East is there for the taking for Celtics

A plan five years in development has put the Celtics on the doorstep of the NBA Finals.

Now there is almost no reason for the team not to blast through that door next season.

What began with the trading of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry on draft night 2013, along with the hiring of an upstart mid-major college coach named Brad Stevens five years ago to the day on Tuesday, has led the Celtics from the start of a rebuild to [...]

A plan five years in development has put the Celtics on the doorstep of the NBA Finals.

Now there is almost no reason for the team not to blast through that door next season.

What began with the trading of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry on draft night 2013, along with the hiring of an upstart mid-major college coach named Brad Stevens five years ago to the day on Tuesday, has led the Celtics from the start of a rebuild to being the heir apparent to the freshly vacated Eastern Conference throne.

They have had some help along the way. The Brooklyn Nets picks could have been a series of late first-rounders. But the franchise was dumped into the depths of the lottery with Boston being able to pick up top-three picks Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was able to hit on trades for overlooked players like Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas and turned them, along with the final Brooklyn pick, into a perennial All-Star in Kyrie Irving. The mounting success and coaching reputation of Stevens helped Boston bring in two maximum-salary free agents in Gordon Hayward and Al Horford.

Even last year’s devastating injuries helped the development of Brown, Tatum and Terry Rozier during an unexpected run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals — setting the stage for the team to be that much better with Hayward and Irving expected back at full strength for training camp.

Then came the news Sunday night that LeBron James was headed from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Lakers.

While a healthy Celtics team would have already been considered a favorite against a James-led Cavaliers squad next year, the exodus of the King now leaves the rest of the Eastern Conference ripe for domination.

No longer is the best player in the world a potential roadblock to the Finals. No longer is James a threat to jump to Philadelphia and allow the 76ers to close the talent gap that was striking even without Hayward and Irving on the floor during the five-game conference semifinal rout in May.

No longer should a glorified AAU team like the Milwaukee Bucks be a threat to take the Celtics to seven games like it did in this year’s first round. No longer should the Celtics be looking up at a team like the Toronto Raptors in the regular-season standings after yet another Toronto playoff meltdown.

No longer are the Celtics simply NBA Finals contenders.

The expectation will be for them to not only get to the Finals, but be at least competitive there even against the Golden State Warriors. Against anyone else in the West, including whatever type of team Magic Johnson and James can orchestrate over the next few months — the expectation should be an 18th championship.

While a play for disgruntled Spurs star Kawhi Leonard may be tempting, Ainge would be better served locking up restricted free agent Marcus Smart.

The East is there for the taking. It took a lot of foresight, patience, a bit of luck, and a penchant for most of the game’s biggest stars to congregate out West.

There will be no excuses if this Celtics team stays relatively healthy and doesn't do it now.