The Boston Celtics have a lot to prove over the next three years.
With the offseason dust mostly settled, The Sporting News’ Stephen Noh ranked the teams he believes have the brightest futures three years from now.
The Celtics landed at No. 11 in his rankings. Noh gave them a B+ for their assets.
“How good the Celtics are depends on how much Tatum still has left in the tank at age 31 and post-Achilles tear,” writes Noh. “He will be making a massive $71.4 million, eating up 37 percent of their cap. He should still be an All-Star, but Boston will need to make the right moves to build around him.
“The Celtics should have the willingness to spend after ducking the luxury tax for several years. They’ll have a first-round pick in every draft, including a juicy one in 2028 from the Clippers or Sixers.”
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Noh projects Jayson Tatum, Hugo Gonzalez, Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh and Chris Cenac to still be with the Celtics in three years. He expects Paul George to be gone by then and lists Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Mitchell Robinson and Ron Harper Jr. as maybes.
In order, here are the 10 teams Noh has ahead of the Celtics:
- San Antonio Spurs
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Detroit Pistons
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Indiana Pacers
- Atlanta Hawks
- Utah Jazz
- Dallas Mavericks
Only three of those 10 teams — the Spurs (A), Thunder (A-) and Jazz (A) — have a better asset grade than the Celtics (B+).
Of note, the Philadelphia 76ers, who acquired Jaylen Brown from the Celtics this offseason, are ranked No. 14 by Noh.
