Can 2025 top a glorious 2024 for the Boston Celtics?
For this roundtable, I asked the staff the following question: What Celtics related thing are you looking forward to the most in 2025?
Jeff Clark
Call me overly optimistic if you like, but I’m looking forward to the narrative finally starting to shift on Jayson Tatum. All he’s done is get better every year, contribute to winning, and excel in all areas of the game. There will always be doubters and haters that will find some reason to pick him apart, but the more you win, the more that noise gets drowned out. He’s a special basketball player and a winner, through and through. He might not win an MVP this year, but I think that more and more people will give him the respect he’s due.
Mike Dynon
As a college star at the University of Florida, Al Horford was a top player on squads that won back-to-back NCAA championships. Now he has the rare opportunity to also win two straight in the NBA, and I’m looking forward to seeing him do it. It appears the only players to achieve that double-double are Bill Russell and KC Jones with the University of San Francisco and, of course, the Celtics, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jamaal Wilkes with UCLA and the Lakers. (Jump into the comments if you think I missed anyone.) If Al succeeds, that should boost his Hall of Fame probability, which BasketballReference.com currently ranks at just 23.8%. Most of all, though, it would simply be cool to see Big Al join those elite winners.
Nirav Barman
One thing that I’m looking forward to, or maybe actually dreading (it’s hard to tell as of now,) is seeing how long we can keep this roster together, as well as which players eventually get cycled out. As a fan, I get incredibly attached to players when they play their roles within the team. That becomes amplified by 100 when the team wins a championship. The success from this season could determine the fate of a couple of our core players, and the luxury tax implications, as well as the team’s expected sale only turn up the stakes.
There’s a chance Al Horford retires at the end of the year. If Kristaps Porzingis continues to consistently miss time, I wouldn’t put trading him out of the question to bring in someone who’s availability is more reliable. I’d also love to see if any avenues open up for Baylor Scheierman, JD Davison, or Drew Peterson to become a bigger part of this team or next year’s. Home grown talent always has a special place in my heart, and I’d love to see all of them succeed in Boston.
Jake Issenberg
Defending a title is hard. There’s a feeling of just wanting to get to the playoffs. While it’s easy to understand why teams that are trying to defend a title typically experience dips in the following regular season, it can still be jarring after experiencing the near perfection of the 23-24 Celtics. That’s why I’m looking forward to the development of Jordan Walsh. The Celtics will be judged by what happens in the playoffs, in the meantime I’m excited by what I’ve seen from the 20 year old over the past couple of games. The defense, the feel and IQ on offense, I remain tantalized.
Bobby Manning
The two big stories have to be the ownership change into 2025, which given the nature of those things should carry some drama and intrigue, particularly with how it impacts the team’s payroll into next season, along with the team’s continually improving development track. Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet have already reached such high heights in a short span that it should make you excited about what’s possible for Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Neemias Queta and others as the franchise inevitably becomes more focused on drafting and development.
Now it is your turn. What are you looking forward to? This can be very specific to the team or perhaps your own journey but again the challenge is to be creative and not just “Banner 19.”