[Amnorix]

Just gonna put this up:

Boston’s overachieving last season and its numerous key summer departures—including Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson and—make Brad Stevens’s squad a prime candidate for stagnation or regression this season even though Danny Ainge added two stars in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. The Celtics’ top-end talent has clearly improved, but their depth and cohesion have taken meaningful hits this summer, and youngsters like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will be stripped of their training wheels and asked to play major roles. The 2018 Celtics are more susceptible to a single injury killing their momentum, and they will be much more reliant on unproven bench players. Washington and Toronto both had forgettable offseasons, but neither team should enter 2017-18 fearing Boston at this point.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers will enter next season as the East’s favorites, the same position they’ve been in since LeBron James’s 2014 return. Thomas’s hip injury is a real concern, especially because Kevin Love and J.R. Smith both missed significant time last season due to injury. That said, Boston, Toronto and Washington all lack good defensive options for James, meaning that Cleveland is probably still in position to repeat its 2015 postseason run if injuries strike again. Would you really bet against James, who just averaged a triple-double in the Finals against perhaps the most dominant team in postseason history, smashing through the conference again if two or three of his sidekicks go down in the playoffs?

Ultimately, this trade seems to set up Boston for greater command over the conference in the future rather than specifically during the 2017-18 season. The Raptors, Wizards, Bucks and others should be nervous that the Celtics will be able to use Irving and Hayward as lures for an additional superstar like Anthony Davis down the road. Fast-forward to 2019, and Boston could be in position to have a core group of three All-Star starters, all in their respective primes, supported by Brown and Tatum, who will still be on rookie deals. That sounds like an awfully high bar for the rest of the conference to clear. In the immediate future, though, don’t expect a two-team runaway at the top of the conference just yet.​

[skip]

As for Boston, my read is not a popular one in the New England area. To me, this trade for the Celtics acknowledges the Warriors are an unstoppable force as currently constructed. Rather than make a run at the 2017-18 title, the Celtics are gearing up to try and contend for rings 2-3 years from now. With Kyrie and Gordon Hayward just entering their primes, and youngsters Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum just coming on, the Celtics have arguably the best young nucleus in the league—but not one that’s quite ready for playoff battles with the Warriors and Cavs.

https://www.si.com/nba/2017/08/24/ky...homas-warriors