Despite Roster Overhaul, Celtics’ Expectations Remain High

The Boston Celtics’ massive roster revamp came fast and furious this summer, each move executed as if it were just the next domino to fall in an elaborate party trick. For a Celtics franchise that had just reached the Eastern Conference’s biggest stage, bringing back only four players from last year’s gritty 53-29 roster was bold to say the very least.

At media day, Marcus Smart, Al Horford, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown stood as the sole survivors from a hectic three months, but as they spoke, it became clear that the Celtics’ expectations have not changed at all. For every key departure like Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley, there was an equally exciting arrival coming back the other way. And when the dust finally settled, general manager Danny Ainge and the Celtics felt as if they engineered another winning combination.

“Obviously, those guys were terrific players for us,” Ainge said. “But we had a chance to get some players this year that we really like also. And we can have some continuity with [them], we don’t plan on doing this same thing next summer.”

Of course, the source of such optimism undoubtedly comes from Boston’s recent acquisition of two bonafide superstars. In July, the Celtics nabbed Gordon Hayward via free agency and then they received Kyrie Irving in a shocking trade that saw Ante Žižić, Thomas, Crowder and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 unprotected first-rounder leave town. As Horford put it on Monday, the Irving trade was a big surprise to everybody, but it could give Boston a much-needed boost – both in 2017-18 and beyond.

Throughout Monday afternoon, the Celtics’ veterans and youngsters took turns at the podium to recap their whirlwind offseasons and innate desires for the season to begin. With training camp set to tip off tomorrow in Rhode Island, the roster’s focus was palpable, but they all understand that it’ll be a day-to-day process for now. Despite the many echoed sentiments of inevitable ups and downs, the Celtics were also keen to keep their expectations just as high as they’ve always been.

So when Brad Stevens was asked about balancing the roster turnover with the expectations of another deep playoff run, the head coach was succinct in his response.

“Our expectations haven’t changed so there’s no balance,” Stevens said. “You work every day to try to be the best you can be, we know what the goal is in Boston – that’s stated pretty clearly with the banners that hang above us.”

Entering his fifth season as head coach of the Celtics, Stevens has quickly become one of the franchise’s greatest assets. Aside from his growing acclaim as a tactical mastermind, players have recently come to Boston to compete and learn under Stevens. From Hayward, who cited Stevens as a huge reason why he left the Utah Jazz this summer, to Shane Larkin, fresh off a year overseas, most members of the newly crafted roster have already given their coach high praise.

“He’s one of the best coaches in the NBA, just being with him in this short amount of time that I’ve been here, he’s just got a different outlook on the game,” Larkin said. “He just seems like he’s a very smart coach with everything he does, not just on the court – but how he wants guys to recover, how he wants guys to get their rest and how he wants guys to go about their business.

“Hopefully, he can bring the best out of me because I know I’m ready for it.”

Hayward and Irving were the spotlighted additions this summer, but Stevens is clearly the key linchpin in Ainge’s ambitious plan to both retool and contend at the same time. The Celtics will start the season with just two players older than the age of 30 – Aron Baynes and Horford – and Smart is the team’s longest-tenured player heading into his fourth year. So the pressure to build another cohesive, hard-nosed unit will fall directly on Stevens’ shoulders, but it may prove harder than ever to do so.

Still, Horford is backing his talented head coach to do exactly that.

“[Stevens] has been a big influence on me. I feel like the guys will be challenged as far as them knowing about the game of basketball,” Horford said. “[He’ll challenge them] to look at themselves more critically, look at the film and really help them understand offense and movement.

“One of his biggest strengths is that he’s a great teacher and guys will be better.”

For a franchise like the Celtics in a championship-hungry city like Boston, their expectations will always be lofty, but this hungry roster is ready to embrace the next big challenge. It starts with the four returning veterans, but Boston won’t repeat last season’s successes without contributions from their slew of newcomers either. While Hayward and Irving’s anticipated value is obvious, Stevens’ new rotation will need reliable shooting from Marcus Morris, high-energy minutes from Jayson Tatum and hard-nosed defense from likes of Semi Ojeleye and the aforementioned Baynes as well.

“I’m super excited, it’s a new opportunity for me – it’s a clean slate, it’s 10-plus new teammates,” Brown said. “I’m super ready to learn how people’s minds work, to learn how to work with my teammates and put this thing together.”

The Celtics added some much-needed star power this offseason, but future triumphs will stem from a consistent team-wide effort as they begin to build a new identity together. Although most franchises would call a season with so many arrivals and departures a bridge year, Boston seems poised for another strong finish under Stevens and his reimagined roster.

More often than not, media day is filled with hyperbole and headline-grabbing quotes, but the overwhelming feeling out of Boston is that they’re just eager to get to work.

“Everything is urgent, everything matters, every detail matters,” Stevens said. “In a lot of ways, as big as of a challenge [as it is], it’s going to be a lot of fun.”