Boston Celtics bold predictions after 2024-25 season schedule release
09/25/2024 09:09 PM
With the 2024-25 NBA regular season approaching, plenty of eyes will be on the Boston Celtics. Ahead of the Celtics opening night game against the New York Knicks on Oct. 22, we'll be making our bold predictions for this year.
Boston is coming off the 18th championship in franchise history and are looking to repeat. The Celtics had a strong offseason, re-signing key role players and locking up core players with contract extensions including franchise star Jayson Tatum.
Other teams in the Eastern Conference certainly improved with the Philadelphia 76ers adding Paul George and the Knicks adding Mikal Bridges. But the Celtics kept their championship core together and now have the experience of winning a title.
With that said, it's time for our Celtics bold predictions for the 2024-25 season
Lonnie Walker IV will be in 6th Man contention with Celtics
When the Celtics signed Lonnie Walker in late August, it was surprising for two reasons. The first being that a player of his caliber was still a free agent that late in the offseason. The second was that no other team had attempted to sign him and allowed the defending champions to pick up a talented player.
This bold prediction for the Celtics says that not only Walker make the team's final roster, but he will become their best bench player. He can be in the running for the 6th Man of the Year Award. The Celtics have 14 guaranteed contracts on their roster and Walker is fighting for that final spot.
Walker was a key player off the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers (2022-23) and Brooklyn Nets (2023-24) the past two seasons. Last season, he shot 38.4 percent from the field. The past four seasons he's been a consistent double-digit scoring threat. Looking at the Celtics second unit, he automatically becomes their most talented reserve.
Again, this is all predicated on Walker sticking past training camp and preseason. But he's too talented for the Celtics to simply let go. He will work his way into Joe Mazzulla's rotation and it will pay off in a big way.
Jaylen Brown will be in the MVP discussion
This is quite another hot take for the Celtics, but these are called bold predictions for a reason. Jaylen Brown is coming off a Finals MVP Award, but he felt a bit slighted this offseason. He was passed over for Team USA and he let his feelings be known.
The Celtics are getting a highly-motivated Brown this season. He's coming off a playoff run during which he averaged 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 51.6 percent shooting from the field, 32.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 66 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Brown took some criticism when the Celtics signed him to a fairly large contract extension last offseason, but he's proved he's worth every cent. A three-time All-Star, Brown is set to silence any doubters and prove that he should have been on the Olympics roster.
The Celtics do have another legitimate MVP candidate in Jayson Tatum who finished in the top six in the MVP voting last season. But look for Tatum to take a slight step aside and watch his teammate ascend among the NBA's elite.
The Celtics will repeat as champions quite easily
It's not a hot take at all to suggest that the Celtics will repeat as champions. They have the team and experience to do so. Nobody in the NBA world would be surprised if that happened. What makes this a bold prediction for the Celtics though is that they will face no legit competition en route to winning the franchise's 19th title.
While both the 76ers and Knicks improved, neither team did enough to truly contend with the Celtics in the Eastern Conference. They will reach the NBA Finals with ease.
Most NBA fans probably expect the Celtics toughest threat to come from the Western Conference. Even Tatum believed that to be true as per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. But the team he mentioned, the Denver Nuggets, just lost a major piece in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The Oklahoma City Thunder improved. The Dallas Mavericks improved. The Minnesota Timberwolves are another year older and experienced. But in the end it won't matter. The Celtics have tasted championship glory. Tatum also has something to prove after being benched for much of the Olympics. When it's all said and done, the Celtics won't even be tested while becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles since the 2017 and 2018 Golden State Warriors.
The post Boston Celtics bold predictions after 2024-25 season schedule release appeared first on ClutchPoints.
