Will the Celtics be able to repeat? After being the best team in the league during both the regular season and their three-loss postseason run that is the question on the minds of most Boston fans. After re-signing Jayson Tatum and Derrick White and bringing back their championship squad, repeating is the expectation. The franchise and cities storied history makes winning just one championship not enough. Boston fans have heard the stories about Bill Russell winning eleven championships, or Larry Bird and co. winning five, and were able to witness Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s six championships with the Patriots. Winning just one would be a disappointment for Boston. They need to find a way to become a dynasty in an era of the NBA that has begun to try to eliminate dynasties with a new stricter CBA that punishes teams spending into the luxury tax. It will be another uphill battle for the Celtics to repeat in today's NBA, but which teams actually have a chance of stopping them from becoming a dynasty and the first team to repeat since the Golden State Warriors in 2018? Let’s find out.
Dallas Mavericks
The first team we'll talk about being a threat to the Celtics is the team that seemed the closest to knocking the Celtics off. The Mavericks weren’t that close last year but have gotten better this offseason by bringing in future hall of famer Klay Thompson. While Klay hasn’t been as reliable as he used to be and has lost a step defensively, he’s still an elite shooter (shot 38.4% from 3 last season) that fits perfectly with Luka and Kyrie. Their main free agent loss was Derrick Jones Jr, and even though he was massively important in their playoff run, Klay’s shooting should be a more natural fit next to the star guards. Kyrie may be having offseason surgery on his broken hand, but it's July and the finals won't be starting for almost another 11 months. What makes me think they could be the team to beat the Celtics is that Luka Doncic is just too good. He will always give them a chance, and his team got a bit better.
Denver Nuggets
Much of last year’s offseason talk was about whether or not Denver could repeat as champions after their dominant run. Obviously, that did not come to fruition after Anthony Edwards' ridiculous performance knocked them out in the second round. Still it’d be insane to not include the previous champions on this list, especially considering they might get better luck and not run into Minnesota next postseason. The Timberwolves' roster was specifically created to beat the Nuggets, and if they hadn’t run into the Timberwolves they could have made it to the finals this year, likely fairing better than the Mavs did. Their team does continue to lose role players, losing KCP one year after losing Bruce Brown, but their core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr, and Aaron Gordon are still around. They also brought in Russell Westbrook who while I’m not a big fan of his fit in this offense, is definitely going to give them more of a killer instinct. This all comes down to Jokic being the player many presume as the best in the league. With him and a solid supporting cast the Nuggets easily have a chance at beating the Celtics if they meet in the Finals, and match up prettty well against them. As long as they don’t run up against Ant Man giving another Michael Jordan impression there's no reason to believe they can't be the team to come out of the West.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The one problem I could see holding the Celtics back from repeating is there are a bunch of contending teams that have star players better than Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Anthony Edwards is a top five player in the league in my opinion and would have been the best player in the Finals had Minnesota and Edwards not run out of steam in the Conference Finals. The Timberwolves have gone into this offseason at least trying to take some of the load off of Ant Man, in part by trading up to draft a scoring guard in Rob Dillingham. While a rookie won’t change everything, he gives Ant Man a better chance of carrying his dominant play into the finals and to a championship. As for the rest of the team, Rudy Gobert is a major question mark as he hasn’t proven to be playable in the playoffs and might get run off the court due to his inability to guard on the perimeter and the shooting from both Kristaps and Horford. His regular season defense should help them earn a high seed at least. Luckily, KAT and sixth man of the year Naz Reid should be able to hold it down in the playoffs as both have the athleticism to play on the perimeter. The Timberwolves don’t have the better team, but Boston should be most afraid of playing Anthony Edwards because the best version of Ant Man is the best player in the league.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would also be the best player in a series with the Boston Celtics, after establishing himself as a borderline top five player in the league. Even though I don’t think he’s as good as Anthony Edwards, Shai may have a better shot at unseating the champions because of the star-studded young squad he brings with him. The Thunder were just the second youngest team in the league and after making it to the conference finals, the expectations are for them to be even better. Second year big man Chet Holmgren is only going to grow into his frame and should end up being one of the best second options in the league after a wildly impressive rookie season. They also have some of the best defenders in the league in Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, and recently acquired Alex Caruso. After signing Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency, they also filled one of their only holes, finding a center who can rebound and provide more size than Holmgren does. They had the best record in the West last season and after trading for Caruso, signing Hartenstein, and the expected growth from such a young team, they could be the best team in the league.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers have been the talk of the town this summer after signing star free agent Paul George. A star wing who has been a great defender and a reliable marksman from deep during his career is a perfect fit next to Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. On paper they now have the best big three in the league. The question after signing PG to the four year max became how they would fill the rest of the roster, and I think they’ve done a pretty good job. They brought back Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond, and Kyle Lowry and brought in Cody Martin, Eric Gordon and drafted a great shooter in Jared McCain. These pieces should complement their big three incredibly, and in my opinion, make Philly the biggest threat to Boston in the East. Philly has solid role players next to an electric scoring star in Maxey, a versatile 3&D star wing, and an MVP level player in Embiid at Boston’s weakest position (Center with Horford aging). If George’s age isn’t a problem and they can stay healthy, this is easily the best non-Celtics team in the East.
New York Knicks
From the most top-heavy team in the East to the deepest team in the East, the Knicks present a much different challenge for the Celtics. New York is bringing back almost every major contributor they had last season, only excluding Isaiah Hartenstein. They had the second-best record in the East last season all while being one of the most injured teams in the league. Being as injured as they were makes the trade for star role player Mikal Bridges make even more sense, as he has notably never missed a game in the NBA. He also fits extremely well next to the Knicks stars (really any stars) as one of the best 3&D players in the league. Pairing him with recently re-signed OG Anunoby also makes the Knicks probably the only team in the league who has two elite wing defenders that can guard both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. They also have a legit star in Jalen Brunson, who has solidified himself as one of the best scorers in the NBA, capable of carrying an offense. With an impressive and deep supporting cast surrounding those three with Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, and Miles McBride, it’s hard to find a major hole on this team. If healthy they have the exact combination of wing defenders and deep scoring options that could knock off the Celtics. Obviously the if healthy caveat is vitally important with Tom Thibodeau as their head coach.
Milwaukee Bucks
While this season was an absolute disaster for the Bucks after trading Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard, firing a good coach, replacing him with Doc Rivers, and having major injuries to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Dame, we shouldn’t be so quick to write this team off. Giannis, when healthy (obviously another major if healthy caveat considering playoff injuries are starting to become his trend), is a top three player in the league. He is as dominant as they come and the pairing of Dame’s elite range, Lopez’s continued good shooting, and Middleton’s versatile play makes their ceiling as high as any. Middleton having surgeries on both ankles is definitely worrisome and the wear and tear Giannis is destined for while playing in the Olympics is also scary, but there’s a reason many expected Dame and Giannis to win a championship together when the trade first happened. Dame provides the shooting and spacing Giannis thrives with and those two alone should frighten the Celtics. Their roster may be aging but with that amount of star power and a team that won a championship not too long ago nobody should be surprised if they win the East and Giannis is too much for the Celtics to deal with.
Orlando Magic
This is my biggest wildcard team and the biggest surprise on this list but hear me out. Every year or two there is a team that takes a massive jump into the upper echelon of teams, and I believe the Magic have a great chance of being that team. They have a legitimate superstar and all NBA type of player in Paola Banchero, who while he had an up and down postseason, has shown flashes of truly special play. The 21-year-old Banchero also isn’t alone as the Magic have 22-year-old Franz Wagner and 23-year-old Jalen Suggs as co-stars who also have sky high potentials. Bringing in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with his 3&D style and playoff experience is also perfect for such a young team. They might still be a year away, but it seems to be a matter of when they become a threat rather than if. If they figure it out this season, don't be surprised if Banchero outplays the Celtics stars and carries them deep into the playoffs.
Photos by Getty Images, Abbie Parr (AP Photo), NBA.com, Jim Davis (Globe Staff), Brad Penner (USA Today Sports), and Mary Schwalm (AP Photo)
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