls
This one will be short because, well, Michael Jordan.

MJ was selected with the No. 3 pick in the 1984 NBA Draft and immediately became on of the best players in the league. The Bulls didn’t have much success, however. In his first six seasons, including three with fellow legend and running mate Scottie Pippen, Chicago was 5-6 in playoff series and never made an NBA Finals. The Detroit Pistons bullied them around until the Bulls built a core with Jordan, Pippen, B.J. Armstrong, Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright strong enough to move past the “Bad Boys” of Detroit.

The Bulls’ window opened when Pippen joined Jordan in 1987. It took them four years to eventually become champions.

1993-1994 Houston Rockets
Hakeem Olajuwon was drafted two picks before Jordan, but had to wait until his rival “retired” to finally get a chance at winning a championship.

No, the two never matched up in the NBA Finals, but Olajuwon and the Rockets had to deal with the Lakers and superstars Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as well as the Celtics and superstars Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish. In 1994, all of those guys, including Jordan, were no longer in Houston’s way. That allowed Olajuwon and a young cast of Robert Horry (24), Sam Cassell (25) and Vernon Maxwell (29) to finally jump into championship contention.

The Rockets’ window opened when they lost in the NBA Finals during Olajuwon’s second season in 1986. It took them eight years to eventually become champions.

2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks
Here’s another recent example for the dreamers out there.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was the best player on the planet in 2021, coming off two-consecutive MVP awards and firmly planting himself as a leader and star in Milwaukee. He just hadn’t won very much. The Bucks made one conference finals appearance in the four years leading into their championship season, when their best player finally took over and single-handedly led them to a title.

The Bucks’ window opened in 2018 when Antetokounmpo started his ascent to MVP status. It took them four years to eventually become champions.

This collection of NBA history isn’t meant to convince anyone that the Celtics are going to roll to a title in 2024. We didn’t even look at what happened surrounding the teams above, instead focusing on what was in their control.

Boston has a metric ton of decisions to make this offseason. Whether those work out or not will be decided in how the Celtics bounce back from what was another bitter ending to their season. The fact of the matter is, however, that the Celtics’ window only opened two seasons ago, when Tatum elevated to a superstar and Brown, Smart and Horford jumped in to build a core of players who played their roles perfectly.

If history is to be believed, it takes a while for success to follow great teams.