7 Reasons To Be Excited About The Celtics Season

Brad Stevens, Year 2

In his rookie season as the Celtics Head Coach, Brad Stevens led Boston to a 25-57 record. Last year's team was without Rondo to start the season because of injury and had a lot of moving parts as the year went along. 

This year, Stevens comes in with a team that is much more his own team then one that was just handed to him, not to mention a year of experience under his belt. This years team has alot of depth at the guard position and good talent up front. Fans should expect to see a much improved Brad Stevens and a much improved Celtics team this season. 

Marcus Smart

With the sixth overall pick in the draft, the Boston Celtics selected Marcus Smart, a guard out of Oklahoma State. At 6'3" 220 pounds, Smart has an NBA ready body and is not afraid to be physical.

One thing he has to work on is his temper, he was thrown out of a few games in college and even suspended for talking back to fans and officials. But he is a kid and he will grow and mature from these experiences. 

Marcus Smart will be a fun player to watch this year, especially as he learns from Rajon Rondo. 

James Young

With the 17th pick in the draft, the Celtics took 18 year old James Young out of Kentucky. At 6'7" with a wingspan of 7 feet, Young can play guard or forward, giving coach Brad Stevens options with his lineup. 

Young is a scoring forward who averaged 14 points per game last year in college with the Wildcats. Prior to the draft, there was talk about him being a lottery pick, so this was a nice addition by the Celtics. 

One thing James Young has to work on is his three point shot, only shooting 34.9% from the three point line in college last year. However he is a young player and has plenty of time to grow. it will be fun to watch him. 

Evan Turner

The biggest move the Celtics made in the off season was signing 2010 second overall pick Evan Turner to a contract. In his career, Turner has averaged 17.4 points per game for Philly in 54 games last season before being traded to Indiana where he averaged 7.1 points per game, in 27 games.

Like rookie James Young, Turner can play either guard or forward and has NBA experience doing both, giving the Celtics options with their lineup.

If Turner plays at a high level, like he has done in the past, this could be a huge pickup for the Celtics.

photo credit: Flickr, Chrishmt0423 

Playoff Contention

The Celtics come into this season with a real chance to contend for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The East is not a great conference again this year and so the thought of the Celtics making the playoffs as a seven or eight seed is very realistic. 

A projected starting line up of Rondo, Bradley, Green, Sullinger and Olynyk or Tyler Zeller along with some nice depth pieces off the bench like Brandon Bass and Evan Turner should be enough to get them in this season. 

Jared Sullinger

Expectations are high for third year player Jared Sullinger this season after he had a great year last year coming off a back injury. Last season, Sullinger averaged 13.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for the Celtics, one of the few bright spots on last years team. 

If he can stay healthy again this season, Sullinger is going to continue to grow and get better and make that draft pick (21st overall) look like more and more of a steal. 

Rajon Rondo

The Captain of the Celtics, the face of the franchise, Rajon Rondo will once again be the most exciting player to watch on this team and one of the most exciting players to watch in the NBA. 

Last season, coming off an injury, Rondo averaged 11.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game. He is a fun player to watch when he has the ball and this year will be no different. 

Rumors will continue to swirl about a potential trade all season and with Rondo's contract up after this year, there is no guarentee he will want to resign with a rebuilding team. Celtics fans should enjoy him in green while they can