Sb Nation Reacts: Contender Status Confirmed

Give us a minute. It’s been a summer.

Let’s get this straight. After coughing up a 3-1 lead to the 76ers in the first round of last year’s playoffs, we traded Jaylen Brown to Philly AND they added LeBron James? The Knicks are defending champs and Kawhi Leonard might be a Toronto Raptor again?

Like I said, give us a minute.

It’s now August and the dust has settled. We’re officially starting our offseason deep sleep until training camp in October, but before we go into a two- month basketball hibernation, let’s take stock of where we’re at.

First, the team deserves all the skepticism that the fans have had over the last few weeks. You don’t trade away a franchise cornerstone and MVP candidate without some blowback. Now, with some perspective, the move makes a little more sense. There’s a clearer three-year plan in place and we’re all slowly getting on board.

NBA media and analytics seem to be catching up with the Celtics’ summer, too. Considering everything that’s happened with roster and taking stock with the rest of the conference, Boston is still poised to have a very good season next year with the veteran additions of Paul George, Mitchell Robinson, and Mike Conley Jr. And with the continued development of the young core that pushed the Celtics to 56 wins last season, there’s no reason to think they’ll be any drop off.

Only time will tell if they’re championship level. Our friends at FanDuel have the Celtics (+1300) just behind the Knicks (+950) and Sixers (+1000) to raise Banner 19. Get on the bandwagon. I’ll save you a seat.