Ranking the Boston Celtics Five Biggest Strengths Heading Into Next Season

The Boston Celtics are less than a month away from training camp, where we will start to learn the reality of what this team is, where its strengths lie, and what we might expect from the upcoming season.

One fun thing each season is a look at where the team ends up versus what the preseason expectations were. Last season, we thought the Celtics would be a horrible defensive rebounding team, but they ended the season sixth in defensive rebounding percentage. We also considered their big man rotation a weakness, but no one could see both the massive steps forward by Neemias Queta AND just how effective Luka Garza was going to be in his role.

Things change as the season progresses, but we have to start somewhere. So here a look at what Boston’s strengths are going to be heading into the season, starting with what should be their biggest.

1: Rebounding

The Celtics getting Jayson Tatum back and adding Mitchell Robinson will make the Celtics a very strong rebounding team … perhaps the best in the league. Robinson is a monster on the offensive glass and will get an appropriate amount of defensive boards. Queta will be well-balanced in that area. Baylor Scheierman showed some great rebounding by the end of last season, while guys like Hugo Gonzalez, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard have perfected corner crashes to keep possessions alive. Add an offensive rebounding maniac like Luka Garza off the bench and the Celtics should have both ends covered very well.

2: Three-Point Creation

Don’t think that adding a non-shooter like Mitchell Robinson will take away from Boston’s ability to create threes. They will still be bombing away, partly because Robinson and Queta will be able to suck in the defense and open up shooters, and partly because the defensive rebounding will lead to transition threes while offensive rebounding will lead to kick-out threes.

Boston will still be one of the highest-volume, if not the highest volume, three-point shooting teams in the league.

3: Defense

This can be a top-five defensive team with the rim protection provided by the centers, ability to clear boards, and individual defense from guys like White, Gonzalez, and Jordan Walsh. Even guys like Scheierman and Sam Hauser have held their own, which will allow Jayson Tatum to be more of a roamer defensively. I expect to see Tatum getting into passing lanes and getting deflections and steals because of this.

The Celtics have never forced a lot of turnovers, but they won’t have to this season. I can see them getting back to what they were a couple of seasons ago with Kristaps Porzingis in the middle, finishing the season with the highest percentage of contested shots while forcing the fewest turnovers.

The Celtics know what shots they're willing live with and they will sacrifice some of those shots for trying to funnel opponents into late-clock tough shots.

4: Ball protection

The Celtics were already the third-best team in terms of turnover percentage last season, and I think this team’s makeup will only enhance that. They are full of low-turnover players who make great decisions. Losing Jaylen Brown hurts in a lot of ways, but he was also one of their highest-turnover players. Tatum will turn the ball over some as well, but I think he’s a more natural playmaker who will make the right play before he gets into trouble.

5: Shooting

I’m putting this fifth because I’m still not 100% sure that White will bounce back or that Tatum will adjust his game enough to raise his three-point percentage.

This is the category that has the most variance because Tatum and White getting their three-point shooting up at 38% or better will make this a much bigger strength. I’m also leaving room for Garza and Scheierman, statistically Boston’s two best shooters from last season, to take a step back.

Payton Pritchard had some rough stretches too, so he can certainly make this a bigger strength. Throw in guys like Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez potentially figuring their shots out and this could go from fifth to first in a hurry.

The beauty of this is that the rebounding and defense should be there in a bigger way this season so their cold streaks won’t be as damaging.

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