Since Bill Simmons is currently on suspension, someone has to step up and write a Boston Celtics team preview, right?
The Celtics were really hoping to land one of the first two picks in last year’s NBA Draft, but Cleveland got lucky once again (and Philadelphia/Milwaukee were both stupid bad).
Head coach Brad Stevens didn’t do anything to make us think the stage is too big for him. That is all Boston really wanted to see in his first year. They are in the middle of a rebuilding process, so win-total expectations were very low.
We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.
Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Boston Celtics.
2013-14 Win/Loss Record: 25-57
Key Additions: PG Marcus Smart, SG James Young, SG Evan Turner, C Tyler Zeller, SG Marcus Thornton, SG Rodney McGruder, PG Tim Frazier, PF Erik Murphy, PF Dwight Powell & SF Christian Watford
Key Losses: PF Kris Humphries, PG Jerryd Bayless, SF Chris Johnson, SG Keith Bogans & SG Chris Babb
Projected Starters: Tyler Zeller, Brandon Bass, Jeff Green, Avery Bradley & Rajon Rondo
Fantasy Sleeper: PG Marcus Smart – Rajon Rondo will be out the first few weeks of the regular season with a broken bone in his hand. He has also been in a number of trade rumors since Pierce & Garnett jumped ship. If Rondo is traded, Smart will get a ton of numbers. He’s prone to turnovers, but on a bad team, he will have a very long leash. Smart might be a player many will target, but if he falls in your league, he could end up being a great #2 PG.
Team Analysis: On paper, Boston should have probably lost 60 games last season, but in the Eastern Conference, you really have to try hard to lose that many games. Brad Stevens did a great job at managing a team with a group of young talent and a few veterans hoping to play their way out of town.
Boston did end up having a very nice draft. They picked both Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart and Kentucky’s James Young in the first round. Just in case they aren’t quite ready for the NBA, they also signed Marcus Thornton and Evan Turner. Those signings also helped round out the team if they ever get around to trading Rajon Rondo. It seems like that day is approaching fast, especially after his ‘I fell in the shower’ injury excuse.
Boston missed out on getting Kevin Love and they are just acquiring assets at the moment. They are in the same position as they were this time last season. This year’s draft isn’t nearly as deep, but if they can find themselves in a position to draft either Duke’s Jahlil Okafor or Kentucky’s Karl Towns, they would be extremely happy with the result.
2014-15 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 26.5 (Prediction: UNDER)
2014-15 Projected Win/Loss Record: 24-56 (13th in Eastern Conference)
CLICK HERE to read the rest of our 2014-15 NBA Team Previews
Follow us on Twitter @Sweetbob & ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook!
About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.