Compared to where the Boston Celtics were three months ago, when it appeared that the sky above the TD Garden was falling in the wake of the underwhelming return package brought in from the Jaylen Brown trade, things are downright rosy for the franchise. Despite jettisoning Brown to the rival Sixers, and helping Philadelphia create one of the most talented rosters in the NBA‘s recent history, the Celtics are still generally being picked to finish tied or ahead of them–and behind only the defending champ Knicks–in the Eastern Conference.
That’s an eye-opener, and a sign of the respect had for coach Joe Mazzulla and team chief Brad Stevens. A reminder that the Celtics’ third and fourth options are Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, while the Sixers’ are LeBron James and Brown.
Still, there is real optimism for the Celtics’ upcoming season. But then, there’s optimism everywhere here in October.
Adversity Will Come for the Celtics
That’s the view from Mazzulla himself, in fact. Good vibes at this time of year should be plentiful. But just wait until there’s a losing streak or some in-fighting or complaints about who’s getting shots.
Said Mazzulla, via Noa Dalzell of Celtics Blog, “Every team you lead is the most together team right now. Because we haven’t traveled. No one’s gotten benched. No one’s been on a losing streak. No one’s gotten blamed in the media. No one’s had to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes and not get the ball. So, you learn those things as the season goes on, and you just learn how to work through those things together.
“And you can’t simulate those. It just comes with time. And so, right now I would say all 30 teams feel great about themselves, and we got to wait till adversity hits. And adversity is even a strong word. There’s nothing really adverse about playing in the NBA. But we got to wait until stuff doesn’t go your way, and then you got to figure out who we are and how we’re going to be at our best.”
Indeed, the Celtics are coming off a massive disappointment in last year’s NBA playoffs, and have had to come to grips with Brown being shipped out. There has been adversity all summer. We’ll get a better feel for how this team handles it on October 20, when the season opens against the Pistons.
Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla Delivers Warning on Early Optimism