Banner 18 is coming in 2019. You, people, do realize this is happening right? Anyone in the media who are criticizing the Boston Celtics today either doesn’t have a brain or is just flat out dumb. Take away James Harden and Chris Paul from the Rockets; Do they even make the playoffs? Take away Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons from the 76ers and Philly doesn’t make the playoffs either. Losing star players is catastrophic to any franchise. The Celtics were robbed of both Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving during their playoff run and made it all the way the Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics will represent the first true challenge to the Golden State Warriors dynasty. It will just come in 2019.
Brad Stevens Is Bill Belichick
The measure of a great coach is his ability to get the most out of their players. No one has epitomized that phrase more in sports than Bill Belichick. You’ve heard it all before. I don’t remember Rex Burkhead being this good in Cincinnati or I don’t remember Dion Lewis being this good in Cleveland. It’s gotten to the point where Belichick found a guy from the University of Western Alabama (Malcolm Butler) where people actually think the guy is good!
Well the best coach in the NBA is actually in the same (greatest) sports town. Brad Stevens had the public fooled (not myself, obviously) that Isaiah Thomas was actually good. I’m not sure how people didn’t understand that but his 29 point per game season was always a fluke that masked but a great coach.
Isaiah Thomas With Stevens: 24.7 points, 6 assists, +3.8 +/- per game
Isaiah Thomas Without Stevens: 15.3 points, 4.6 assists, – .08 +/- per game
He’s even had me fooled on a few occasions. I thought Avery Bradley was actually good and really is above average. In fact, you can make the argument that the Celtics got the better player in the deal with an additional year of cheap workforce (Marcus Morris). Jae Crowder has been a shell of his Boston self too. Remember that time the Celtics actually got two second-round picks for Jordan Crawford? The list really never ends. To keep it short, Brad Stevens is just unbelievable and it’s a miracle they made it this far in the playoffs. Anyone that takes Butler to two Final Fours is a tremendous head coach and it can’t get talked about enough. Terry Rozier would not be this good in Phoenix. Jayson Tatum may still be excellent but maybe wouldn’t have developed so quickly. He takes Boston’s pure talent level up a notch because that’s what great coaches do.
Danny Ainge Is The Best Talent Evaluator In The Sport
Name that last time Danny Ainge lost a trade… Anyone… Okay, how about you in the back? No, okay, I’ll just have to keep waiting then. Love him or hate him, Danny Ainge is the best general manager in the sport. He even has an impressive organizational tree with Daryl Morey being a former assistant and was the first to recommend Bob Meyers to the Golden State Warriors.
Ainge got Isaiah Thomas for a bag of potato chips, then convinced half the league that he was good and turned him into Kyrie Irving! What about the time that he traded two dinosaurs (Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett) for a heist of draft picks that turned into Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and the first round pick to land Kyrie. Speaking of Tatum, what about when he convinced the world that he was taking Markelle Fultz and moved down in the draft to pick up more ammo. What about the time when he traded Branden Wright for a future Grizzlies pick that hasn’t even conveyed yet! Ainge has been flat out perfect and that’s not even counting the fact that Boston’s brass has been excellent at recruiting free agents (Al Horford & Gordon Hayward). Danny Ainge might be the only general manager in sports that you just can’t question at this point.
https://vendettasportsmedia.com/clear-path-2018-nba-conference-finals-recap/
Kyrie Irving Is A Superstar and He’s Better Without LeBron
The narrative that LeBron James makes his teammates better is the biggest false narrative in the history of the NBA. Having a side by side comparison of how Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder performed in Boston compared to Cleveland only confirms that LeBron doesn’t make his teammates better. I mean, people should have already known this just by watching Kevin Love deteriorate in front of our eyes despite playing his prime years with “the best player in the world”.
Isaiah Thomas shot a putrid 36 percent with the Cavs despite the fact that people claim that LeBron gives all of his teammate’s open looks. Jae Crowder’s field goal percentage also took a massive hit when he went to Cleveland and turned into every teammate that LeBron has ever had. Run an elementary isolation offense and stand in the corner until LeBron decides to pass the ball.
Irving wasn’t just more productive without James, he was also more efficient. Irving set a career-high mark in field goal percentage (.491) this season without James. Irving is still a 25 point per game scorer and actually passes the ball buying into the Brad Stevens system. It’s also probably safe to say Gordon Hayward should also be better pairing with his former collegiate coach as long as he is healthy. If you take Chris Paul and James Harden off the Rockets, their team probably loses in the first round. Take Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid off the 76ers and they don’t even make the playoffs. Take the best two players off the Celtics and they made it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Do you people really understand how good this team will be?
This Roster Will Only Improve
Have I mentioned the fact that the Celtics have more future assets than any team in the league? No, okay I’ll talk about it some more. The Celtics own a future Clippers first rounder, Grizzlies first rounder, and Kings first rounder. The picks are protected differently but still valued regardless. Boston also has Terry Rozier who is coming off an outstanding postseason (minus game 7) and Marcus Morris who can be flipped and will likely suffer minute restrictions because of incoming talent regardless. If Marcus Smart is retained, you can bet Terry Rozier is a goner. A starting five of Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford might be the best starting lineup in the entire league. Excellent depth and the assets to get better make the Celtics the scariest team in the league starting next year.
Boston Has Star Young Talent
The NBA has proven over the years that it’s almost impossible to compete with young talent. Karl-Anthony Towns has been in the league for three years and finally made the playoffs as an 8th seed. Joel Embiid finally made the playoffs in his fourth year and proved that Philly was way too inexpeirenced to make a serious run. My point is it takes young players a long time in the NBA to be able to learn what it takes to win. Boston’s young guns have proven that they’re ready now. Jayson Tatum has All-Time legend stuff. Tatum is already a prolific scoring presence at 20-years old and shot 43 percent from 3-point range as a rookie. The third pick in the draft averaged over 18 points per game in the postseason as a rookie. I’m not sure we even know the ceiling for this guy yet because he’s flat-out unbelievable. You can also add Jaylen Brown to that list who may be the more athletic guy. Brown also averaged 18 per game in the playoffs and has really improved his jump shot from college. Jay and Jay are going to be one of the scariest wing duos in the league and they are both in their first two seasons.
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Lock it up; Banner 18 is coming in 2019!
