Danny Ainge compares the new Celtics roster to last year's team

Asked to compare the overhauled Celtics roster to last year's team, Danny Ainge says the new team and all the new additions are exciting, hungry, and have a lot to prove:



Ainge noted that he wasn't really sure how good last year's team would be. Obviously the addition of Al Horford was a huge boost heading into last season. A team that had been bounced from the playoffs in the first round of their previous two postseason campaigns was expected to improve, but acquiring the 1st-overall seed in the Eastern Conference and a postseason culminating in a showdown with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals was quite a leap.

This new Celtics roster won't be afforded the same uncertainty. Ainge mentioned the difficult task ahead for coach Brad Stevens with only four players returning from last year's squad, but after upending a roster that was playing in the conference finals just a few months ago to acquire two new stars in Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, Ainge and the Celtics brass will certainly be expecting to compete for a championship this year and beyond.

Now anything less than a trip to the Eastern Conference finals will have to be considered a shortfall. And should the C's find themselves facing off against LeBron and a couple of our old pals in the ECF this year, there won't be a feeling of "happy to be here" - they'll be expected to compete, and ultimately win that series.


Related: Kyrie Irving is ecstatic about coming to Boston

Photo Credit - Christopher Evans/Boston Herald

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