How many Celtics have a shot at a 2020 All-Star bid?

The Boston Celtics are exceeding expectations with strong play from veterans Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward as well as the young duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Even with Boston near the top of the East, how many All-Star nods can reasonably be assumed for the team a quarter-way through the 2019-20 season?

With their unexpected success no fool’s gold a quarter-way through the Boston Celtics’ 2019-20 NBA season, it’s fair to broach the question:

Just how many players could the team realistically have in the 2020 NBA All-Star game?

With fewer superstars clustered together, the bar may be higher than in previous seasons. But while the Eastern Conference may be as close to the West at the top of the standings as it has been in years, there’s not an abundance of standout players from the middle to the bottom of the conference to contend with.

Things for the Celtics are compounded by the fact that it’s difficult to pin down who has been driving Boston’s success, at least over time.

Gordon Hayward was outstanding over the team’s first eight games before breaking his hand, looking like the player the Celtics had hoped they signed in the summer of 2017.

Jaylen Brown has come on strong while teams continue to double All-NBA point guard Kemba Walker and nascent star Jayson Tatum, outshining the two while — for now — mostly flying under the radar of opposing teams.

That won’t last, and neither will Hayward’s absence, so trying to predict how Boston will weather the coming weeks until All-Star voting ends in January is no easy task.

And with something of a scoring renaissance continuing to make extraordinary stat lines comparatively commonplace, voters will have an especially difficult task this year.

Kemba Walker seems the only lock in the relatively shallow pool of guards, with teammate Jaylen Brown making early noise as a potential reserve option.

The Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving and Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry (if they return soon enough to garner votes) and respective teammates Spencer Dinwiddie and Fred Van Vleet are joined by the Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler and Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons in having a case as backcourt reserves.

The Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal and Atlanta Hawks’ Trey Young loom as long shots from the dregs of the East, leaving only Boston’s former UConn standout secure in his next All-Star bid.

The two other candidates on Boston’s roster (Hayward and Tatum) both play the wing, and the former’s injury and latter’s not-infrequent not-infrequent off nights enough to make an All-Star bid shaky in light of the East’s frontcourt competition makes the Celtics’ All-Star picture difficult to divine just yet.

With Toronto’s Pascal Siakam a fringe MVP candidate, and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo a legitimate one, at least two of the three starter positions appear sewed up months in advance.

And while there’s still plenty of time for things to change, when you add that the 76ers’ Joel Embiid probably has the third starter position spoken for as well, the odds for Celtics reserves starts to look slim.

The Bucks’ Chris Middleton and 76ers Tobias Harris both have solid cases to make the team, and the Detroit Piston duo of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond have respectable odds as well.

The Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vučević could be in the running too, should he return from an ankle sprain soon enough to add to his resume.

What remains to be seen is how Boston does as the difficulty of opponents ticks upwards over the next few weeks while they re-integrate Hayward into the rotation, as well as how teams continue to game-plan against the trio of Tatum, Walker and Brown.

Other team’s fortunes may also play a factor, such as Philadelphia’s ongoing issues beating inferior teams (at least on paper) that may cause a lack of engagement from fans who would otherwise be voting for their favorite players with more enthusiasm.

While it’s probably too early to make a definitive call, it seems likely two All-Stars for Boston is a reasonable likelihood, and three — while unlikely — is not out of the question.