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2019-20 NBA season: Record predictions for every team

By Christopher Kline

PLAYA VISTA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers Forward Paul George (13) pose for a photo during media day at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on September 29, 2019 in Playa Vista, California. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PLAYA VISTA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers Forward Paul George (13) pose for a photo during media day at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on September 29, 2019 in Playa Vista, California. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images) /

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are a difficult team to gauge. Last season was marred in dysfunction, with several young prospects and a discontent star who couldn’t quite balance team success and personal achievements. Now the landscape is vastly different.

Beyond the Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker swap — a definitive downgrade, no matter how you view locker room fit — the Celtics also lost Al Horford, the lone stabilizing force amidst a turbulent 2018-19 campaign. His exit could prove more costly.

Without Horford, the Celtics are devoid of a dynamic playmaking threat in the frontcourt. He’s also an elite defender, whose intelligence, mobility and length yielded impressive results against the league’s foremost interior threats. The Celtics no longer look like a good defense.

Still, despite a clear loss of talent and a serious hole on defense, Boston carries with it a great deal of intrigue. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are primed to step up, while Kemba Walker functions well off-ball — an attribute that could, on paper, bode well next to Tatum’s shot-creating presence.

There’s also the enigma of Gordon Hayward. Perhaps another summer of intense workouts and confidence-building can aid the former All-Star back to form. If he’s Utah-era Hayward — it’s a stretch to expect such results, but not impossible — the Celtics are a dangerous animal.

In the end, Enes Kanter starting at center (and not much behind him) is the biggest red flag. Kanter can get buckets, no doubt, but he’s a periodic blackhole who struggles to defend in the modern NBA. The Celtics are a mid-tier Eastern Conference contender until proven otherwise.

Final prediction: 47-35, No. 4 seed Eastern Conference