Jaylen Brown Confident Boston Celtics Will Make NBA Finals, Denies LeBron Factor

Jaylen Brown believes there are no doubts as to whether the Boston Celtics will make the NBA Finals in 2019.

The Celtics were leading LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals last season only to end up crucially losing the last two games.

It meant James had gone to his eighth straight NBA Finals, but with his move to the Los Angeles Lakers last month, the 33-year-old will now be playing in the Western Conference for the first time.

And so, the Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors are all in with a shot next year and with Boston being the favorite as of now, Brown believes it's virtually a certainty that they'll make a first NBA Finals appearance since 2010.

"Oh, we're getting to the Finals," Brown said on CJ McCollum's "Pull Up" podcast when asked if the Celtics could get that far. "No question about it."

However, Brown took offense at the notion that the Celtics will only have a chance of making the Finals because James is no longer in the East. Despite blowing a 3-2 lead against the Cavaliers, the Celtics had already upset the odds.

Playing in the playoffs without arguably their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, the Boston franchise were just one win away from making the finals but succumbed to James, whose teams have now knocked out the Celtics at that stage three times in their last six playoff appearances.

Brown, 21, averaged 18 points per game during the playoff run and claims if James had not left the East, the Celtics were not going to allow him to emerge victorious again.

"I hate how everybody is like, 'Oh, LeBron's gone in the East,'" Brown added. "I know he did have a strong hold on the East for the last seven years, but he barely got us out of there this year. And our mindset was like, 'Man, he's not beating us again.'"

The Celtics are undoubtedly the team to beat in the East, as they boast not only one of the top head coaches in Brad Stevens but one of the best all-round rosters in the league.

With Irving and Hayward fit, many believe they could even defeat the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, but Brown spoke of the importance of staying grounded and keeping their talented roster together if they are to reach their potential.

"It's important for us to stay grounded and just continue to play ball. Continue to play the way we played this past season," Brown explained. "We got like a lot of -- we got a lot, a lot of talent on this team. And we've got some real good mindsets, and it's a pleasure playing with them all. But we have to be on one page if we want to be successful."

The Celtics will begin their 2018/19 season against the Sixers at the TD Garden in Boston on Oct. 16. The visitors were notably defeated by Boston in five games during the second round of the playoffs last season.