Celtic dilemma: Why does retaining the championship team become a shackle? Analyzing the invisible pressure of the defending team

On the eve of the regular season opening game, when asked about the pressure to defend the title, Mazula said his most memorable sentence: "We will die soon, and all this will not matter by then, so there is no pressure at all. "He also mentioned that the Celtics either win or lose, and 40 years later, no one in the media will receive his funeral invitation. "This is not pressure, this is an opportunity." In the coming years, no matter how long we are together, there is an opportunity... to push the team forward and redouble our efforts to carry the team's traditions and history. ”

Mazula believes that the Celtics can continue to pursue the championship for some time to come, but he cannot foresee that the difficulties will be so severe. Tatum’s ruptured Achilles tendon may break the team’s window of championship earlier than anyone expected. Although the Celtics did not release his recovery schedule, the history of such injuries suggests that Tatum may miss the entire next season, or close to the entire season. Even if he eventually returns to his best form, the team lineup around him may have been very different by then.

Because if The Celtics retain their existing roster, with their total salary reaching about $500 million, and according to team insiders, management was already considering major inter-season adjustments before Tatum was injured, and his absence could make the adjustment even more intense. Among many other factors, Holiday was at least 34 when Tatum came back, while Horford, who is about to become a free agent, was at least 39. Although Holiday had been plagued by injuries during the regular season, his reputation as a well-known winner and top defender should make many competitive teams match He is interested if the Celtics really intend to trade him.

Even if the Celtics trade at least one starter, don't expect them to make a pure salary sale, they are more likely to look for young players to complement the existing core squad, but the core squad may also change. Porzingis has missed 65 regular season games since joining the Celtics in 2023, and while other teams will also ask the same questions about Porzingis' durability, his expiration contract should be valuable in the league. Will the Celtics consider more radical changes? ? Before Tatum was injured, they focused on maximizing the current championship window as long as possible, and if they thought it was closed now, they needed to open a new window for the future.

Brown still stressed that the future was bright. "Losing to the Knicks felt like death," Brown said, "but I've been told that there is still life after death, so we'll be ready for the journey ahead...Boston looks gloomy now, obviously JT (Tatum) is absent, and our season is over, but there's a lot to look forward to in the future. "The Celtics were shocked by Tatum's injury, as he had been durable for years and had never suffered a serious injury before. "It was obviously a tough loss of JT (Tatum)," White said, "especially given the efforts he put in for the game, everything he did to stay in shape, and everything he did to be able to compete every night. ”

Although Tatum's frequent appearances have helped the Celtics so much, his playing time has occasionally become a controversial topic in the eyes of some inside the team in recent years. His desire to play in an era of prevalent load management is admirable, but once again avoiding rest has allowed him to enter the top ten average playing time per game for the fifth consecutive season. Including the playoffs, he has played more than anyone since the Celtics selected him in 2017. He is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA and has rarely made his body physically To rest. When the Celtics wanted him to rest, he always opposed it, after the win over Miami in March, he said there were always a lot of "top bulls" before the game where the team wanted him to rest, and he mostly won.

"I've always been lucky... When I walked into the arena, I saw a lot of Tatum No. 0 jerseys, and kids wearing my shoes," Tatum said. "I know these could be their birthday gifts or Christmas gifts or something, and I'll try to stay in shape and play as much as possible, especially in the away game. "This mentality sets the tone of reliability for the entire organization, but after Tatum's Achilles tendon rupture, it's easy to question whether the Celtics should try harder to get him resting more, and his injury will have a lasting impact that could lead to a significant change in the roster of the team the Celtics valued.

"I just like playing with these guys in the locker room," White said after Game 6, "It's a bunch of guys competing at a high level. Off the court, we had a great time…being able to wear Boston Celtics jerseys and play with these amazing people is probably the thing I am most proud of. That night in Miami, Tatum argued with a group of Celtics players about who is the best player in the history of the Celtics and Lakers, Tatum said Larry Bird and Kobe Bryant. Later, Tatum revealed that he wanted to catch up with Bird and become the best player in Celtics history. Even if he failed to achieve this, Tatum said such a goal would "provide a focus and motivation every day to get you the best." Someone in the Celtics locker room mentioned that John Haflicek held the Celtics record with 26,395 points, and after admitting that the achievement was impressive, Tatum leaned against the closet and smiled and said, "I'll catch up with him." "This is just one of Tatum's ambitions now being put on hold.