It was all good just a year ago.
Boston was fresh off a better-than-expected Eastern Conference playoffs performance -- sans Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward -- having pushed LeBron and the Cavs to the brink of elimination in the East finals. For 2018-19, the Celtics’ stars would be healthy and their young studs (Jayson Tatum, especially) were ready to ascend to the next level.
The biggest problem facing the Celtics last summer was that they had an embarrassment of riches: How could Brad Stevens possibly divide the minutes among all the deserving players? Even Celtics superfan Bill Simmons, who's perpetually afraid of jinxing the Boston teams, predicted the squad would win 67 games and cruise through the East.
But, as we all saw this month with the Warriors, life in the NBA comes at you fast. One minute you look unstoppable, the next your title window appears to be shut.
Of course, the Celtics didn’t win 67 games; they won 49. They didn’t cruise through the East; after a season riddled with drama, they were brushed aside easily by the Bucks in the second round of the playoffs. And now it seems all but certain that the Celtics, who missed out on Anthony Davis, will lose Kyrie Irving and Al Horford.
Again: life comes at you fast. How did we get here? We detail the progression below.
July 4, 2017: Celtics sign Gordon Hayward
After deliberating a return to Utah, the All-Star forward announces on The Players' Tribune that he will sign with the Celtics, agreeing to a four-year, $128 million deal that reunites him with Stevens, his college coach. With Boston having added Horford the year before and Tatum earlier that summer in the draft, the Celtics’ roster is now looking pretty damn good. But then...
August 22, 2017: Celtics trade for Kyrie Irving
Hope in Boston is really ignited when the Celtics send Isaiah Thomas, Jay Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Nets' 2018 first-round pick to the Cavs for emerging star Kyrie, who was tired of playing in LeBron's shadow. Though Celtics fans had love for Thomas, who had fought through personal turmoil to have a career year in 2016-17, it seems clear the team has made a serious upgrade.
October 17, 2017: Hayward suffers gruesome injury
Less than six minutes into Boston's season-opener, Hayward fractures his tibia and dislocates his ankle. You've surely seen it by now and we won't make you watch it again. He is lost for the next year.
May 27, 2018: Cavs eliminate Celtics in Game 7
After earning the No. 2 seed with an impressive regular season, Boston nearly makes the NBA Finals despite missing Irving and Hayward for the postseason. The East Finals offered an epic series, and Boston held 2-0 and 3-2 leads, but LeBron gets the last laugh. Behind 35 points and 15 boards from LBJ, the Cavs pull away for an 87-79 win in the final game. But Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both looked great in the series, and hopes are high for the 2018-19 campaign.
September 24, 2018: Stevens tries to temper expectations
After hype built over the summer, the former Butler coach tries to keep everything in perspective. He seemed to know something the rest of us didn’t. At the Celtics’ 2018-19 Media Day, Stevens says: “We have some real areas to improve [on both sides of the ball], otherwise, we’re not at the level we want to be at. And so we’ll see if we put in the work, defensively, and we’ll see if we improve offensively.”
October 4, 2018: Kyrie says he's re-signing with Celtics
During a team event prior to the 2018-19 season, Kyrie seems to declare he will return to Boston the next summer. He tells season ticket holders: “If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.” Well, there was never any question that Boston would want Kyrie back...but he seemed to have a change of heart over the next few months.
October 16, 2018: Hayward returns, with mixed results
In his first action since the terrible injury, Hayward plays 25 minutes and logs 10 points and five boards in a win over fellow East contender Philly. In the ensuing season, he plays decently at times, even dropping 30 and 35 in a couple winter games, but never quite looks like himself. His numbers for the 2018-19 season offer a stark contrast to those of his 2016-17 effort with Utah: 25.9 MPG (compared to 34.5), 11.5 PPG (21.9), 4.5 RPG (5.4), and 33% shooting from downtown (40%).
October 22, 2018: Kyrie reflects on rough early start
After falling to 2-2 through four games, Kyrie is asked about his squad’s chemistry so far. His answer, though perhaps understandable, proves to be telling: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t mean that negatively. I just don’t know. It’s four games. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t have the answer for that...Being on a team like this, where it’s a challenge for me to figure out where do I fit into all this and how do I lead this team the best way I can with other great players. So it’s all a learning experience.”
November 11, 2018: Marcus Smart & Kyrie call out teammates
With Boston falling to 7-6 after a loss to Portland, Marcus Smart lets his teammates have it in the locker room afterward. He then explains to the media: “Especially with the team that we have and the potential that we have, we shouldn’t be losing games that we know we should win...We have to look ourselves in the mirror, look at one another, hold each other accountable, and figure out what’s going on.” And on that same night, Kyrie also questions his team, noting: “Right now I think it would be nice if we had someone that was a 15-year vet, a 14-year vet.” One would have thought the Celtics -- with Horford, Morris, Smart, and Irving himself -- would have had enough veteran leadership.
November 21, 2018: Marcus Smart says Celtics are "playing like punks"
The Celtics limp out to a 10-10 start -- not nearly what was expected from the talented squad. Following a November loss to the Knicks in which Trey Burke went off for 29 points, Marcus Smart says Boston is “playing like punks.” He and Kyrie again provide media fodder, as Irving adds: “The expectations everyone has on us means shit at this point. Excuse my language but it doesn’t mean anything. Until we figure that out, we’ll be struggling.”
December 21, 2018: Celtics call team meeting
Following their third-straight loss, and in the midst of the rough start to the season (they were 18-13 at this point), the Celtics call an all-hands-on-deck, closed-door meeting. Though he originally claims the details of the get-together are “none of y’all’s business,” Kyrie later expounds on what went down: “It’s just good to get stuff out in the air. As grown men and guys that have expectations for themselves, it was good to hear guys talk about what they wanted for themselves and what they wanted for this team.” But this didn’t prove to be a turning point.
January 10, 2019: Tempers flare on the bench
During yet another dejecting early-season loss, Jaylen Brown takes a play off in the second quarter, electing not to sprint back on D. A pissed-off Marcus Morris confronts Brown on the bench during a timeout, and the two bark at each other, leading to a shove from Morris to Brown. Video of the incident spreads on social media. Morris later downplays the kerfuffle: “I know social media is going to make a big deal about something like that, but I feel as though I’m one of the leaders on this team, so if I have an engagement with any of my teammates we all know that it’s basketball related and it goes nothing past the court. It’s just two guys that both care about the game and that’s all it was.”
January 12, 2019: Last-second shot gets Kyrie worked up
Kyrie wants the final shot late against Orlando, but inbounder Hayward passes instead to Tatum, who misses a potential game-tying fadeaway. Kyrie is clearly displeased with Hayward, yelling at him after the play. Uncle Drew elaborates on his displeasure post-game: “Experience...we’re lacking it and, because of that, we have a lot of learning to do.”
January 14, 2019: Jaylen Brown questions Kyrie’s leadership
After Kyrie’s flare-up in Orlando, Jaylen Brown calls on the team to stop pointing fingers: “We've just got to have each other’s back at the end of the day. We can’t make comments. We can’t point fingers. We've just got to continue to empower each other and have each other’s back.”
January 16, 2019: Kyrie discusses phone call with LeBron James
Following a demoralizing loss in Orlando, Irving called up former teammate LeBron and apologized for the way he handled the situation in Cleveland. Shortly thereafter -- on the heels of a win over Toronto -- Kyrie shares the story of the phone call: “This was a big deal for me, because I had to call [LeBron] and tell him I apologized for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips.” This random revelation leaves people wondering if Kyrie is mending the relationship because he’s interested in joining LeBron again.
February 1, 2019: Kyrie changes tune about future
Following his apparent promise in October to return to Boston, Kyrie changes course by February. He explains: “At the end of the day, I’m going to do what I feel is best for my career.” He does add, “obviously, Boston is still at the head of that race,” but also says, with regard to his next move, “ask me July 1." And with that, the Brooklyn rumors -- would he team up with Kevin Durant, or maybe Jimmy Butler? -- gain new life. One thing seems clear, though: it is not a sure thing that Kyrie is coming back. Far from it.
February 6, 2019: Anthony Davis 'adamant' he won't re-sign with Boston
Though the Celtics pursued trade packages for Davis -- they even reportedly were ready to make an offer that was termed “explosive” -- news surfaces that the star remains “adamant” he would not agree to a long-term deal with Boston. Leading up to All-Star Weekend, agent Rich Paul makes it clear: AD did not want to go to Beantown. Meanwhile, Paul also makes it clear in the media that AD does want to go to the Lake Show, joining his good buddy and mentor Bron-Bron. The question becomes: Would the Celtics really mortgage their future for what could turn into a one-year rental?
February 10, 2019: Marcus Morris unloads on team
After Boston blows a nearly 30-point lead to lose to the Clippers, a low point among many low points in the Celtics’ disappointing season, the veteran makes his dissatisfaction known. He says “this shit has to change,” “we don’t have no toughness,” and “when I look at us, I just see a bunch of individuals,” during an incredible post-game interview.
February 21, 2019: Kyrie rants about Kevin Durant rumors
Kyrie and Durant were captured on video having what looked like a fun conversation in the hallway before the All-Star Game. This led to people questioning if the two old friends were planning to team up. The next week, Kyrie rants about the incessant talk about the interaction: “So it’s a video of me and one of my best friends talking, and then it turns out to be a dissection of a free-agency meeting? Do you get that? Like, do you get that? And then I’m asked questions about it? That’s what disconnects me from all that shit. Like, because I have no connection to that. Over a video? I’m asked a question about the fans, and you brought up the fans. Come on, man. You do it for the likes and clicks. Everybody does. Everybody wants to hear me talk like this. Everybody wants to hear an athlete talk about bullshit like this. A video though? To pour water on it? It makes no sense. It just makes no sense. It’s not real life.”
March 24, 2019: Time for another team meeting?
After a four-game losing streak drops Boston to 43-31, the Celtics call yet another team meeting. Something just isn’t right with this team, it’s clear. “We just got to take a deep breath,” Marcus Smart explains.
May 8, 2019: Bucks eliminate Celtics from playoffs
The Celtics seemed to be pulling things together late in the season. They swept the Indiana Pacers -- who were playing without Victor Oladipo -- in the first round, and took Game 1 against top-seed Milwaukee, too. Would this squad finally be reaching its potential? But then the Bucks win four straight, with Kyrie and Hayward in particular struggling in the second round. The season ends with a 116-91 loss in Milwaukee. Irving is a -25 for the game, shooting 6-for-21 from the field.
May 14, 2019: Lakers land fourth pick in draft lottery
During the Davis trade saga, the Celtics and Lakers emerged as the front-runners. But the Lakers' pot of assets gets sweeter when they unexpectedly land the No. 4 pick in the draft lottery (they had the 11th-best odds of the 14 lottery teams; the Pelicans also make an unexpected leap, snagging No. 1). This basically forces Boston’s hand; the Celtics would have to include Tatum in any Davis deal. That suddenly sweet-looking Lakers pick ends up being a lynchpin in the Davis trade.
June 13, 2019: Kyrie reportedly intends to sign with Nets
The Kyrie-Brooklyn flirtation has existed for a long time (he’s from nearby New Jersey), and the romance seems to take another step toward fulfillment when a report surfaces saying Irving is “prepared to sign” with Brooklyn. Additionally, Kyrie reportedly intends to replace his agent with Roc Nation Sports, which was founded by JAY-Z. Does this definitely mean Kyrie is headed to Brooklyn? No. But it sure doesn’t look good for Boston.
June 15, 2019: Anthony Davis traded to Lakers
The Celtics wanted AD; there was no doubt about that. They pursued every trade they could for the disgruntled star. But, given Davis’ clearly stated intention to leave if he were traded to Boston, their front office wasn’t willing to part with a vast array of assets including Tatum. The Lakers, however, pull the trigger, eager to capitalize on LeBron’s dwindling championship window. L.A. sends Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, three first-round picks, and draft-swap options to the Pelicans for the 2012 No. 1 overall pick and six-time All-Star. Just like that, Boston’s dream boo is off the market.
June 18, 2019: Al Horford reportedly plans to sign elsewhere
Horford -- Boston’s Old Faithful, a five-time All-Star, and one of the best all-around forwards in the league -- entered this summer looking for a new contract, having reportedly decided against exercising his $30.1 million player option for the 2019-20 season. But talks reportedly break down with the Celtics, and it now seems like a lock that Horford will be playing for a new team next season.
Summer 2019: Danny Ainge plots next move
Ainge has proved himself to be one of the most shrewd GMs in the NBA. He constructed a roster that looked like one of the best in the league, but then a run of tough luck thwarted their championship chase. But fans should never count Ainge out. Even if Kyrie and Horford are gone, he still has Tatum, Brown, and a solid core of role players, not to mention three first-round picks (Nos. 14, 20, and 22) in this year’s draft. Especially considering the uncertainty in the East, the Celtics will be back -- possibly sooner than you’d expect.
