Which Celtics players could bring home individual awards after a great regular season?

BOSTON -- The success or failure of the Boston Celtics hinges on just one thing this summer: Winning a championship. After losing in the NBA Finals last season, and after dominating the NBA for a large stretch of the regular season, Boston should end its 15-year quest to bring home Banner 18.

Anything short of that will be seen as a disappointment. No one will care about anything but that Larry O'Brien Trophy being lifted by someone in green at the end of the playoffs. (And not the Milwaukee Bucks shade of green.)

But that is a long, long ways away. There are hopefully four long and likely grueling playoff series to play out before that dream can become a reality. And between now and then, some Celtics may bring home some other hardware. Some very much deserved hardware after an impressive 57-win regular season.

We're talking individual awards, which nobody wants to talk about right now. But we've got a week to fill before the C's postseason tips off, so we've got some time to kill.

So let's take a look at which players have a great shot at bringing home some individual accolades this summer.

Jayson Tatum, All-NBA First Team

Tatum's MVP candidacy ended in late January, early February when he misplaced his 3-point shot. He'll still receive some votes though, and should finish in the Top 5. 

Tatum should also make his second straight All-NBA First Team, because he's had just an incredible season. His 30.1 points per game average ranks sixth in the league, and his 2,225 total points led every scorer in the league. Historically, he's the first Celtics player to ever average that many points per game throughout a season.

That's kind of a big deal. Attempting a career-high 8.4 free throws (and hitting 7.2 of them) per game certainly helped up that scoring total for Tatum and make him even more dangerous on the offensive end. He also averaged a career-high 8.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, finishing with 31 double-doubles and one triple-double.

Tatum had an incredible season, and he'll be rewarded with a spot on the All-NBA First Team for the second year in a row.

Jaylen Brown, All-NBA Second or Third Team

Making an All-NBA team is a huge deal for any player, but it's an even bigger deal for Brown because it would make him eligible for a gigantic max extension this summer. It's the difference between the Celtics being able to offer Brown a five-year, $290 million contract, and the Celtics being able to offer him a four-year, $189 million extension.

So it's a pretty big deal for Brown. On Sunday, Brad Stevens went to bat for both Tatum and Brown to make All-NBA teams -- but mostly pushed for Brown.

"He has really played his best basketball in the last couple of months and he was an obvious all-star right out of the gate," Stevens said of Brown. "I think he's doing a great job of, obviously scoring the ball and scoring when we need it, but we ask him to do a lot defensively, and we ask him, along with Jayson, to read a lot of pretty intense coverages with extra bodies flying at him, with extra bodies shifted over to him. 

"We're unique because we have those two guys -- amazing, young players, and they really accentuate our role players, and then we have a group of role players who really accentuate them," Stevens added.

Around these parts, it's clear as day that Brown belongs on one of the three All-NBA teams. Around the country, we'll see.  

The biggest factor is whether voters see Brown as a guard or a forward. In a perfect world, Brown is Boston's starting shooting guard, but that makes it a lot tougher to make an All-NBA team with the likes of Luka Doncic, Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell, De'Aaron Fox, and Jalen Brunson. (Assuming Steph Curry and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander occupy the guard spots on the All-NBA First Team.)

Brown has actually played most of his minutes at forward, and that could benefit him when it comes to All-NBA voting. Tatum and Giannis are pretty much locks to make the First Team, leaving four other spots for Brown to occupy as a forward. He'll have to beat out the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Julius Randle, and Lauri Markkanen on that front.

Brown brought his all-around game to a new level this season, averaging 26.6 points per game -- a career-best for Brown and good for 13th in the NBA. He did that while shooting 49 percent from the floor overall, the best Brown has shot in his career.

There is a lot of money and potentially Brown's future in Boston on the line with this All-NBA voting. Not only would an All-NBA berth put a lot of credibility to his name, but it would line his pockets as well.

Malcolm Brogdon, Sixth Man of the Year

It's only fitting that the John Havlicek Trophy ends up with a Celtics player, right? Malcolm Brogdon has been nothing but professional since taking a bench role in Boston, and he's been damn good at it too.

Brogdon has been a steadying force off the Boston bench and the definition of the perfect sixth man. His 1,000 points -- all of which have come off the bench -- ranked third in the NBA among reserve players. (He trailed just Malik Monk and Bennedict Mathurin.) He's been deadly from downtown, with his 44.4 shooting percentage from deep ranking fourth overall in the NBA, and his presence makes sure that the Celtics don't lose too much firepower when either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown needs a break. And in the rare instances where both stars are off the floor, Brogdon has helped lead the Celtics to a plus rating, something that was unheard of the last few years.

The Celtics were usually sunk when Tatum and Brown were both off the floor, but Brogdon has been a life preserver for Boston in those scenarios. In many cases, the Celtics have been able to extend their leads despite not having the star power of the Jays. Again, give Brogdon a truckload of credit for that.

Brogdon's biggest competition for the award is New York's Immanuel Quickley, who also averaged 14.9 points per game off 44.8 percent shooting, appearing in 81 games to Brogdon's 64. Quickley also started 21 of those games, so that should go against his quest for an award given to the best bench player.

Plus, Brogdon was a lot more efficient than Quickley across the boards. Given his impact on a team that desperately needed an impact player off the bench, this should be Brogdon's award in the coming months. 

Derrick White, NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Derrick White has been pretty awesome at everything this season. But he's been absolutely fantastic on the defensive end, and when you mix that with his occasionaly explosive offense, he was one of the best -- and most important -- players on the Celtics during the regular season.

White, who played in all 82 games, also showed the NBA world that the little guys can block shots too. White is no little guy at 6-foot-4, but he racked up the rejections all season. He led all guards with 76 blocks, displaying perfect awareness and timing whenever he sent a shot back. And even when he wasn't blocking shots, he was changing those looks in the paint, making life extremely difficult for hopeful scorers.

He's not going to win Defensive Player of the Year. He won't even make the Defensive First Team. But how about some Second Team love for Derrick White?