NBA Offseason
The NBA Finals ended with Golden State coming out on top of Cleveland with King James falling short of winning back to back championships. Everyone’s focus turned very quickly to the NBA Offseason and we have seen some incredible things take place so far. Who is not excited to see the Houston Rockets take the floor this season? Chris Paul and James Harden in one backcourt it going to be must see television and could Carmelo Anthony be part of the mix? How about Paul George taking his talents out West to team up with MVP Russell Westbrook. Now that will be really interesting to see if they are willing to play together for more than just 1 season. You think that is a lot, well the Minnesota Timberwolves have formed quite the team out west with the trade for All Star Jimmy Butler on draft night and the signings of Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford. Also Paul Millsap is headed out to Denver to from an interesting frontcourt with Nikola Jokic. Millsap, who in my mind is what one of the more underrated players in basketball. You get the point, all of these All Star players have mostly headed out to the Western Conference. Then the news came about last week where the Boston Celtics have signed Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz and finally there was a great player going to the East and with this signing the Celtics have a legitimate shot at winning the Eastern Conference.
That brings me to my next point and that is the Celtics offseason so far. This team was one of the last 3 remaining in the NBA and they were good but to be great they are going to have to find a way to beat Cleveland and Golden State which we all know will not be easy. Amir Johnson left for Philadelphia and even though he was a starter, he is no big loss for this team at all. Kelly Olynyk is also gone and the fact that he is making 50 million dollars is ridiculous but anyways thanks to him for having the game of his life in Game 7 against the Wizards. His ability to stretch the floor and make some threes every once in a while helped but overall the Celtics should not miss him that much. Also James Young, Gerald Green, and Jonas Jerebko will not be returning. Jonas was a solid rebounder which we could miss. The one loss that obviously will hurt a little is Avery Bradley and when I 1st got this news it seemed weird knowing that the Celtics longest tenured player is gone and now their longest tenured player happens to be Marcus Smart. Avery got better every season and there is no doubt that he will be missed but it sounded like he would be gone after the season anyways. The good news is that the Celtics got something for him and Marcus Morris is a solid player who will help stretch the floor and give the Celtics some good minutes whether he starts or comes off the bench. There is no question whether or not Gordon Hayward will start and this signing was obviously huge for this organization. Going back to draft night the Celtics selection of Jayson Tatum from Duke University looks like it could have been the best selection of the night. He has looked fantastic in the Summer League so far and he should play some big minutes right away for Boston. Finally the Celtics signed Aron Baynes and most people would be like who the hell is he and honestly I have not seen him play too much but he is a big body and a good value contract for the Celtics. Rebounding is their weakness right now and Baynes along with Ante Zizic should help. Overall this team looks like they are ready to compete for a championship right now and in about 3 months things will start getting very exciting. Things will stay quiet for now until the preseason gets going.
