7 teams the Washington Wizards can hope to emulate if they get 8th seed

5. 2014-15 Boston Celtics

The 2014-15 Boston Celtics is an interesting case as the Celtics made a swap at point guard, getting out from under the toxic atmosphere created by Rajon Rondo and pivoting instead to future Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas.

While they weren’t technically “missing a star” on paper, in reality they really were. Still reeling from the loss of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce at the conclusion of the 2012-13 season, the Celtics had no clear alpha dog or star to lead the team.

They thought it would be the era of Rajon Rondo, but he just couldn’t shoulder that load for them so they traded Rondo in December to the Dallas Mavericks and acquired IT3 from the Phoenix Suns.

From December through February, the Celtics were playing without a star, and definitely no one noteworthy at point guard as Marcus Smart and Phil Pressey mostly held it down. But the Celtics had some nice young pieces in 20-year-old Smart, 22-year-old Jared Sullinger, 23-year-old Kelly Olynyk, and 24-year-old Avery Bradley.

And that younger core could benefit from some playoff experience. The Celtics finished the 2014-15 season in the 7th seed and went on to lose to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, who went on to the NBA finals. They would parlay this experience into a 5-year string of playoff appearances to various degrees of success.

Like the Washington Wizards this season, the 2014-15 Celtics were starless but pressed on anyways, to the benefit of their organization and future success.

Record at all-star break: 20-31

2014-15 Final record & result : 40-42, Swept in 1st round

2015-16 season record & result: 48-34, Lost in 1st round (Made Eastern Conference Finals the following year)