A Few Thoughts On The Opening Of The 2024-2025 NBA Season
The great thing about this iteration of the Boston Celtics is that they don’t have a mind-bending otherworldly talent like Prime LeBron, which is both obvious but is the kind of thing we’ve come to expect over the years, what, with the heroics of Kobe, Harden, Luka, Steph, Dame, and others; no, what’s great about the Celtics is that they have a plan, and a plan for the plan, and the person who coached the plan talks about how he wished the court tasted like blood.
This is partly why I think it’s kind of silly that the Knicks traded for Mikal Bridges and KAT over the summer. Yes, the Celtics have long, versatile wings and a big who can enable them to play five out, but what’s their plan? The Knicks built their offense around Jalen Brunson last year, which means it’s now an active question as to what it means to shift the roles of Hart, Bridges, and Anunoby over to a five out offense while folks still haven’t figured out where they are on defense yet.
Sometimes building something around one or two people can work. Look at what Lamar and Derrick Henry have been doing this season with the Ravens. But you can’t look at New York last night and then the Lakers and not notice the difference planning can make. The Lakers would have lost that game against Minnesota last year. They didn’t. Planning was part of the reason as to why.