1) they were a 1 seed last year.
2) it's not like anybody had any clue what to expect of the Celts WITH Hayward.
3) they lost very little in the previous offseason (bradley/crowder) and got to give those minutes to some very talented kids, got younger in the process and weren't exactly world beaters after Kyrie got shut down (9-6 including giving up 33 to Taurean Prince in a loss ATL).
4) lost the 1 seed they'd had for a good portion of the year.

i think the argument can be made for him but he should not be the favorite as people are starting to parrot these days. putting homerism aside, i think even Quinn Snyder is few lengths ahead.