Can vindicated Celtics repeat? Plus, NBA offseason questions, key dates

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 17: Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics of the Boston Celtics celebrates with the Larry O'Brien Trophy after the game against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals on June 17, 2024 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
By Zach Harper
Jun 18, 2024

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Jaylen Brown is your Finals MVP. Jayson Tatum had your weird attempt at a Kevin Garnett interview moment. And now it’s time for summer!

Banner Days 🍀🍀🍀

Celtics have most NBA titles ever … again

Vindication. That’s what the Boston Celtics have earned after one of the more dominant NBA regular seasons and title runs in league history. Years of doubt, rumors of breaking up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and postseason failures turned into lessons and stepping stones. After beating the Dallas Mavericks in last night’s Game 5, the Celtics will hang their NBA-record 18th banner.

Here are a few numbers to illustrate the Celtics’ prowess:

  • They went 80-21 throughout their title run, becoming the 12th team to notch 80 wins and win a ring (including the playoffs).
  • Boston had the fifth-greatest margin of victory in regular-season history (plus-930). Its dominant postseason raised that ranking to fourth all time when combining the playoffs (plus-1,083).
  • The Celtics’ 16-3 run in the playoffs marks the ninth-best winning percentage (84.2) for a title run in NBA history.

When factoring in the regular season, Boston’s campaign was more dominant than Denver’s title march last year. It’s not quite on the level of the 2017-18 Warriors or the 72-win Chicago Bulls in 1996, but this run from October through June was as strong as any other since the 1976 ABA-NBA merger. And while the 2024 Celtics won’t get the same fame and glory as the 1986 team or the 2008 champions, their start-to-finish dominance makes such a comparison fairer than people will assume.

The question is … can the Celtics do it again next year? Their entire eight-man rotation is under contract for next season. For what it’s worth, Boston opened as the +310 favorite to repeat, per BetMGM.

Offseason Calendar

Key dates to know this summer

The 2023-24 season ended, like, five minutes ago, but we’re ready to move on to what we’ve got coming up this summer. Sure, we could all sign each other’s yearbooks, inflate the floaties and get ready to spend time in the pool — but we’ve got plenty of NBA action quickly approaching.

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Here are the key moments to follow:

NBA Draft: June 26 and 27

The NBA has changed its draft format into a two-night event, instead of forcing everything into one. The draft has historically been on a Thursday, but this year, the first round will take place on Wednesday as the second round happens the next day. Atlanta is currently on the clock with the top pick in this wide-open class. Sam Vecenie will have his draft guide soon — here’s his latest mock. Yesterday, Kelly Iko, James Edwards III and Josh Robbins discussed if Alexandre Sarr, the French 7-footer who’s been playing in Australia, is still the top option to go No. 1.

NBA Free Agency: June 30 at 6 p.m. ET

A new rule in the CBA allows teams to talk to their own free agents basically as soon as the finals are over. That moratorium ends at 6 p.m. ET on June 30, when it becomes a free-agency free-for-all. Before then, there’s no chance anybody would risk breaking tampering rules, which could cost them … let me check my notes … a second-round pick? That’s it? Fine. When Shams breaks the news one minute into the open period that three- and four-year deals have already been agreed to, know that nobody followed this rule.

Las Vegas Summer League: July 12 to 22

In about a month, Las Vegas Summer League will be the premier NBA event of the moment. We’ll hobnob, network and pray the dealer doesn’t have a five under that six showing. We’ll hopefully get to see all of the top picks of the NBA Draft play, and maybe even see what Bronny James can do in his first unofficial NBA action.

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Olympic basketball: July 27 to Aug. 11

Live from Paris! It’ll be Team USA versus the world. After an embarrassing showing at the FIBA World Cup last year, we’ll see if a revamped Team USA men’s roster can bring back the gold. LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum and other U.S. stars will be tasked with putting everything back in balance with the global basketball world. Redeem Team 2.0, anybody? 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

Think Pieces 🤔🤔🤔

The five biggest questions for this NBA summer

The offseason is officially upon us, which means Shams has his phone fully charged. We’ve also got the absolute best coverage of the draft and free agency for you. Here are five questions I need answered this summer as the NBA retools for the 2024-25 season.

1. Is LeBron James definitely sticking with the Lakers? Yes, we’re talking Lakers. We’re talking LeBron. Just deal with it. He’s still the biggest star in the world and can still change the landscape of things in front of us. LeBron most likely stays with the Lakers. He has great basketball and non-basketball reasons to remain in L.A. But if he decides he’s had enough (and maybe that Dan Hurley stuff was part of it), he could orchestrate a big shift. We’ve seen it many times.

2. Is Paul George going to leave the Clippers? It’s been reported, as of right now, the Clippers and PG aren’t aligned on a new contract. I’m guessing he wants the full max, and the Clippers apparently aren’t putting that together for him. Maybe Steve Ballmer decides to pay that man his money, but we saw Joel Embiid soft-recruiting on live television last week.

3. Have we seen the last of Klay Thompson in a Warriors jersey? As we discussed yesterday, the four-time NBA champion and 34-year-old veteran unfollowed the Warriors’ team account on Instagram and removed Warriors-related posts from his page. The Magic and 76ers would love his shooting. The Lakers likely would, too. Even if he’s not the Klay of old, he’s still pretty valuable. It’s just difficult to imagine him anywhere but the Bay (or the Bahamas?).

4. Will the Hawks shake things up? They have too much talent to have been this inconsistent since making the conference finals in 2021. We heard plenty of Dejounte Murray rumors before the deadline. We’ve heard murmurs about whether Trae Young should be there for the long haul. Atlanta has switched out so many coaches. Now, it has the top pick in the draft. Maybe it’s time to gut the roster and retool.

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5. Who in the West will have an extreme makeover? We know the Lakers love to overhaul their roster. The Clippers could find themselves in a precarious position if George leaves. The Rockets and Spurs have exciting young cores to build around. The Warriors are always looking to be light years ahead. Phoenix … well. New Orleans talked about changes to the roster after its season was over. Someone will take a big swing this summer.

Bounce Passes

Seth Partnow’s latest Player Tiers are out and officially include rookies. They’re not rankings.

Listen! Andrew Schlecht, Jay King and Tim Cato discuss the 2024 NBA Finals.

Whom could the Knicks target this summer if they’re looking for a star?

(Top photo: Brian Babineau / Getty Images )

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Zach Harper

Zach Harper is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the NBA. Zach joined The Athletic after covering the NBA for ESPN.com, CBS Sports and FRS Sports since 2009. He also hosts radio for SiriusXM NBA and SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Follow Zach on Twitter @talkhoops