Gotham: “I expect we’ll be a playoff team…you could say [spots] 4 thru 10, it’s anyone’s game. The East is getting stronger.” #Celtics

— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) September 19, 2015

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Gotham: Fans started to see the future coming into focus with the #Celtics at the time of the Isaiah Thomas acquisition. — Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) September 19, 2015

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Gotham: “Hopefully we’ll give Brad [Stevens] a little more stability this year than we did the past two seasons.”

— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) September 19, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsEvery morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Celtics President Rich Gotham was on The SportsHub this morning and laid out the team’s expectations for the Celtics this year.

I think “making the playoffs” is a safe expectation this year for the Celtics. The team’s talent has been upgraded and hopefully some of these younger players will take steps forward (or maybe even have career years), so it’s not unreasonable to think they’ll make another run. If things really go well, they might even make a run for  5th or 6th seed, but that’s a really optimistic thought at the moment.

And before you start commenting about the perils of being a 6th seed, just remember that the Nets should be f’ing horrible this year and we have their unprotected pick. So the Celtics can be as good as they want to be and we can be worry free about the middle-of-the-draft pick. Brooklyn’s got us covered for the next few years.

The only thing the Celtics are missing is the top dog to carry this team, which Gotham sort of dismisses….

Gotham: “We’re less focused on ‘we need a superstar’…we’re more focused on what it takes to win.” #Celtics

— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) September 19, 2015

I’m going to dismiss this as a team executive making a statement that doesn’t sell out his team. If he said “we need a superstar,” it could be perceived by the players that they’re not good enough to win.

Now, of course, WE know they need a superstar. They might know it too. But if every team executive went on the radio and said it, I can see how it might be taken as a negative by the players who all have their own egos and want to believe they can shock the world on their own.

This is definitely a playoff team in the East. I think teams learned last year that this team can’t be taken lightly. And depending on what in-season moves are made and what leaps forward current Celtics take, this team won’t be an easy out in the spring. 

Page 2: Fire the EA Sports designers

Twitter spent a lot of time yesterday making fun of EA’s NBA Live player avatars (like Dirk “Nicholas Cage” Nowitzki). Today, MassLive has a look at the current Celtics roster, and it’s mostly not pretty. 

Now… I know what you’re thinking… yes, that really is Tyler Zeller. Now, to be fair, a few of them look pretty dead on. Avery Bradley and Amir Johnson are pretty accurate, but there are far too many horror shows out there for EA to be proud of what they’ve done.

I say this without having played the game myself. But it’s not a good sign when day one of your preview becomes a running, trending joke on Twitter.

My favorite is this glitch, which, considering that it’s JR Smith, makes you wonder if it’s really a glitch at all.

I’ll have to see what the game play is like. EA used to be the shit when it came to basketball, but 2K Sports passed them a few years ago and it’s just not close anymore. 

The rest of the links:

ESPN Boston: Countdown to camp for Celtics  |  CSNNE: 3 X-factors heading into Celtics camp  |  Who could be Celtics’ MVP? 3 possibilities  |  MassLive: Thomas reportedly signs shoe deal with Nike

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