Boston Celtics
The 2019-20 Boston Celtics can be defined by the fact that the C’s made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and were competitive, pushing the Heat to 6 games.
What did we learn?
It’s basically a cliche at this point, but nevertheless it has to be said: Jayson Tatum took the leap!
If you watched the Celtics this season, then you got to see this come to fruition in real time.
It wasn’t just that Tatum revised his offensive game in all of the best and most efficient ways — shooting more ’s and driving to the hoop instead of all those long ass 2s — but it was how Tatum looked doing it. Smooth is an understatement as he constantly handled everything with rudimentary ease.
Tatum made increasingly difficult shots time and time again, so much so that we started to look at him differently. This wasn’t just a first time All-Star. This was the look of a shining star in the making. Putting his rocky sophomore season long in the rearview mirror, the strides Tatum made on the defensive end were far and away above what most thought he was capable of. Warning: Another incoming cliche. Tatum is still just 22 years old!
Tatum’s J-Team counterpart, Jaylen Brown, continued to be the Celtics Swiss army knife, doing a little bit of everything, kind of like Tatum, but more-so in a Robin role to Tatum’s Batman. Brown’s improvements as a ball handler and play maker gave Brad Stevens somebody else to run the offense through. The J-Team finished the season as the fourth best 2-man lineup in the league in terms of net rating for all 2-man lineups that logged at least 1,200 minutes together. Who was the third best 2-man lineup in the NBA in this scenario? Tatum and Marcus Smart. Boston has a scary good perimeter defense on the wing, interchangeable and stifling. And the fact that Smart can actually hit three-pointers now has opened up the floor on offense.
Speaking of offense, we have not even mentioned Kemba yet! A big part of why Tatum and Brown flourished so much this season is because they were playing with a team-first point guard in Kemba, a high-character guy if there ever was one. Kemba, Tatum and Brown each averaged over 20 points per game. That’s a whopping SIXTY points you can count on every night. Quite the luxury.
With the departure of Al Horford, we were quite skeptical in the preseason about the Celtics lack of a big man, but we failed to see that in today’s perimeter-oriented game, the Celtics would hold a lot of advantages there. We also didn’t know that Daniel Theis would be a decent enough player. He was nowhere close to a zero by any means. For what he was asked to do, the big German was productive grabbing rebounds and helping protect the rim. You would still like to upgrade the position, but Theis off the bench wouldn’t be a bad reserve option. The thin front line eventually did do the Celtics in against Bam.
Kemba didn’t play his best basketball in the later stages of the playoffs. It’s hard to ignore the fact that Kemba struggled with Team USA last summer, looked shaky in the All-Star game and was heavily contained in the playoffs.
But shit, it was his first time in the playoffs ever, and he was still a helluva lot better than Kyrie.
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What are the answers to our Season Preview Final Questions?
Will Tatum or Brown take a leap?
YES. Tatum took the leap. And Brown had his best season.
Will we get a definitive answer to Kemba > or < Kyrie ?
We sure did.
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Would our preseason Over/Under prediction have hit?
Overall, the loss of Al Horford and thin front line is just too concerning for us. UNDER 49.5 wins. (60% winning pct)
Celtics 2019-20 final record: (48-24) 67% winning pct
Nope, our preseason Over/Under prediction would not have hit. The Celtics needed just two more wins.
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What’s Next?
A lot hinges on Gordon Hayward’s contract with his $34-million player option for the 2020-21 season.
It would be fun to bring Aron Baynes back to the bean but is there some bad blood there? Luckily for the C’s, there are several big men free agents available.
The Celtics currently hold draft picks #14, 26, 30 and 47. You know Ainge is going to be wheeling and dealing come Wednesday night. How about Cole Anthony? He’s probably a step up from Wanamaker off the bench. (Celtics fans LOATHE Wanamaker.)
Tatum is eligible for a max extension, possibly $158 million over 5 years.
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Favorite Celtics Highlight from the 2019-20 Season:
It was a random Friday night in December when we really started to know.
