With the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76'ers not making the Eastern Conference Finals, the immediate future has brightened for the Boston Celtics. As expected, injuries derailed the Nets season, and another year of wear-and-tear on four former All-Stars not getting any younger certainly lowers expectations for the upcoming season.
And the Philadelphia 76'ers, under former Celtics coach, Doc Rivers, just can't seem to perform in the spotlight. Ben Simmons refuses to learn how to shoot the ball, and Joel Embiid, for all his talent, occasionally fades into the background. And people are starting to wonder if Doc Rivers is as good as some of us thought.
That leaves the Milwaukee Bucks, and surprisingly, the Atlanta Hawks, in the Eastern race. It just seems to me that with the right coach, and tweaks to the current roster, the Celtics have a solid shot at making major noise in 2021-22.
The addition of Al Horford back into the Celtics fold was not earth-shaking, but a smart move. And, as shown above, Moses Brown was not simply a throw-in. The core of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Al Horford, surrounded by even younger talent, is starting to look like a potential contender for the 2022 Title - something I would not have written even yesterday.Young defensive anchor potential, Timelord insurance.
— Christopher Landers (@armchairgminNH) June 18, 2021
Quoting Christopher Landers is one sure way to lose readers Tom. This is the guy who said Jaylen Brown was not worth an extension unless it was for 3 years and around 40 million and went bezerk when he was given 4/106. Yikes! Moses Brown has a long way to go to be considered any good on defense, let alone a "defensive anchor". That's actually the weakest part of his game right now, unless you including 3 point shooting (which I don't, because he's 7'2", but no doubt many will want even their big men to hit some). Rebounding is Moses's one true strength, followed by his offense. Lot's of potential and not just a "throw-in" but his value is roughly equal to the `16th pick, which is what Celtic fans should look at giving that pick up for. The pick definitely should not have been needed to dump Kemba for 20m in savings, only if they were getting out of the majority of his remaining money should a pick have been needed. Walker still has value.
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