CANTON -- Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris doesn't agree with ESPN's annual rank of the top 100 players in the NBA.
On Monday at Celtics media day, Morris didn't say anything about himself (he was not one of the six Celtics who made the top 100), but he had thoughts on Kyrie Irving.
"I think I saw he was the 20th best player or something like that?" Morris said. "Obviously, that's not true. At least, in my opinion, top five. He's special, man. Having him back on the court definitely bring another element to it that we didn't have last year. We didn't need him to beat the Sixers. We didn't need him to be Milwaukee. So add him in to the Cleveland series, and we'd be talking about being in the championship."
Morris isn't wrong -- the Celtics were one game from the Finals with two chances to get there against a faltering Cleveland Cavaliers squad. The Celtics couldn't come up with the extra win (they couldn't buy a basket in Game 7), but they proved themselves a potentially worthy successor to Cleveland as the conference's presumptive favorite. Whether Irving is a top-five or a top-20 player, the Celtics appear to have built a juggernaut with the additions of he and Hayward.
"When I came in here two summers ago, Danny (Ainge) and Wyc (Grousbeck) and Coach, they kind of sold me on this vision that we would be able to stack this type of team," Al Horford said. "And I believed them then, and I made a commitment that I wanted to be the best I can and win a championship here. So we have such a big opportunity we can't allow ourselves to look ahead. I'm really locked in with this season."
The Celtics have so many talented players, questions are beginning to trickle in about keeping everyone happy. According to Morris, however, the Celtics are ready to sacrifice to build a contender.
"A blind person can see that we've got a lot of talent," Morris said. "Obviously, we all know that it's some type of sacrifice we have to take for the betterment of the team."
"What I'll tell you about these guys is, we've been most of the month of September working here and playing, and the mindset of the group is good," Horford said. "Guys want to work, guys want to get better, and we understand what's in front of us."