Back to the Promised Land: Analyzing Boston's Championship Window
After a disappointing end to an NBA Finals run, the Boston Celtics look to learn from their mistakes and finish the job. Brad Stevens went out and found Ime Udoka even more weapons to build on what the 2021-22 team built, not stymie their growth. Given the ages of the core, Boston has a few years where youth is not the answer. Experience is the solution. And given all the trade rumors, it is confusing for the fans who see it as a threat to their large window with its stars who are 25 years old or younger.
Jaylen Brown has two years left on his contract with Boston, while Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, and Robert Williams III are in Boston until they become free agents in 2027. Stevens' two most underrated moves of his tenure have been giving Williams III and Smart extensions as they have become an intricate part of the identity of this team. Horford is only with the Celtics for one more season bearing an extension. Still, despite that, Boston's championship window right now is five of being legitimate contenders, lining up with four of its core players.
C/O: AP Images
With five of its key pieces in Boston under contract until 2026, Stevens and ownership know that this is the time for investment. The future of Brown with the Celtics is still up in the air, but if last season told the world anything, it is that this player is ready to take the next leap into becoming an All-Star after being snubbed once again. For the next few years, Boston will sit atop the Eastern Conference with a few other teams. If this offseason gave a clue into what the Celtics are planning for the foreseeable future, it is that they are all in for not just one title but multiple after reaching the Finals for the first time since 2010 last season.
After the season, Stevens' spoke about what it takes to build a roster in today's NBA, stating, "I think we have to walk a fine line … I think teams are fragile. I think the ways that teams work together and operate together are fragile. I think your identity as a team when you find one that's successful, which we did this year on the defensive end of the floor, and when we were at our best sharing the ball offensively, those things are fragile. (It) doesn't mean that you're not taking something away from the group, and to change significant pieces in the group doesn't mean that might not totally take your identity and shift it in a direction that's not as successful."
The East will only continue to improve, and while the West is becoming the stronger conference again, the path to the NBA Finals each time is daunting. Mike Budenholzer and the Bucks will be as motivated as ever to get back to the Finals; while the 76ers are still searching for a way into the contention conversation, the East is bound to be a challenging conference to get out of for years to come.
Seeing the Celtics get through arguably the toughest road to the Finals in recent history gives this squad even more belief it can do it again on top of the new additions. Stevens has shown not only this summer but since he took over in the front office that the future of this team regarding young talent doesn't matter. Draft picks mean essentially nothing to Boston for the next five seasons, as the Celtics will look to snag as many win-now assets as possible into their arsenal to hoist as many banners they can in this span.
Even with Brown in trade rumors over the years, there is a lot of confidence around the city of Boston that the Celtics will throw a whole lot of money at him when the time comes. The Durant rumors resurfacing after a while seem more initiated by the Nets than anyone else. Brown creates an even larger window for this team, and while the odds of a title next season with Durant in Boston may be larger, over time, it will equal out due to the age and projected progression that a player like Brown is going to go through.
Tatum and Durant would create a lethal duo, but as time passes, just one injury like in the NBA Finals against Toronto for the soon-to-be 34-year-old could potentially end the prime parts of his career. If Brown sustains an injury, there is no doubt that a player of his age will be able to rebound and come back ready to compete at the highest level.
The only real concern is about Horford and what Boston will do in the frontcourt when the clock expires on a player that played a lot younger than he actually was last season. Grant Williams could help supplement that, along with potentially the star of the Summer League for the Celtics, Mfiondu Kabengele. Williams turning into that next Horford replacement in the near future changes the amount of money that Boston will give the former Tennessee product. He is a restricted free agent next season and makes a little over $4.3 million this upcoming season.
Williams has been a topic of trade talks over the years, but since his emergence as one of the best role players on the Celtics, there has to be an urgency to get a deal done before next summer. Of course, injuries and unforeseen circumstances are always possible, so there is a chance that the window for a title in Boston shrinks, but the youth of a player like Williams has to be worth keeping around, given his production and work ethic.
After (hopefully) another parade through the streets of Boston, Horford and Williams will be the only two critical players that Boston needs to decide on next summer. Horford's future is predicated on how he performs this upcoming season and if his body can take the wear and tear of a regular season and playoff run again at age 36.
Horford's departure is the only real clutch to this large window of success for Boston other than injuries. He provides intangibles that nobody else on the team can deliver. His veteran leadership is also one of his trademarks and one of the reasons why this club took a massive turn in the right direction when Stevens traded for Horford the summer he got promoted to the front office. Whenever Horford is in Boston, success follows. Three out of the four seasons that Horford has been with the Celtics, Boston has reached the Conference Finals.
When he came in 2016, Boston lost in the first round the year before, and when he came back, the Celtics were coming off a season where they got pushed aside by the Nets in the first round. Losing Horford is bound to happen at some point, but for the Celtics to find even more success, they need to hunt out that next version of the former Florida big man who can stretch the floor on top of holding his own in the paint.
C/O: Getty Images
With a four, possibly even five-year championship window to win as many titles as possible, the Celtics have a lot to be optimistic about heading into next season and those that follow. The youth combined with experience in Tatum, Brown, and the entire team that went through the run last season makes this a team nobody wants to see when it comes playoff time. However, the front office willing to pay deep into the luxury tax may not last long. If Boston doesn't win the championship next season, ownership could reconsider and alter the amount that is going to be spent on the team.
Brogdon quite possibly could be the best player the Celtics could have asked for this offseason, filling essentially every need on both ends of the floor. Next season, a few traded player exceptions could help give Boston the last puzzle piece before a title run. The window began to open when Tatum signed his contract extension, and now with his and Brown's running down, next season is arguably the most important for the Celtics in the last decade. Stevens's confidence and assurance even to this team during his short time in the front office makes this franchise bound to be at the top of the East until 2027.
Contracts could be handed out within the window, but realistically, with Brogdon, Smart, and Williams III locked up with Tatum for years to come, Boston has success written all over it.
