Boston Celtics 2024-25 season preview: The champs will be tested in bid to repeat

(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We’re breaking down the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 teams. Enjoy!

BOSTON CELTICS

2023-24 finish

Offseason moves

Additions: Lonnie Walker IV, Baylor Scheierman

Subtractions: Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk

Complete roster

The Big Question: Are the Celtics as motivated to repeat?

The Celtics posted the highest net rating of any team in five years, won 64 games and never played more than five games in a playoff series, cruising to last season’s championship. And they returned the entirety of the deepest playoff rotation in the league. There should be no doubt about this season’s title favorite.

The NBA has not produced a repeat champion since 2018 — for good reason. It is rich with talent. Players feel freer to swap uniforms, and even if everyone wants to stay, the new collective bargaining agreement makes it more punitive to keep them. The basketball landscape changes as fast as the rest of the world, and the Celtics ownership group’s intent to sell the team carries another degree of financial uncertainty.

Then again, everyone got paid. Al Horford, a 38-year-old who has made nearly $300 million in his career, is the only one in the rotation not signed through next season. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White both inked longterm extensions, and both seem comfortable ceding touches. There are no contracts to quibble over.

But beware human nature. Championships come with loads of potential distractions from the game. Everyone on the team sacrificed last season to collectively achieve an ultimate goal; how motivated are they to reach the same goal this season? Do their goals become individualized? Is Jayson Tatum driven to win an MVP award? Does that impact his partnership with Jaylen Brown? Chemistry frays in many ways.

Neither Celtics executive Brad Stevens nor head coach Joe Mazzulla expressed any reservations on media day about how their team would respond to the challenge of chasing a second straight title.

“They understand the target they have [on their backs],” said Stevens. “They understand how human…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/boston-celtics-2024-25-season-preview-the-champs-will-be-tested-in-bid-to-repeat-140017889.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-01 14:00:17

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