Celtics land high in ESPN’s ‘way too early’ 2021 NBA power rankings

The Boston Celtics had a disappointing end to the 2020 NBA season, but the rise of a couple franchise wings will have the team in contention in 2021.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the 2020 NBA champions and that should motivate a winning franchise like the Boston Celtics for two obvious reason.

First, the LeBron James led Lakers has tied the team’s franchise record with 17 NBA champions.  Secondly, it could’ve been and probably should’ve been the Celtics facing off against the Lakers in the NBA finals.

What would’ve served as a more entertaining and historical NBA finals could be on the horizon in 2021 as the Celtics are second in the East in ESPN’s “way too early” 2021 NBA power rankings.

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With the Lakers coming in obviously at No.1, the Celtics are only ranked behind the Milwaukee Bucks (No. 3) in the East.  Coming in at No. 7, the C’s have high odds to win the title at +1400 and those odds can rise if things go right in the offseason and the team led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown make some necessary changes to get over the hump.

According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, it also depends on the status of their two veteran All-Stars:

"“Boston reached the Eastern Conference finals for the third time in four years but failed to make it back to the NBA Finals after losing to the Miami Heat in six games. While most of the team is under contract for next season, the biggest uncertainty is whether Gordon Hayward will opt in to his $34.1 million player option for 2020-21. There isn’t an obvious landing spot for him if he does, but the Heat didn’t look like a landing spot for Jimmy Butler a year ago, either. Otherwise, Boston enters the offseason with three first-round picks with which to work. Kemba Walker’s health will be a priority after he dealt with knee issues for all of this calendar year, as will the growth of their two franchise wing players, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.”"

The Boston Celtics are ranked where they should be

Landing just ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers (No. 8), the Miami Heat (No. 9) and the Brooklyn Nets (No. 10), the Boston Celtics could easily fall behind those teams for contention in the East if they don’t make the necessary adjustments which involves adding a big man to the mix.

Besides depending on both the health of Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker, another leap by both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will again be in the spotlight.  With the youth of those players, the sky is the limit as both of those players will be highly motivated in 2021 to get their team to the NBA Finals.

Of course, these “way too early” NBA rankings will probably change drastically depending on free agency signings, blockbuster trades and the draft, but as the season has ended, there was no doubt the Boston Celtics were one of the top teams in the entire NBA when they played Celtics basketball.

For that reason, the only real objection to the rankings is the Celtics coming in behind both the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets who are No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.  Both teams are on the rise in the West, but the Celtics should be a step ahead of those teams.  The Golden State Warriors coming in at No. 6 after missing the playoffs is a big aggressive, but no one will be willing to count the big three of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green out.

In all, the Boston Celtics could be as high as No. 3, but No. 7 is fair…for now.