After the Boston Celtics finished the 2018-2019 season with an underwhelming 49-33 record, the team broke and reconstructed.
Expectations are very different this year for the team, as they have new players with different skill sets. As always, everyone has their own opinions on how the team should be run and what they expect of this year’s team, so why not share my own opinions on this matter.
These expectations will be broken up into three separate parts, the first being about the second and fourth year players and their next steps with the team, the second part will be about the addition players and veterans on the team, and the final part will be about what I expect from the large group of incoming rookies and the team’s overall goals with this years squad. So starting off, here is what I expect from the younger players ready to take the next step to success.
Here is what the fans should expect from the young players that are entering their second to fourth year in the league. The biggest expectations should be surrounding Jayson Tatum’s development. Tatum had a quiet sophomore year after coming right out of the gates in his rookie year. After averaging 15.7 points along with two assists and six rebounds going along with shooting percentages such as 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc.
What the fans are expecting to see in Tatum for this upcoming year is to be the second best scorer on the team. This should see an increase in shot attempts and usage rate to the young player. Expect him to average roughly 18-20 points this year. Seeing his shooting percentage increase from 46 percent to closer to 50 percent would be fantastic for Tatum, and if he can replicate his three point percentage to back when he was a rookie and average 40 percent from beyond the arc, then Tatum would have completely taken the next step into becoming the Celtic’s future franchise player.
What I would also love to see this year from Tatum is his ability to pass the ball instead of forcing fade away mid range shots. The Celtics had a bad habit of wasting the shot clock and forcing mid range shots, which ruined the teams flow of the game. Tatum was one of the players that would take time away from the position backing down his defender trying to get in position for a mid range shot. Training with future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant may have helped him learn new moves, but trying to imitate a move from a legend does not always have the same outcome.
Jaylen Brown is the second player that needs to improve so that the Celtics can flourish this year. Brown averaged 13 points along with four rebounds. Brown had a mediocre third year in the league, as his production went down playing alongside Kyrie Irving. Most fans want to see 2018 playoff Jaylen Brown, where he took over defensively and seemingly challenged anyone one in his way by posterizing them.
What fans need to see from Brown this year is a more constant shooting line from him. I am not expecting Brown to be a high scorer, I feel that his ceiling is roughly 20 points a game, but this year if he can reach 15-17 it should be enough to help the Celtics win games. What I would really want to see Brown improve on this year is his consistency around the three point line. Brown averaged 37 percent from three which is not a bad percentage for someone who came into the league known as a work in progress. Even if the percentage stays the same from three, the attempts that Brown takes them on are scattered. He can go on a streak of shooting seven three’s a game to two the following game.
Brown has been known as a streaky shooter as well, if his confidence keeps on building I am sure that he will tighten up his discipline with shooting the ball. Another aspect of Brown’s game that should be improved on is solely based on statistical numbers. There is no doubt in my mind that Brown is a great defensive player, especially around the perimeter. However, most fans are unaware that he did not average more than one steal or block this year.
I would like Brown to be more aggressive when playing defense to get those statistical numbers up. I want these numbers to grow because I would love to see him make the all-defensive team this year.
Robert Williams is another player that should see improvement this upcoming year. With Al Horford leaving for Philadelphia, and the team not signing a long term fix at the center position an opening for Williams flowered.
I do not expect a huge improvement from Williams.He averaged 2.5 points and rebounds along with 1.3 blocks in his limited role last year with the team. Williams came into the league as a defensive prospect, and him showcase his defensive talents by averaging 1.3 blocks in a limited role definitely confirmed his talents on the defensive end.
Williams may not be the starter for the Celtics this year, but I do expect him to get a more consistent role off the bench. With that said, I expect Williams to average triple the amount of points from the year before and have roughly double the rebounds. I do not see his blocks per game go up to much, but that does not mean that he will be on the decline on the defensive end.
These three players will have key roles in the making of the Celtics 2019-2020 season. The development of Tatum, Brown, and Williams can result either result in success, whereas the team completes and over shoots their goals, or see failure and have a mirror image of last year.
Tatum leads the charge in the teams development regiment as he is idled and positioned as the player to take over the Celtics, even when Kemba Walker plays. All three players should receive only successful progress as the newly built team is to compliment their development as players, Danny Ainge added Walker and Enes Kanter in hopes to not only fill in the holes that Irving and Horford had left but also to introduce new play styles and leadership roles to guide these young players into becoming the best that they can.
