Boston Celtics, the Best Team of the Last Decade Not to Win a Championship

Many consider the commencement of the modern era of the NBA to have been the Magic vs. Bird and by extension Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry of the 1980s.  Since then, the Lakers have maintained a standard of excellence beyond any other team and won six more championships.  Boston however sputtered and floundered up until 2008, when they put together the most instantly-compatible superteam ever and won a championship straight.

Now here's a pretty interesting fact.  It appears that from 2009 and up until the present, only three teams have a higher regular season winning percentage than the Celtics.  One of them is the Heat, who won a couple of championships.  And the others are the Clippers and Nuggets.

The Clippers are very similar to Boston in terms of their contemporary success.  But as it currently stands with their injuries, unlike the Celtics they can't be considered contenders.

Meanwhile, it seems like the Nuggets have been one of the best regular season teams since time immemorial, going all the way back to at least to the George Karl era.  But it was like only for a brief moment - when they had Melo, AI and a shitload of over-qualified role players - that they felt like contenders.  Even last season when Jokic won MVP, no one in their right mind would have actually thought Denver were contenders.

So I personally would argue that the Celtics are the best NBA team of the last decade not to win a Championship.  If I were to pick the best team of that era period, of course that would be the Warriors, even though they had a lower regular season winning percentage.

In the past 7 years the Celtics basically went through two completely different cores, both of which were on a contending level.  Unfortunately the first core peaked during the Lebron era.  However they were also only one of 9 teams to beat the Warriors when the Dubs had that historic winning season.  And when they met earlier that same season the Warriors beat them alright, though in double overtime.  In fact if the Warriors can be considered the all around best team of the last decade, than the Celtics can also be considered their kryptonite.  But when Golden State was making to the Finals, Boston never did and therefore did not earn the opportunity to prove they beat the Dubs in a playoff series.

And even though I'm calling the current iteration of Boston contenders, that doesn't mean I actually think they will win.  What that does mean is that they're capable of beating any team in the East in a seven-game series.  And the one thing they really need more than anything else to accomplish that goal is simply health.

Maybe not this season, but I believe for the next couple of years coming Jayson Tatum will seriously be in the MVP conversation.  Marcus Smart is arguably the best traditional PG in the NBA after Jrue Holiday, and I think he may be the most underrated player currently in the league (tho that's kinda grimy what he did to Steph).  Jaylen Brown would be like a perennial all-star, if not for the fact he's constantly dealt with injuries.  In 2018 the Celtics drafted Robert Williams III (under Danny "the Genius" Ainge), actually put faith in him, and now it has paid off.  And I was leary of them bringing Al Horford back after trading him the first time.  But he's a versatile, deceptively-effective player who seems to thrive - so long as he's actually a starter.

And the real reason Boston is so intimidating is because they're right around the league average in age, meaning that they have the perfect balance of youth and experience.  In other words they're not like the Grizzlies who seem energetic enough to make it to the Finals, yet at the same time it's like they're too young or something.

CONCLUSION

This is just something I've been wanting to get off my chest for a long time, because for all we know the modern-day Celtics may never make it to the Finals.  On one hand, it would sorta make sense if they looked for another superstar to add to their core, but they probably can't afford one.  And at the same time, you don't want to risk messing up this chemistry and possibly stifling Tatum's ascension.

So as good as they are, in a way it's like the Celtics are in an unenviable position.  They've already had enough quality role players that eventually, you have to be like role players aren't the solution.  But who knows.  Four of the five Celtics starters were actually drafted by Boston.  And maybe they'll prove that chemistry, as in actually knowing your teammates, can in fact win it all in the age of superteams.