Boston Celtics: 5 things Kyrie Irving can expect in his first season
By Jake Finnen
4. Losses
Ah, the learning curve. The time it takes to get used to your surroundings, assimilate with your colleagues and most importantly, test your adaptability. With plenty of new faces joining the Celtics (Marcus Morris, Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum, to name a few), the entire team will be learning together.
In a sense, it can create more camaraderie between players and ultimately make this team a closer-knit squad. Even though fans might need some time to recognize the new faces, the Celtics lack quality frontcourt depth.
More from Boston Celtics
- Why the new and improved Celtics are a major threat
- These two Celtics will be crucial to unlocking Kristaps Porzingis’ potential
- The new-look Celtics are closer than ever to an 18th title
- 3 Reasons Boston will regret trading Marcus Smart
- Ranking the 5 best available power forwards in 2023 NBA free agency
Al Horford and Marcus Morris can hold their own with starting workloads, but Aron Baynes cannot pick up the slack on his own. Other than a few younger players like Daniel Theis, Guerschon Yabusele, and the aforementioned Tatum, the Celtics lack size.
Irving will have free range to the offense and take late-game situations into his own hands, but his teammates will still need to hold up their end defensively. When you have LeBron James and his veteran congregation on your team, defense can be sacrificed. With a young team still learning the ropes of the NBA and their new superstar teammates, the defense might take longer to mesh.
Offense is more valuable than defense, but you need to be able to stop other teams from scoring before you start to win games. The Celtics may have won 53 games last season, but don’t be surprised if the losses come early and often. If all goes well, the Celtics should have no problem integrating and Irving can start off his captainship on a positive note.