CBS Sports analysts Ian Eagle may broadcast games for the Brooklyn Nets, but he likes what he sees up Interstate 95 in Boston with the Celtics.
With the team he covers poised to enter the contention window next season after stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving returning from significant injury, he expects to find Boston in the mix as well, as he revealed in a recent talk with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson in a recent episode of the “Heavy Live with Scoop B” podcast.
And while the 2019-20 season didn’t necessarily end the way Celtics fans had hoped, Eagle doesn’t see it as a failure of any sort.
“I know we live in a world where it’s ‘championship or bust’,” opined the CBS analyst.
“But, with Kemba Walker in his first year, with [Jayson] Tatum, with [Jaylen] Brown developing; with extenuating circumstances of the bubble not knowing how guys are going to react and handle that, with the [Gordon] Hayward injury; they ended up where I thought they were going to be.”
“That’s pretty much how I saw them this season as a conference semi-finalist,” he added.
CLAB 17: The longest season over, we look at the strangest draft https://t.co/y3Zqv5iqiF
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 28, 2020
For Eagle, a frontcourt upgrade is in order for Boston to maximize their postseason odds.
“I like their team, there’s still some places they need to improve … that one spot, the 5-spot … how are they going to play? What’s their style? Are they looking traditional or are they going to change it up a bit and look to maybe getting a little smaller and a little more athletic in that position?”
“That remains to be seen,” observed Eagle.
With the league’s moratorium set to expire soon after the 2020 NBA draft on November 18th, we still have a bit before the Celtics can begin their moves to whip the roster into something more reasonably resembling a contender.
But the wait shouldn’t be a long one — particularly if the league does return to action by its hoped-for Christmas week start date.
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