Predicting the C's 2014-15 Stats Champs

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BOSTON – It’s time to predict the 2014-15 Celtics statistical champions. We know that making basketball predictions is a risky business, but sometimes you’ve gotta live on the edge.

It’s likely that some of these leaders will remain consistent from last season, but there’s bound to be new leaders as well. Our best predictions for all eight categories are below.

Jeff Green

Jeff Green is back for his fourth season in green and his second season as the team’s starting small forward. We think he’ll wind up with his second season as the team’s leading scorer, too.

There are several reasons to believe that Green will build on last season’s scoring title in Boston, which included an average of 16.9 points per game. He stays healthy (he’s played in 97 percent of his team’s regular games over his last three seasons), he can score from anywhere on the court, has a high free-throw rate, and he'll play major minutes. Those facts, along with the belief that Green should do nothing but improve his efficiency, make a great case for Green being this team's leading scorer.

Jared Sullinger

Count on Jared Sullinger to repeat as Boston’s top rebounder this season, and count on the race not being close.

Sullinger is not only the best rebounder on the Celtics; he’s also one of the best rebounders in the league. His 8.1 rebounds per game last season ranked first on the team, and his average of 14.1 rebounds per 48 minutes was the 24th-best average in the league. Remember, this is a guy who was playing in his first full season in the NBA. He’s going to approach or surpass a double-digit rebounding average this season, and it’s unlikely that any teammate will come close to that number.

Rajon Rondo

C’mon, was there any question about this one? Rajon Rondo has led the Celtics in assist average for the past seven seasons. That’s not changing in 2014-15.

There were plenty of critics who wondered whether Rondo would be able to rack up assists as a high rate after the departure of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. No. 9 came out and answered those critics by averaging a team-best 9.8 assists per game last season, ranking second in the entire NBA. Now fully healthy, Rondo will likely return to a double-digit assist average this season.

Rajon Rondo

There’s more to Rondo's game than dishing out assists. He's very skilled at the other end of the court, too.

Rondo has led the Celtics in steals per game during every season of his career. He has also been an NBA All-Defensive First- or Second-Team selection four times in his career. He has a nose for the ball and knows how to rip one or two steals a night.

Rondo will have competition from Gerald Wallace and Avery Bradley, but should continue his reign as Boston's steals champ.

Tyler Zeller

Boston’s 2013-14 leader in blocks per game, Kris Humphries (0.88 BPG), is now in Washington. Our prediction is that Tyler Zeller will replace him in this role.

Zeller has a chance to be the starting center for the Celtics this season. He’s an athletic 7-footer who’s capable of blocking shots, as evidenced by his averages of at least 1.2 blocks per 36 minutes in each of his first two seasons. He isn't a prototypical rim protector, but if he plays 20-30 minutes per game, he should lead the team in this category.

Jared Sullinger

A Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 16-20 is considered to be a very good number in the NBA. Humphries led the Celtics in PER last season with a mark of 18.3, while Sullinger was second with a mark of 16.4. Sully will likely battle it out with Rondo for this year's title, and we’re predicting that the youngster will win out.

Sullinger will almost certainly improve his efficiency as a shooter and will likely receive more playing time this season. Those increases could help to bump his PER up to about 20, which is a “borderline All-Star,” according to this reference guide.

Tyler Zeller

Zeller has range up to 20 feet but we expect that the majority of his shots will be taken around the basket. His perimeter-oriented teammates will allow him concentrate on scoring efficiently around the basket.

That might not be a difficult task for Zeller as he plays alongside a guy like Rondo. Rondo makes things easy on his teammates, and Zeller should benefit greatly from that fact. Zeller may wind up shooting around 55 percent from the field, which would be a dramatic jump from Wallace's' team-leading 50.4 percent effort last season.

Kelly Olynyk

Bradley may take issue with this prediction, but we’re going with Olynyk. We’re expecting big things out of the second-year big man.

Olynyk shot 42.6 percent from 3-point range after the All-Star break once he became healthy and learned the lay of the land in the NBA. There will be no adjustment period this season, which means Olynyk should hit the ground running. With that in mind, we’re predicting that he’ll shoot about 40 percent from 3-point range, which will be tough to top by any of his teammates.