Why Celtics are higher outfitted to repeat than earlier 5 champs

Why Celtics are better equipped to repeat than previous five champs initially appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Celtics hope to turn into the first repeat champions since the 2017-18 Warriors, and so they’ve bought no scarcity of latest examples to look at within the hopes of avoiding what can go fallacious.

Just one different time in NBA historical past (from 1975-80) has there been six straight distinctive champions, and the C’s simply prolonged that run final season, following the Nuggets, Warriors, Lakers, Bucks, and Raptors.

So what can we be taught from the 5 groups that did not repeat? Fairly a bit, truly.

The Raptors are straightforward. They had been a Kawhi Leonard one-off, and when he left for the Clippers in the summertime of 2019, he took Toronto’s title-defending hopes with him. The Raptors gambled brilliantly on one 12 months of Leonard, and it paid off with the last word prize. It bears little relevance to the Celtics, whose stars are well-established and not going anywhere.

Then there are the Warriors and Lakers. You possibly can lump them collectively, as a result of they suffered the identical difficulty: age.

LeBron James turns 40 this December, and though he has maintained an MVP stage of play far longer than anybody in historical past – he is the NBA’s Tom Brady at this level – there comes a time the place carrying a franchise is an excessive amount of, particularly contemplating all of the years he spent as Cleveland’s 1, 1-A, and 1-B. Since profitable his fourth and presumably ultimate title, James has seen his Lakers miss the playoffs as soon as, get bounced within the first spherical twice, and make one fluky run to the convention finals. He has missed 90 video games during the last 4 seasons and the Lakers have lacked the supporting solid to bolster him.

The Warriors aged as a workforce, with the core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Inexperienced reaching their mid-30s collectively. It felt that means on the time, and it is apparent now – beating the Celtics in ’22 represented their final stand.

So how in regards to the Bucks and Nuggets? This is the place issues get fascinating.

The Nuggets had a simple postseason path two years in the past, beating three play-in groups and the overrated Suns. That is a cautionary story, I suppose, contemplating the starless path the Celtics stampeded to the Finals.

However the Nuggets additionally misplaced their key glue man in Bruce Brown, who’s a poor man’s Jrue Vacation or Derrick White. Brown does all of the little issues so the celebrities do not must, and Denver missed his versatility final season. The Celtics, in contrast, have not misplaced anybody.

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Watch the Nuggets play final 12 months, and so they clearly depended an excessive amount of on the famous person duo of Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. These two wanted to be nice each evening, and it wore them down. Denver went 44-15 with Murray within the lineup and 12-10 with out him.

The Celtics, in contrast, are a lot deeper, which is why they may go 21-4 with out Kristaps Porzingis, 7-1 with out Jayson Tatum, and so on… They will, and continuously have, received with out each of their superstars dominating. Final 12 months’s Denver workforce is cooked in that situation, as a result of Aaron Gordon is a rim-runner/rubbish man (whom I would soak up a second, by the way in which), and Kentavius Caldwell-Pope would not scare anybody.

Then there are the Bucks. They’ve at all times lived on the sting, as a result of they’re constructed round a flawed famous person. Giannis Antetokounmpo cannot shoot free throws or 3s, and within the playoffs, the Celtics have constantly confirmed that Milwaukee can not win by runaway practice alone.

Additionally, 2021 was Khris Middleton’s final wholesome postseason, and the Bucks have not been capable of replicate the dimension he provides to their offense, which is not simply 3s, however that silky clean mid-range recreation. Maybe most egregiously, they changed Jrue Vacation with Damian Lillard, an all-time traditional swap of underrated winner with overrated loser, which sounds harsh, besides Lillard’s playoff resume speaks for itself. It was a desperation transfer designed to maintain Giannis completely happy, and it labored, as a result of he signed a three-year extension a few weeks later.

The Celtics have zero contract drama (for this 12 months anyway) as a result of they super-maxed their two stars and surrounded them with the right complementary items.

So to recap, the Celtics aren’t a one-off just like the Raptors, outdated just like the Lakers and Warriors, a two-man workforce just like the Nuggets, or making desperation strikes just like the Bucks.

It would not assure they will go back-to-back, however it offers them a greater shot than their latest predecessors.