So many ridiculous takes, both on r/nba and in this sub, that I feel like need to be addressed:

• "The Celtics have no depth now."

The bench guys that filled out our primary 8-man rotation last playoffs were Rob, Brogdon, and Grant. However, Hauser and PP both received significant minutes as well and held their own. Our 8-man group this year will likely be JT/Jaylen/KP/Jrue/Horford/White/Hauser/PP. That's a ridiculous rotation. Sure, that group isn't as big as last year, but they can shoot the lights out, and remember-- this roster is getting overhauled in part to accommodate Mazz's vision for the group, which is going to have a heavier focus on offense and shooting than Udoka did. We still aren't going to lack for defense and there are more interesting wing pieces (Brisset, Stevens, Walsh) who are versatile and can sop up plenty of quality regular season minutes. I'll be honest... I just don't see a depth drop-off. It's okay to acknowledge that we might take a small step back defensively but we have a legit chance to be the league's best offense this year. And that's because of our whole roster, not just the top 6.

• "With Time Lord gone, the Celtics don't have a Giannis stopper anymore."

Watch the highlights from our best defensive possessions on Giannis from the 2022 series. See anything interesting? There are almost zero possessions of Time Lord guarding Giannis 1-on-1. What you'll see repeatedly is one Celtics defender checking Giannis in transition or penetration (usually Al, Grant, or Smart... but sometimes others), and as soon as his initial attack is slowed, a second defender immediately comes to help. Sometimes that defender is Rob, but usually it's just whoever is closest to bother his dribble or prevent him from that massive wrap-around step we're used to seeing. The Celtics' ability to make Giannis less efficient has had as much to do with strategy as it does personnel, and there is still personnel here to make his life difficult. Time Lord was great, but he was far from the Giannis secret sauce.

• "There's no real difference between Marcus Smart and Jrue Holiday."

Look, I love Marcus as much as the next guy; I'm still not over him being gone. But pretending Jrue isn't a more impactful/complete player than Marcus Smart is just operating in total absence of reality. Jrue has always been nearly his equal defensively (just as good at point-of-attack defense and probably slightly worse at switching/roaming/versatility), and there's simply no comparison on offense. Jrue just averaged 19/7/5 on 48/38/86. Those are numbers with efficiency that Peak Marcus couldn't dream of touching. People keep bringing up playoff averages, but Jrue was asked to be Milwaukee's second-best player with Middleton's struggles and had to create way more offense than would be ideal. The looks he'll get on this squad are going to be ungodly high-quality. Jrue is a better player than Smart in a vacuum, and he's going to be better for the way this team wants to play, too... especially in April/May/June.

• "Celtics have no injury insurance."

This one grinds my gears. NOBODY has injury insurance. If we don't have KP for the playoffs, yeah, we're probably screwed. If we lose JT or JB, we're royally screwed. If Al falls off a cliff, we're screwed. Now copy/paste this to every single contender in the league. If Milwaukee loses any of Giannis, Dame, Middleton, or Lopez, they are screwed... and oh by the way, this has happened to them in each of the last two seasons. If Miami loses Jimmy, they are screwed. LBJ or AD for the Lakers? Screwed. Jokic or Murray for Denver? Screwed. Philly is probably screwed anyway, but yeah, if they lose Embiid, they are doubly screwed. The "injury insurance" argument is just as applicable to everyone else as us.

Don't believe any of these weak-sauce arguments if you see them. Boston should be seen as the clear favorites in the East. Let's Banner 18 Boogie.