Washington Wizards: 5 obstacles to contending in 2017-18

2. Getting past the Boston Celtics and Kyrie Irving

There’s a new sheriff in town and he goes by the name of Kyrie Irving. The trade of Irving to the Boston Celtics certainly shocked the world as it added one more obstacle in the Eastern Conference for the Wizards to get through. They still have to face Isaiah Thomas, but he will be a different beast altogether with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Celtics have a new look as point guard Kyrie Irving and forward Gordon Hayward are on the team. They’ll be a scary team on offense but defensively, they won’t be the same. They’ve lost arguably their top two defenders from a season ago in Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder.

They’ve added Marcus Morris, a counter to Wizards forward Markieff Morris, but they also lost Kelly Olynyk, a guy who played a key role in their defeat of the Wizards in last year’s playoffs.

The Celtics are also a much younger team than the Washington Wizards as well. The Celtics may have the star power in Irving, Hayward and Al Horford, but the Wizards could find the edge when it comes to depth.

If these two teams face each other in this year’s playoffs, which is very likely, we’re in for another seven-game series.