If Julius Randle can help it, the Boston Celtics will not be building a dynasty.
The Celtics on Monday sealed their first championship since 2008, finishig a dominant postseason run that saw them lose only three games.
Although the Celtics got some injury luck from their postseason opponents, Boston was still far-and-away the best team this season. The Celtics won 64 games in the regular season — 14 more than the second-place team in the East — and sported the league's No. 1 offense and No. 2 defense.
Now, with a young-ish core contractually locked into place, the Celtics seemed primed to built upon that success.
However, while appearing on ESPN on Monday, Randle said he and his New York Knicks teammates hope to prevent the Celtics from winning back-to-back championships.
After ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said there's no reason not to expect the Celtics to win back-to-back titles, Randle responded that he didn't want to make such a prediction.
"Yeah, well, I'm not gonna sit here and say I expect a couple more titles," Randle said, with a laugh. "I'm still playing."
Randle applauded the Celtics' end-to-end dominance this season and praised them beating who was in front of them, regardless of injuries.
"Next year hopefully we can stop them," Randle said.
Stephen A Smith: "There's no reason we can't look at the Celtics & say we expect a couple more titles"
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 18, 2024
Julius Randle: "Yeah well I'm not gonna sit here & say I expect a couple more titles. I'm still playing…You gotta give them credit. Next year hopefully we can stop them." pic.twitter.com/hGrwHwiREr
This year was a big what-if for Randle and the Knicks. The Knicks went 12-2 immediately after trading for OG Anunoby, with Randle still in the lineup. Randle then dislocated his shoulder in late January and attempted to rehab and return, but ultimately needed season-ending surgery.
However, the Knicks had a dominant record with OG Anunoby in the lineup, going 26-5 including the playoffs, where they beat the Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the second round, but were missing several rotation players, including Randle, Anunoby (for nearly five games), Bojan Bogdanovic, and Mitchell Robinson (for six games).
Had the Knicks been healthy, there is a good argument that they could have made the Eastern Conference Finals and given the Celtics a tough series.
Alas, the Knicks will hope to re-sign key free agents in Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein and try to run it back to challenge the Celtics.
