Growing up in the northeast, I have always caught some flack for rooting for non-New York teams in each of the four major sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. My teams, in no particular order, are the Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Cardinals, Utah Hockey Club (formerly the Arizona Coyotes) and the Boston Celtics. I won’t bore you with the reasonings behind each one, but, with basketball on the horizon, will take this as an opportunity to tell you why the Boston Celtics are going to repeat as NBA champions in the 2024-25 season.
The first thing that pops into my head is the Celtics’ selections in the 2024 NBA Draft. Boston chose shooting guard Baylor Scheierman with the 30th pick and power forward Anton Watson in the second round, 54th overall.
Scheierman is the more attention-grabbing choice here, as he averaged 18.5 PPG in his last year at Creighton University, helping them to a 25-10 record and an appearance in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet Sixteen.
Furthermore, Scheierman was a First-Team All-Big East addition and the Summit League Player of the Year in 2022, after averaging a career-best .469 3P%.
The Celtics also had a busy free agency, re-signing or giving contract extensions to seven members of their 2023-24 championship squad.
Bringing back Xavier Tillman and Luke Kornet was an underrated move from the start, as they may not hold the same stature as other players on the team, but are crucial in depth roles.
If the oft-injured Kristaps Porzingis and 38-year-old Al Horford were to miss any time during this upcoming season, don’t be surprised if Tillman’s role expands.
Small forward Sam Hauser and the Celtics agreed to a four year, $45 million contract on July 21, bringing the sharpshooter back long-term. Hauser has been excellent from beyond the arc for his entire career, owning a .422 3P%. He also contributed 11 three-pointers in the 2024 NBA Finals, helping secure Boston’s 18th ring.
The massive contract extensions of Jayson Tatum and Derrick White also bring added pressure to the team, but I believe that to be a good thing.Teams like the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers also made big additions, but the Celtics are primed and ready to take them head-on. As head coach Joe Mazzulla said, “People are gonna say the target is on our back, but I hope it’s right on our forehead in between our eyes. I hope I can see the red dot.”
