Hardwood Knocks

Posting the best record in the East and earning a trip to the Conference Finals did not stop the Boston Celtics from wheeling and dealing over the offseason. Team president Danny Ainge overhauled nearly two-thirds of the minutes represented from last year's squad to form a new-look faction built around Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford. The names are flashy, the roster well-stocked, but this reinvention came at the expense of key core members, including Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk and Isaiah Thomas. That makes it a gamble—a big one.  That the Celtics embraced this extensive shakeup at all suggests they're not done straddling two timelines. More than that, it implies they care far more about being the next-superpower-up, rather than the foremost threat to current juggernauts like the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. Indeed, the Celtics might still be that team. The Eastern Conference is a mess of sub-mediocrity below the Cavaliers, and they have the talent to run off 50-som