A lot of roster moves were made this off season as the Celtics fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, after sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the first round. The season was such a huge disappointment after having big expectations going into the season. The Celtics last year came into the season with high hopes after making the Eastern Conference Finals the season before without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the playoffs, but things didn’t turn out that way. When Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward were thrown in the mix, it really shook up the Celtics players. Kyrie was getting frustrated a lot, Gordon Hayward wasn’t to his full health and wasn’t playing like the player he was in Utah, some guys. like Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum had to step down their roles to let Kyrie and Hayward play their game, but it didn’t sell to well for them. After a huge disaster of a season the Celtics made some moves.

The off season started as trying to bring in Anthony Davis to form a big 3 in Boston with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. But his agent told Boston that if they wanted him, it would only be a one year rental. The Celtics decided not to pursue the deal and Anthony Davis to the Lakers. After that, Kyrie Irving apparently said to the Boston Celtics that he was going to be leaving to join the Nets, and Al Horford decided to opt out of his contract and was planning on leaving as the Celtics couldn’t agree to a contract with him. Aron Baynes was traded to the Suns on draft night. and it looked like the Celtics were possibly looking to rebuild a new team. Or were they having something up their sleeve?

The Celtics brought in Charlotte Hornets All-Star point guard Kemba Walker in a sign-and-trade deal for Terry Rozier, and they brought in a solid role player in Enes Kanter. The Celtics might’ve lost two good players, but they brought in a very good replacement for Kyrie Irving, and a guy who put up almost similar numbers as Horford for a lot cheaper contract.

Is Kyrie and Horford better than Kemba and Kanter? No. But they are both guys that will keep the Celtics as a contender in Eastern Conference, and they will be guys that will have a lot of fun and get along with their teammates. How are the Celtics going to be a top team in the East? It’s going to be a harder task as we see a new team with a lot of young players, but this team can be a lot of fun to watch and can be a good team this year. This is what they need to make this Celtics team a contender.

Give Gordon Hayward a starting spot back, more touches, and more minutes

Last year Gordon Hayward entered the lineup at the beginning of the season, but he ended going to the bench and being the sixth man. He wasn’t fully healthy, didn’t fit in with the group of starters, and wasn’t playing like the way he was suppose to. People say that he had a disastrous season, but he wasn’t fully 100% healthy. He had some ankle pain and to be honest, I didn’t feel like Stevens didn’t let him play to his full potential. I mean when he was out there on the floor, it was a lot of ISO ball for Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward standing in the corner. We all saw very good potential and confidence in Gordon Hayward at the end of the season as he was starting to shoot the ball well and put up some big numbers. He saw a lot of minutes and a lot of touches which opened up his game a ton for the Celtics. If the Celtics want to get Gordon Hayward back to his All-Star self, they need to start him and let him be a top priority scorer for the team. I think Hayward still has it and I think that Coach Stevens needs to continue to give him more chances. Paul George took a whole season to get back to his full potential, and he just came off one of the best seasons of his life. I feel like that can happen with Gordon Hayward.

Kemba, Tatum, and Hayward need to be the Top 3 scoring options for the Celtics…NO ONE ELSE!!!

Last year, a lot of the Celtics players played selfish and a lot of them wanted to be the go to guys for team. Normally every team has three scoring options to go to. Like for the Warriors last season, it would go Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson, no one else and the rest did their jobs whether it was defense or rebounding or anything. For the Celtics, it felt like it was six players that were just wanting to score baskets instead of doing their jobs. Like last year I personally thought the scoring options should’ve been Kyrie, Tatum, and then Hayward. But instead, it was other guys fighting to be in the mix like Marcus Morris, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Smart. They all wanted to shoot the ball instead of doing their job for the team, that was of the biggest issues for the Celtics failures last season, they ALL played selfish. The Celtics need to just let Kemba, Tatum, and Hayward be the only scoring options. Jaylen Brown and Marcus need to stick with defense and I wouldn’t recommend them taking many outside shots. If the Celtics can establish those scoring options, the Celtics can be a tough team to guard and we could see some players go to their potential.

Defense is a huge factor this year

Losing Al Horford hurts a lot for the Celtics as he was the guy that normally guarded the best player on the team like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, but now the Celtics defense needs to really step up this year. We could be seeing Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart really stepping up on their defense roles this year. They will definitely be guarding the best players on every team, and they will have to be the vocal leaders on defense. The Celtics need to have a strong defense core or else they will not be contenders. I think that they have the players to score a lot of points, but it comes down the team’s defense if they want to be a team contender. Last year, the Celtics played horrible defense vs the Bucks and they got whatever they wanted against the Celtics. The Celtics need to play solid on defense or else they will get stomped on.

Have fun, play together, and get along with each other

The Celtics had way too much drama last season with the media and certain players unhappy with their roles on the team. The Celtics need to just need to have fun, ignore the media, and play ball. The Celtics made the Eastern Conference Finals without Kyrie or Hayward and almost took down Lebron and the Cavs, they did that with proving. the media wrong, playing together, and having fun. I don’t think I saw that once last year with the team. The Celtics have gotten rid of the players that were a problem to the team, brought in some rookies who get a long great together, and we could possibly have fun watching the Celtics again.

The Celtics are going to be young and might not be as good of a team like they were last year, but they can be a fun group to watch and could be a contender in the East if everything goes right. I mean a lot of people had fun watching the Summer League Celtics this season with Carsen Edwards lighting it up and 7’6 Tacko Falls being a strong force at the Center spot.

I love Kyrie as a basketball player as he is a guy that can score the ball whenever he wants, but he caused way too much problems last season and I am glad that he left. Kemba Walker I think will fit in with Brad Stevens game plan like Isaiah Thomas did. I was a little bit mad about the Celtics draft picks, but after watching them in the Summer League, they can ball it up. Carsen Edwards I think was one of the steals in the draft, the guy can shoot really the ball and can create his shot well, He could be something scary. Tacko Falls might not have the skill set down, but the guy is 7’6 and can be a good rim protector for the Celtics, I really hope he makes the roster. Brown, Tatum, Smart, and Kemba all got invited to the USA Men’s Basketball Training Camp and this is great for team chemistry. Hayward was also invited, but decided not to as his main focus is working on his game for next season.

I think that the Celtics can be a contender in the Eastern Conference and they can be really fun to watch this season. The Celtics have pieces to do as long as they put it all together.

Imagine this dream scenario, The Celtics take down the Kyrie Irving and the Nets in the first round, Al Horford and the Sixers in the second round, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the Conference Finals, and then Lebron James and the Lakers in the Finals.

I know its the Skills Challenge Trophy, but can we imagine just for a minute that it is Jayson Tatum holding up the NBA Championship trophy….LOL

I am excited for the season to start!

Go Celtics!

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