The Boston Celtics may have seen other teams around the league loading up on talent at the 2023 trade deadline, but still find themselves at the top of potential title contenders according to SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell. Per O’Donnell, the “Celtics have been playing like the best team in basketball for more than a year now.”
The SB Nation analyst points to how “last season’s stunning turnaround at the halfway point” under the ball club’s prior head coach Ime Udoka would lead to a berth in the 2022 NBA Finals, one Boston would eventually squander to lose in six games, only to return with a vengeance on Game 1 of the 2022-23 season.
Now, O’Donnell notes how Boston has since morphed into “a group with the best net rating and point-differential at the All-Star break this year.”
“Boston feels like the most complete team in the NBA this season, and not just because they are the only team top-five in both offensive and defensive efficiency,” suggests O’Donnell.
“Jayson Tatum has turned himself into an MVP candidate, Jaylen Brown is one of the best No. 2 options in the game, and there’s so much size, shooting, and ball handling around them. The Celtics are not unbeatable, but they usually don’t beat themselves. It’s a team that knows exactly what it wants to do, and one that has never questioned if everyone is buying into their roles.”
“The league might be wide open right now, but the Celtics are the team to beat,” he adds.
It will take some time to see just how well Boston’s peers’ moves impact actual NBA games as players get used to their new roles, teammates, and teams.
But for now, it is hard to argue with O’Donnell’s premise regarding the Celtics being the top team in the league in terms of postseason potential.
But for the team’s final games of the season, it also means Boston is the top team with a target on their back.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire