BOSTON — Kevin Love isn't walking through the TD Garden's doors anytime soon other than as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And it remains to be seen how much longer four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo will be ballin' in the 6-1-7.
Rich Gotham is president of the Boston Celtics so naturally he's more optimistic about the franchise than the average fan.
But when you consider what the Celtics are working with now relative to what they had a year ago, he has reason to be more optimistic.
"The future will come a little bit more into focus this season," Gotham told CSNNE.com. "The roster is a little more well-rounded and I think Brad (Stevens, the Celtics' head coach) has more to work with and we will be more competitive."
Gotham's point about the roster is reason enough to believe that Boston will improve upon its 25-win campaign a year ago.
With a new coach and a slew of players that provided far more questions than answers at this time last year, too many chips would have had to fall into place for Boston to become anything more than a lottery team.
Heading into this season, the outlook is better - not a lot better, but definitely better.
Rondo is another year removed from his torn right ACL in January of 2013 and should be all that much closer to his pre-injury form.
Boston also drafted point guard Marcus Smart with the No. 6 overall pick in June. He'll definitely play this season. How much remains to be seen.
If you continue to scan the roster, Boston has stiff competition at every position which in itself is an upgrade over last season's squad.
Avery Bradley is expected to start at shooting guard, but newly acquired Marcus Thornton may cut into Bradley's minutes. And while we didn't see him in summer league this year due to a concussion from a car accident in June, rookie James Young should not be counted out for playing time, either.
"He's been working hard," said C's assistant coach Walter McCarty. "We're excited about where he's at. He has to learn a lot, but he's a guy that's going to be able to help us at some point."
The Jeff Green-Gerald Wallace battle never really materialized last year, but Green may have to fend off the versatile Evan Turner depending on how the Celtics plan to use him this season.
And the power forward/center jobs are a total toss-up between Brandon Bass, Kelly Olynyk, Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller, with Vitor Faverani and Joel Anthony adding more depth.
"We're going to have very competitive practices, guys really competing for playing time," McCarty said. "That's only going to make our guys better."
And give the Celtics the best chance at improving upon last season's record.
"We're excited about the second season," McCarty said. "Excited about our new pieces and guys that are back; excited about winning more games this year, for sure."