Boston Celtics Predictions for the New Season

This was a big offseason for the Boston Celtics. Only four players are returning from last seasons roster, Marcus Smart, Al Horford, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown. With such a huge roster turnover for a team that was the first seed in the playoffs, last season is unheard of. I have four predictions for the upcoming season for the Boston Celtics. My first prediction for the Celtics is that they will bring back their top defensive rating. Despite leading the Eastern Conference last season with 53 wins, the Celtics’ defensive output was down on previous seasons. The Celtics did lose two of their main defenders in Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder, but they did add Aaron Baynes which will help their interior defense and Jaylen Brown has proven he can defend at an elite level. The second prediction is that Marcus Smart will be traded. Smart is up for a new contract soon and with the Celtics spending most of their money on Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford, the Celtics most likely won't be able to afford him. Trading him while his stock is high will be the best option for the Celtics. The third prediction for the Celtics is that Gordon Hayward will make an All-NBA team. Hayward’s ascension in recent seasons, to eventually becoming an All-Star last season, has been something to behold. One of the key reasons for him joining the Celtics was reuniting with his college coach in Stevens. Not heavily recruited coming out of high school, Stevens’ Butler was one of few programs who showed genuine faith in Hayward at the time. Having a highly rated coach in Stevens that believed in him since the beginning should really push him over the edge. The fourth prediction for the Boston Celtics is that Kyrie Irving will finish in the top of MVP race. He averaged 25.2 points per game last season despite playing second fiddle to LeBron James and having another prolific All-Star in Kevin Love as a teammate. Kyrie is finally the number one guy on a team, and he is out to prove he can be great without LeBron James. With the upcoming season coming up in a few weeks, it's almost time for the Celtics to prove that all the changes they made during the offseason made the team title contenders. If the changes do become a success, my predictions should be fairly close to the actual results.