After years of being that up and coming team, the Boston Celtics are finally looking to have come out of their shell.

Bannered by a young and fighting core led by Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder, along with coach Brad Stevens’ guidance, the Celtics have transformed themselves from being fringe playoff qualifiers, into becoming an Eastern Conference force, and now, they are ready to take the next step.

The main reason for their expected big leap this year is the addition of All-Star Al Horford. The veteran center was among the top free agents this summer, and the Celtics were fortunate enough to have him aboard. Other than Horford, the high-flying Gerald Green will also be returning to his old team.

This makes Isaiah Thomas very excited to start running with his two new veteran teammates, per ESPN’s Chris Forsberg.

“We got a big addition in Al Horford. Got my guy Gerald Green coming back to Boston. I'm excited. I think we've got the right pieces to go forward. Danny Ainge and those [front office] guys, they might have a little bit more work to do but, at the same time, the group that we have, I'm excited about the opportunity to get together and get things going. I'm anxious to get a new season going because it should be a lot of excitement around here in Boston.”

“A guy like Gerald Green, he can guard multiple positions, he can shoot the ball, and he's a high-flyer. We need something like that. Then Al Horford is self-explanatory. We know what [Horford is] going to bring. He's very versatile. Guys [have] been working. Guys got a chip on their shoulder. We feel like we didn't go as far as we wanted to last season, so guys are going to be ready. A lot of guys are working hard and ready for this opportunity this season.”

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The Celtics are going to be really good this season. Not only do they have these new veterans in their fold. Boston also has a very promising rookie in forward Jaylen Brown.

Both Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge have to be credited for the amount of work they have put in to assemble the roster and make the players work as a cohesive unit.