New-look Boston Celtics no longer the Eastern favorites

Best-case scenario

The Boston Celtics figure out their defensive issues and become a legitimate threat in the East, following in the footsteps of recent overachieving Celtics teams. They have the offensive firepower already, but this didn’t help them last year.

With the team meshing on and off the court, they  become a surprise challenger for the top seed in the East. While the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks are better-equipped personnel-wise, the Celtics always over-perform with their backs against the wall.

This season is no different, with Gordon Hayward healthy and raring to go, Kemba Walker looking to make a name for himself in Boston and another year of development for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

A stingy defense highlighted by the newfound rebounding ability within the roster and enhanced by coach Brad Stevens “challenge everything” type of system is the catalyst. Boston has posted top-five defenses with lesser quality before.

Entering the playoffs, it becomes a lottery, where there are no easy games and the stars begin to shine. With potentially four stars on their roster, this could be how Boston really announces it is still to be feared.

Worst-case scenario

Demons of the past are yet to be exercised and the fallout from last year still hangs heavy over the locker room. While the majority of the culprits have been moved on during the summer, it does not necessarily mean the mental scars have healed.

The squad is still not ready to move past the abject humiliation of the 2018-19 season. A few poor performances, highlighting the weaknesses within the roster, are all that is needed for players to regress to their style of the season just gone.

With no Al Horford to steady the ship when things get rough, they turn to the likes of Walker and Hayward to mend the locker room.

Players begin to “get theirs” instead of playing within the system and suddenly what promises to be an exciting season becomes a re-hash of last year. The Celtics fight for the fourth or fifth seed in the East with home-court advantage a distant dream.

Being pitted against one of the East’s premier teams early in the playoffs ensures another early exit.

Two years of early exits, a perceived self-serving roster and a once-revered coach now on the hot seat. An implosion would not be far away.