Upfront, I’ll admit that I’m a sentimental guy. I love nostalgia and in Boston, basketball is a brotherhood. How many times have you seen alumni visiting the Auerbach Center and talking to the team or lining the front rows of TD Garden during a playoff game?
I’d be lying if the Knicks’ dominating march through these playoffs didn’t remind me of my high school reunion. With the trio of Nova Knicks — Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart — teaming up with Jersey-born Karl-Anthony Towns and Brooklyn’s
Jose Alvarado, the party they’re having at Madison Square Garden after every home win feels like the prom night redux at my 25th. Even as a rival, I can appreciate how special this is.
It’s not dissimilar to how I felt with the Celtics this season. The majority of Boston’s roster was either drafted by the team or signed their first contract with the franchise. So, for the most part, it was a homegrown and that matters. It’s our team made up of our guys.
The Celtics have already started to get the band back together by hiring Isaiah Thomas as a scout. He won’t suit up, but tell me that doesn’t warm your heart?
There’s a scenario where Stevens elects to bring most of that 56-win team back. However, there’s an opportunity to put on that dusty letterman jacket, relive old glory, and maybe win at an even higher level with some old friends.
Speaking of old friend and Spotrac’s Keith Smith, the following players are potential free agents in July:
- Marcus Smart (player option)
- Al Horford (player option)
- Kristaps Porzingis
- Kelly Olynyk
- Robert Williams III
- Guerschon Yabusele
- Anfernee Simons
- Jeff Green
Cap experts don’t really see next season as a true contending year for the Celtics. It’s not exactly a gap year like this year was, but after ducking the luxury tax for two consecutive years, Boston will be set up in 2027-2028 to really push the envelope and spend big as the Jays enter the middle of their primes. In the meantime, I propose a sort of continuation year from 2025 like Tatum didn’t tear his Achilles and like the first and second apron don’t exist.
Boston has some glaring needs, most notably at the 5. After having to break up with them last summer to duck under the luxury tax, the Celtics could reunite with Horford and/or Porzingis as soon as this July. After a circuitous route that reunited them in Golden State last season, Porzingis and Horford enter free agency with a chance to chase a ring and there may be no better place for their careers than with the Celtics. Can you imagine the hero’s welcome they’d get at their first (re)introduction on the parquet? I can.
The Timelord has been a popular name to fill out Boston’s frontcourt. Why not? He had his first healthy season in years and was a force in the playoffs. Here’s ESPN’s Bobby Marks on NBC Boston’s podcast with Chris Forsberg:
Count me in, Forsberg.
For me, the most welcoming homecoming would be for Marcus Smart. When the raised Banner 18, I always felt like it belonged to Marcus, too. And in a way, to bring home Smart would be equivalent to landing Jrue Holiday, a savvy vet that can quarterback the offense and defense. More so, it’s returning the heart and soul of the team back to Boston.
I’m sure right now, Boston’s front office is crunching the numbers, analytically and financially, to see what players are the best fit for winning next season. They’ll address deficiencies from last year and raise the roster’s ceiling.
But sometimes, if you’re lucky, what feels right and what’s best are in alignment.
