The Boston Celtics have made a lot of roster changes since their disappointing 2019 playoff run, but oddsmakers expect the 17-time champions to win about the same number of games next season.
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas has released its latest win totals for all 30 NBA teams ahead of the 2019-20 campaign. The Celtics are at 49.5, which is the third-highest number in the Eastern Conference.
The Celtics won 49 games last season and finished with the fourth-best record in the East -- a performance that fell way short of preseason expectations.
The C's should be able to win 50 games next season.
They replaced Kyrie Irving with another All-Star point guard in Kemba Walker, who signed a four-year, max contract with the Celtics in free agency. Walker averaged a career-high 25.6 points per game last season and is a better leader than Irving. The loss of Al Horford hurts, but the additions of Enes Kanter, Vincent Poirier and first-round pick Grant Williams should help Boston again be a good rebounding team. We also can expect improvement from the team's two young stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum is confident he'll play at an All-Star level this season, and Brown likely will be playing for the first big contract of his career.
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The Celtics won 48 games in 2015-16, 53 in 2016-17 and 55 in 2017-18 before regressing to 49 victories a season ago. If the team chemistry is better than it was last season (and with Irving gone it likely will be much improved), we should expect Boston to again hit the 50-win mark barring any major injuries. Let's also not forget that the Eastern Conference should be weaker than it was last season after many star players headed to the Western Conference via free agency or trades this summer.
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