As we all know, in 2006, the Miami Heat came back to win the next four games against the Dallas Mavericks, after being down 0-2 in the NBA Finals, we were all very impressed and happy for them and their championship. The following year, the Heat are 44-38 in the regular season, nothing horrible, but then get swept by the Bulls in the first round. Question marks appear on the heads. The following season, Shaq is traded for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks with the Heat only winning 15 games of the season. What happened! What happened was that they didn’t prepare when they entered the next season, they got older, injuries hit and they weren’t prepared when the teams around them were growing in talent. Now this is the example the Celtics should feed off of and not make the same mistakes.

The Celtics have a dominant team, which defeated the LA Lakers in the final 4 games to 2. After a few weeks of celebration, he went back to work. When the season returns, it will not be the same image. They’ll be a year older, they need to avoid injuries, especially Ray Allen, who averaged 17.4 and has been there as a late shooter, and has been hit hard by injuries as his career has gone on. Rajon Rondo is showing more skills as he continues his career, but he’s still that young point guard who can’t create good shots for his team. There the bench is the main factor this summer. They need to strengthen their bench going into this season. James Posey was a major factor off the bench in the regular season and Finals. But unfortunately for the Celtics, Posey wanted a raise from him that the Celtics couldn’t give him because of the salary cap. Also, Eddie House is looking at other teams, which will really hurt his team if he decides to move. Now the Celtics have lost their biggest factor off the bench, who played a great SF and could throw the ball and irritate the opponent with his defense, and possibly lose their best guard off the bench. The only player they’ve brought onto the team so far is Patrick O’bryant from the Warriors, who hasn’t shown much skill at anything so far in his career. Plus, Sam Casell is now entering his 16th season and it’s really showing his age, and he won’t be a big factor off the bench anymore. The same goes for PJ Brown. So now the Celtics have to rely on free agency and trades, but you can pretty much write free agents off the roster because they take pretty much everyone they could afford. I would have liked to see Minnesota’s Craig Smith join the Celtics, but since James Posey’s decision came so late, it eliminated most options. Hopefully, the Celtics can get some small trades to get another forward and guard to fill in for the holes on the bench and try to make him stronger.

As of now, the Celtics are still my favorites in the East, but they’re close. The 76ers brought in Elton Brand to have a dominant low post with Miller and Iguodala at the back of the court. We have the Magic that seem to get stronger every season and always making good plays. The Raptors got Jermaine O’Neal who, if he’s healthy, will make the Raptors have a great low post game with great space with shooters like Bargnani, Kapono and Parker. And so is the Pistons, who I’m surprised they haven’t made a move on yet, but they can still give any team trouble. But for now, the Celtics are barely at the top of my list, and if they strengthen their bench, Boston fans may be looking at another championship.