As one of the most accomplished teams with 17 NBA championships, Boston Celtics are one of the top contenders for the upcoming 2022-2023 NBA season. Yet, the Celtics’ co-owner Wyc Grousbeck labeled his team as an “overrated” team ahead of the upcoming season.
Last season, the Celtics began with a weak start and then went on to become one of the most dominant teams in the league. Their two star forwards, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, led the team’s defense and they advanced to the NBA Finals.
The Celtics started their domination in the second half of the last season with several young players. Also, the addition of Malcolm Brogdon from the Indiana Pacers in the postseason led many fans and experts to expect the Celtics to be crowned as Eastern Conference champions for this season, according to CBS Sports.
Grousbeck stressed that ownership remains committed to doing whatever it takes to win a title.
“I think we’re spending about $200 million on the roster this year, and Brad has the green light to spend more…(I say to him) ‘Just tell us who you want.’”https://t.co/3fAEFs6pu2
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) September 16, 2022
However, Grousbeck said that he was unsure of the predictions. When asked by Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Grousbeck said that he would not consider that last season’s performance should lead the expectations for the Celtics’ campaign this year.
“I loved being right there with them. It was thrilling. The other side of the coin is I think that we’ve now been overrated,” Grousbeck said.
“I think that performance was a bit overrated in the public mind, or my own mind, because I’m the one saying it. [We were] a finalist and two wins away from winning it, but when you look back, Brooklyn was a tough series, and then we had to go seven games [against the Bucks and Heat]. Then we lost [to Golden State]. So, we’re not a hands-down team to repeat as Eastern Conference champions. I think we’re a quality team.”
Referring to the Celtics’ last season’s playoff campaign, Grousbeck noted that the Celtics’ path to the Finals was “smooth” due to several changes in other teams.
The Celtics knocked out the Milwaukee Bucks, who could not play their star forward, Khris Middleton, in the second round of the playoff. Then, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler missed a last-minute three-point shot in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals that could potentially knock the Celtics out.
Moreover, when the Celtics were in the 2-1 lead against the Warriors in the Finals, they allowed 97.9 points per 100 possessions and lost three straight games.
Celtics’ upcoming season
For the upcoming season, the Celtics include several stars who also played last season. Tatum is expected to be an MVP candidate, while Brown is listed as the Celtics’ second-best player with his 24 points per game last season. The two are among the top players on the Celtics’ roster.
Marcus Smart, who is the reigning Defensive Player of The Year, is also said to be one of the best additions to the Celtics’ roster.
According to Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports, if Brogdon, Robert Williams and Al Horford could maintain their condition throughout the upcoming season, the Celtics could utilize them as well. Also, the Celtics would be a “very difficult” team to beat in both the regular season and the playoffs.
On the other hand, when asked about adding new players, Grousbeck told Himmelsbach that he gave the Celtics’ chief basketball operations Brad Stevens a “green light” to do it in order for the team to “get better.”
“He’s done everything he can to make us better… We’re not worried about him. Just tell us who you want when Brad makes a list, It is assembled based on basketball. Let’s put it this way,” Grousbeck said.