The Boston Celtics are returning to the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. In 2022, they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games after initially taking a 2-1 series lead. 

Boston has reshaped large portions of their roster over the past two seasons while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are more developed players.

"We feel like we're a different team than we were last year and the year before that," Jaylen Brown said. "I know everybody wants to continue to kind of pigeonhole us to what was happening in the past but we've had a different team every single year, different coaches, we've had like three coaches in the last five years. And still people want to make it seem like it's the same, it's the same, it's the same.

"Time has gone by, experience has been gained and I think we are ready to put our best foot forward."

The Denver Nuggets were a popular pick to repeat as champion, but they were ultimately eliminated in the second round by a Minnesota Timberwolves team with the requisite size and defense to slow down three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

While Anthony Edwards Karl-Anthony Towns, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid were in place before the arrival of Tim Connelly, the former Nuggets' executive traded for both Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley with the roster being particularly well suited to play against Denver.

"I mean, I think they're built to beat us," Jokic said. "Just look at their roster. They have basically two All-Stars, two probably first-team defensive players. Mike Conley is the most underrated player in the NBA, probably.

"From the bench, they have a Sixth Man of the Year. ... [They are] one team that they can do literally everything. They can be big, small."

The rookie season of Victor Wembanyama and his potential for greatness has rival teams believing the San Antonio Spurs are capable of building a dynasty around him in the near future.

"The Spurs are coming because of Victor," said Adrian Wojnarowski on Pardon My Take. "I had a GM, slash, president of one of the teams who is very much in the mix for a championship right now who said to me a couple weeks ago, 'We better all get our winning out of the way fast. We better get our winning done fast. Because once that kid has anybody around him, he's going to win everything all the time."

It is unclear how the Spurs will build around Wembanyama and their timeline for doing so.

"They want to improve the point guard position," said Wojnarowski. "They can go out in the trade market and get a solid veteran point guard who can kind of bridge them for a couple of years. They have so many picks. Maybe they find a point guard in this draft. [Rob] Dillingham from Kentucky or Reed Sheppard.

"Next year's draft is loaded. They could have as many as four lottery picks. I don't think they're going all-in on some veteran who makes $40 million or $50 million... They have to put pieces around him. He's going to dominate this league in ways, I think on both ends of the floor, unlike we've seen."

After a disappointing Game 2 loss for the second consecutive series, Jayson Tatum spoke about the expectations outsiders have placed on the Boston Celtics following their dominant regular season.

“We get it,” Tatum said after the Celtics were blown out in the second half by the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2. “The world thinks we’re never supposed to lose. We’re supposed to win every game by 25. It’s not gonna be like that all the time. We don’t expect it to be easy. This is a good team we’re playing. It’s the second round of the playoffs. It’s going to be fun the rest of the series, especially come Saturday.”

Tatum also talked about the superteam narrative placed on the Celtics.

“That’s the narrative you might see on TV,” Tatum said. “The idea that we have a superteam. It’s two-fold, right? We didn’t have the Coach of the Year. We didn’t have the MVP. We only had two All-Stars. They say we’re a superteam, but we didn’t get rewarded like we are. We know we’ve got a good team. We’re not perfect. We play the right way more often than not. We know we gotta be better.”