Boston Celtics picked to win East, fall short of 2023 NBA Finals by ESPN panel

While it might seem a bit early to be thinking about the 2023 conference and NBA Finals, that doesn’t mean the NBA media agrees.

The dog days of summer have long been the time of the league calendar for media outlets to speculate, rank and project where individual players and teams will stand relative to one another in the season to come. Such is the case during this year’s summer doldrums. And with the Boston Celtics the odds-on favorites to win it all in many corners, the team figures to be at or near the top of most such assessments heading into the 2022-23 season.

Such is the case in a recent panel assessment by ESPN, who see the Celtics in the mix for the next title as well — let’s take a look at their conclusions.

Eastern Conference championship

The panel favors Boston to win the East in the 2023 NBA playoffs; 42.1% of the votes are for the Celtics to make it to the league’s biggest stage for the second season running.

The Milwaukee Bucks are a respectable second with 36.8% of the vote, and the Philadelphia 76ers come in third with 10.5%.

2023 NBA Finals

Here, Boston faces more doubt. The Celtics are the panel’s third choice with just 10.5% of the vote, ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks by percentage points.

Both trail the Golden State Warriors (36.8%) and the Los Angeles Clippers (26.3%).

Our assessment

We concur that the competition in the West will be fierce, but we tend to favor the Clippers over the Warriors. The Clippers will bring back Kawhi Leonard to an already deep and talented team. In contrast, the Warriors appear to have gotten worse in the offseason.

The East is the easier conference next season — at least on paper — but the arms race at the top has ticked up a notch. The 76ers made moves to improve, and the Bucks have gotten healthier.

We’re going to lean into the continued development of Boston’s still-young roster and veteran additions to ever so slightly pick the Celtics over the Clippers in a seven-game series. But we would not protest vigorously against opposing views of how the 2023 conference and NBA Finals might pan out.

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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire