Alright, so with a night to sleep on it. I think the Celtics are mostly in good shape.

It's hard to remember at this point, but things looked pretty bad last summer! 5 game second round exit. Two max free agents leaving getting nothing in return. Enes Kanter projected starter.

Most important thing is it's even more clear now Jayson Tatum is both the franchise and a "guy".

Not a given last year, good as he was. The passing is incredible.

The most important think for a "contender" is having that guy and history shows it helps if he's a wing/forward

I already said it, but you also have to circle back to the fact that the Celtics had three max players during this era.

Two left for no return (no picks no players back in the same offseason) and one's ankle exploded and he hasn't been the same since.

Usually if that happens to $100M in payroll (especially to a team as far over the cap as the Celtics) you're abysmal. The Celtics came within Erik Spoelstra's Chad Energy of making the finals.

Again, Enes Kanter projected starter.

NOW, what's bad

-Kemba was clearly hurt, I'm assuming we are are gonna get an announcement about knee surgery sometime soon and he's at an age that that's worrying
-Gordon is almost certainly gonna opt-in and the Celtics won't have a lot of options for replacing him after nxt yr

-This year was probably the easiest path the Celtics could have had. Bubble made things weird. Bucks, Sixers, and Raptors could all be back a lot better. The Heat have mostly clear books with just Jimmy/Bam/Herro under contract and $27M in expirings between Olynyk and Iggy

Now, all that said, the Celtics could be a lot better too

This is the first year in a long time where Danny Ainge knows exactly what he has.

-Pick Neutral after this year
-No IT decision looming/deciding whether or not to trade picks
-No Kyrie decision looming

Last year was scrambling to plug the holes Kyrie and Al left behind.

This year, you know

-Tatum is a guy
-Grant Williams is a playoff rotation player
-It won't take much to make Robert Williams a playoff rotation player if he's not already
-Jaylen isnt bad (not a given last yr)

You also know what needs fixing.

-All due respect to Theis who was mostly great, a true starting big
-Upgrading the back up guard spot
-a true dead-eye corner three man to punish help on Tatum (never had one in this era of the Celtics and his passing can find them now)

Celtics have a lottery pick/extra pick this year and all their own firsts moving forward.

Between all of that and this much more stable directional base, it finally feels like the Celtics can shore up.

Also, a lot of the early signs show that Romeo might be good