You Won’t Believe These Bold Celtics Predictions

man. Yeah, it’s it’s intense. Physical, intense pace. Um I think the coaching staff has done a good job of setting the the tempo and pace of of preseason. I think it’s probably been my hardest preseason I think I’ve I’ve had from a conditioning standpoint and a physicality standpoint, but that’s what we’re going to need this season. At every turn, welcome back here on hold my banner Ness Nation. Jaylen Brown has been talking on about how got to take the pace up. You know, this is a team that has been almost glacial over the last handful of years. Now, granted, they’ve been great. Not knocking their style of play, but they have not known, you know, been known for for their speed and for their pace and moving things, really uptempo, all that stuff. Brown, others saying they want to get there. They want to be to a team that is is, you know, moving toward the top of the league, not bottom five in that category every single year. I think they were second to last last year in pace. And absent Jason Tatum, who does, you know, for for all the things he does well, he slows the game down a little bit. There’s a little bit more of the played. Yeah, absolutely. And so, we’re going to see how run and gun the the the sixsecond offense or whatever it is. Yeah. This Boston Celtics team looks like, but on the way to getting there potentially, we’re going to give you some bold predictions. Now, the whole idea, and this is Dante’s creation, I like it. It’s fun, is these aren’t safe takes. No, we’re not trying to, you know, it’s, oh, well, I I think that Derek White’s going to be an all-star this year. Like, that’s not a bold prediction. That’s a very reasonable expectation for a team that enters the year and may not have Jason Tatum the entire season. No, we we want to give you stuff that’s that’s uh well, quite frankly, if you go back in a few months and you watch this show back, we could sound incredibly stupid. That’s kind of the goal. But may maybe maybe we hit on one of these. So Ante’s come up with a few. I’ve come up with a few. And the best part is we don’t know what the other has come up with. So start us off. What’s one? We’ll go one by one. Okay. I started off a little, you know, barely Caliiente. I got to spice it up as we get to going. So we’re starting off a little soft, but Jaylen Brown will finish top five in the MVP votes this year. Okay. I think that Jaylen Brown is going to be a guy that we’re going to every night. We’re going to see 26 to 27 points a game out of this dude and probably about seven assists out of this guy we might get out of him if we can see that. if he’s a 27 8 and seven kind of guy and he really does take these opportunities to play through this pace but also being the only sole guy to get these ISO opportunities we could see a Jaylen Brown who we’re looking at as a MVP level caliber player. So I personally believe a little bit I don’t feel like it’s a stretch that far of a stretch but it is a bold take that Jaylen Brown will finish top five in MVP vote. Look, I’ve seen articles with people ranking Jaylen Brown the expectation that he could be a top five scorer in the NBA. It’s a very correlated belief that you’ve got. Uh I’ll give you one. Okay. Uh Jason Tatum through the love that he discovers as Duke’s chief basketball officer. He is going to retire from the NBA. No, I’m just kidding. That’s not I’m kidding. I’m kidding. That would be off the charts. No, he’s not going to do that. But it is interesting how he’s I guess spending his free time while he rehabs his way back. No, I’m going to go in order of kind of like least bold to most bold. So, my least bold just to I don’t know sort of set the tone for what these are going to look like. Celtics are going to be a top four team in the Eastern Conference this year behind specifically the Cavs, the Knicks, the Magic in whatever order, but those three teams are going to rank ahead of Boston. I think the Pistons are going to underachieve. I think the Hawks and Sixers are going to be victimized by injuries. Hell, we’ve already seen it for Philadelphia. No sense anytime soon. So I think the Celtics they are going to overachieve during the regular season because a lot of people we’ve talked about this there’s the range of outcomes. Are they going to bottom out? They going to be a lottery team? Are they going to be a a playin tournament team playinville? Are they going to be just on the outskirts of the playoffs and be, you know, somewhere five, six? I’m going to say top four. The Celtics are going to be top four in the Eastern Conference during the reg top four in the regular season these Boston Celtics and they are going to win a playoff round. Okay. At least at least one. All right. Okay. Sounds good. All right. Now for my next one is getting a little spicy cuz it’s been a while since we’ve seen this guy have this kind of a season. Chris Buchet. Yes. 100 three-point makes this season. Okay. 100 blocks. Now, what are his career highs? His career highs you you getting me on the spot. You want to talk? I’ll do the research. Yeah, I’ll I’ll do the talk and you do the research. But I believe he has about 111 blocks is the career high, I believe. But you’ll check for me. Um career made threes in the season. I I don’t know. But here’s the thing. He’s getting opportunity to start. At least we all believe so for this Boston Celtics team at the four. He’s going to have the opportunity to get a lot of shots up because of the pace of this team. This dude never gets tired. I’ve been seeing the reports from training camp. I’ I’ve seen him. He’s He’s running every day. He’s fast. If he can stay healthy, this dude is going to get opportunities to block shots because they’re going to be running people off the line, sending it to the to the rim. Kada’s going to be slow to get there and he’s going to clean it up for him. And then on the other end, they’re gonna be shot chucking because they don’t have the physicality to be the Boston Celtics of old without Jason Tatum there, without Al Horford there, without even a KP there or Drew Holiday there. So, they’re going to be shooting threes, shooting threes, shooting threes. I could see this guy doing both of those things at a high level for this Boston Celtics. So, you got to go back to 202021 for Toronto, his third year with Toronto when he was actually in the six man of the year conversation. He was, I think, sixth in the voting that year. Careerh highs that season, both categories that you’re talking about of 111 blocks, as you said. I see. And 93 point makes. Okay. So, we got a 100 season out of Chris Bush. Out of Chris Bush. I can see it happening. Look, it’s a thin front court, man. If you stay out of foul trouble, stay healthy, you’re going to have opportunity. It’s a bold take, but you know, it’s a bold. It’s a bold take, but that’s what we’re here for. This one right here might be just a little bit more bold, my friend. Everybody get ready. So, how many six men of the year Celtics won the last three years? Two. Malcolm Brogden. Yep. Payton Pritchard. Yep. How about we make it three out of four? Uhoh. Anthony Simons is your NBA sixth man of the year. Okay. He’s going to spend the entire season with Boston. He’s not getting traded. He’s going to average better than 20 points per game. Exclusively leading that second unit. We saw over his last few years with the Blazers, he was a 20 point plus per game guy. The shooting not as great in recent years for a bad team as we know from three-pointers specifically 37 38% overall and that was after 40 plus for a couple of years. So he’s regressed a little bit in that category. I think between the athleticism, the explosiveness, the fact that he’s a good shooter, he is legitimately a good shooter, and the Look, I I don’t think maybe I’ll be wrong about this part. I don’t think Joe Missoula is dramatically changing the way that he plays, meaning we are going to see continued three-point volume as just part of the style of play of the Boston Celtics. And I think Anthony Simons is going to be a gigantic beneficiary of that. You take that three-point percentage back to around 40 41 from 37 and he’s leading that second unit where they’re going to be desperate for offense, you’re going to get your 20 plus points per game. If the team, and this sort of goes in line with my first take, if the team is just in that playoff conversation, doesn’t need to be top four, just don’t be bad. Yeah, Simon’s going to be sixth man of the year. It’s a bull take. And the reason that it’s bold, I think for everybody sitting here at home knowing that one, will he even be on the Boston Celtics when it’s time for this award to get drawn? And two, you’re banking on the fact that Peyton Pritchard is going to start 42 games in the NBA this year. Yeah, he’s going to have to be the starter. Pton Pritchard’s going to be the starter. All right, that’s a bull take, Cotton. I can’t I can’t I don’t know if I can agree with that one, but hey, I I do love Simon’s game. And that’s and that’s only number two on my list. Wait till you get to three. The talent is not even, you know, where I’m worried about with that one. It’s more or less the other thing on the outskirts. It’s opportunity here. All that. All right. I’m going to get a little spicy with this one. Okay. Especially after seeing your first take. Your first take, you got the Boston Celtics being a top four team in the East, winning a playoff round. I got them winning two. They’re going to the Eastern Conference Finals in my bowl take number three. Jason Tatum going to be on that roster. Jason Tatum is going to be on that roster. But this isn’t about the Boston Celtics. You know what this is about? Huh? Do I trust the Cleveland Cavaliers? No. Do I trust anybody on the Bucks besides Yiannis Koopo? No. Do I trust Mike Brown in a closing situation? When has Mike Brown elevated a team and made them better than what we thought their expectations were going to be? All but one season. one season, he won coach of the year. I don’t see him doing it again. You’re putting the magic up there. Okay. Yeah, we can see. Do I like Jamal Mosley? Great coach. Do I like what they have building over there? 100%. But they couldn’t stay healthy to save their lives last year. And you think Desmond Bane coming from not healthy uh land of Memphis is going to help them be in Memphis? No. He’s going to come over there and give them bad juju on health, too. And he’s going to get 30 a game and do the exact same thing that he did in Memphis. I am not worried about any of those four teams at all. So, you know who’s going to come through? The Jays. They’re going to come through. When it’s winning time, what do they do? They always showed up. If it weren’t for Tatum’s Achilles, as he said, he was going and he’s never been down. He’s been down 3-1 before. And guess what he’s done before? He’s come back. He’s been down three 0. come back and force game sevens. I’m not worried about any of those teams at all. Boston Celtics, Eastern Conference Finals, book it. Knocking out the Knicks along the way. How story book would that be? All right, listen. Your first take was Jaylen Brown is going to be top five MVP. Yes, you’re going to hate my take. Uh oh. Jaylen Brown, oh snap, is not going to be Boston’s leading scoreer. Whoa. Think about this. Now, it could be Jason Tatum depending on how much of the season that he plays. Okay? So, I’m putting that in. Okay? Could be soon to be all-star Derek White. Brown is going to be the focus of opposing defenses. Okay? And so, teams are going to be looking to take out Jaylen Brown. He truly is going to take his game to the next level. I think a big part like we don’t question what he is able to do in terms of his isolation player athleticism and all like what what’s been a a knock on Brown really in in the large part of his career till maybe last year honestly till maybe last year when he averaged four and a half assists has been his ability to get other teammates involved. It’s something that Jason Tatum has done so well as we have seen as years have gone on and as he has matured in the NBA. I think we are going to see, you know, as as Brown is a focus of opposing defenses and White benefits from this killer whale offense and emphasis on three-pointers and is, you know, not specifically but kind of loosely for the sake of this conversation, chasing that all-star birth and that all-star recognition, all of that. You’re going to see an uptick in usage out of White, out of, you know, minutes are going to go up. the scoring role is going to go up because it always does when there’s no Jason Tatum or no Jaylen Brown. White always emerges as that next option, that next guy. When one of the superstars, if we want to put Brown in that conversation, certainly if he’s top five and MVP, he’d be in that conversation. When one of these guys is out, white emerges. Okay, so this is very much a white ascension take as much as it is a little bit of a brown regression, but it doesn’t have to fully be regression. He averaged about 27 points, almost 26.6 points back in 2223. Last year it was only 22.2. The offense, as we know, it’s going to funnel through him. Now, he can score at all three levels. He’s obviously incredibly capable of scoring 30 plus any given night. all of that. I think though if the shot volume for for Brown does not increase to you know last year in the last couple years it’s been like 18 shots per game. Yeah. Unless you’re seeing him up around 21 22 23 per game something like that which I just don’t think Missoula is going to be calling for I don’t see how the points are going to follow to where we’re again unless unless the I don’t know like the efficiency is through the roof. I I don’t see him averaging 26, 27, 28 points per game. So, I see him taking a step back and maybe on those kickouts and just that again emphasis of getting teammates involved. He is factoring in guys around the perimeter. He’s he’s just he’s working it in a way that we’ve never really seen Jaylen Brown work it right. He’s never before last year topped three and a half assists on average in a season. Last year it popped to four and a half. I think this year the points are coming down a little bit to where he’s not your leading scorer, but the assists are going to go up to five plus per game for Jaylen Brown, who is not known for that part of his game. So, that’s all just kind of a well-rounded super bold. Derek White may be your leading scoreer, but it’s not Jaylen. Jaylen’s going to go up in terms of his playmaking, all of that stuff, but it certainly does not help your MVP vote. Okay, I hear all of that. Okay, I’ve heard it. Lots of I I rambled a little bit. I gave you I gave you a lot. I gave you a lot there. That was very clear and concise. Very clear and concise. Clap it up for Adam C. Here’s what I have to say to that. The only thing that I have to rebuttal to that and it is a bold take. I will give you that. Is that when we saw him on this TD Garden parade floor against the Knicks with Jason Tatum out, we had 26 Yep. 12 assists. Yeah. Eight rebounds. It looked great. Game five, you know, or game six, excuse me. Yeah. When he was back out there with in the garden, he played 31 minutes. It was a blowout situation. Sure. 20 points, six assists, six rebounds. Not as gleaming, right? Good for the playmaking. Keep going. I’m just saying I think we’re we’re underestimating what this guy can do without Jason Tatum. We saw it, albeit without the same team. There’s no Luke Cornette game happening in game five. There’s no Al Horford and Chris Asper. None of those guys are here. No, you’re lack of options. Very clear. But 12 dives with his back against the ropes. We know how this dude is whenever he feels slighted. That was an opportunity for him to show Boston who he’s going to be. I’m just saying it’s a bull take, but that’s what we’re here for. All right. Out of the six takes, which ones do you which one do you think is the most likely to happen? All right, give me yours again. It was Brown top five MVP top five was they’re going to win at least two rounds. Yep. And then Buchet 100 threes made. Bouch I think is the most realistic of those three. Okay. I think he I think the front court is so thin. Yes. I I think that the opportunity is going to be there. I’ve seen some people refer to him as as reserve. I don’t know if they just mean because he’s been that in his career. To me on this team, he is not a reserve. He is very clearly or should be very clearly a starter getting real legitimate minutes and opportunity. I mean, you have the worst on paper front court in the entire NBA. Chris Buchet has been a good solid serviceable player in recent years for the Raptors. I expect that opportunity to be here for the Celtics. And at that point, we’re just talking about volume counting stats. Yeah. So, if he stays healthy, then yeah, I like your 100. Yeah. Out of your three, I think he started to convince me about Anthony Simons. I think I can see him I think I can see him win six man of the year. I you know I I love Payeyton Pritchard. I do think he is going to start 42 games at least for this Boston Celtics team. I don’t think he’s going to start all 82 or whatever. Even if he is healthy, I don’t think he’s going to start at all 82. I think they’re going to mix and match some lineups. There will be some lineups that will start with him. Well, and injuries are going to force that, right? But um yeah, I can see it. You know, I I’ve been a huge fan of his game offensively. I think he has all the tools. He does fit right into what Missoula is trying to do. He is going to be the guy that is coming off of that high pick and roll with Kada at times or maybe even Buchet at times. A high pick and pop situation looking to let it fly. That’s where he thrives. They’re going to lean into that. Um and defensively he will be a little bit better than what we’ve expected over the past which will earn him because of effort. Yes. Which he’s going to try which will earn him minutes. So I I I love that. I love that take. Um they’re all bold. We might go for by design. That’s okay. We might go 0 for six, but you know, it’s a it’s a fun exercise. Do you think real quick before we break and get to this LeBron James nonsense of this week? Do you think that because he doesn’t have to do this to win six man? Do do you think that Simons averages 20 points per game? What was he at last year? He was Well, I mean, last year he was 20 plus, but again, he was a starter team. you know, he’s he’s got to contend with Pritchard, who honestly could average 20 points per game in this offense, and obviously Brown. I’ve been like high teens. I’ve been like 18. I think it’s going to be right at 18, maybe 17. So, you think he could kind of look the way Pritchard looked last year? Yeah. And I just think it’s going to be more efficient for him because he does he is surrounded by more talent, more options, more eyes on Jaylen Brown as you talked about, maybe a little more eyes on a Derek White. So when he is coming in the game, especially off the bench, he can really fill it up and really have to do it against second second team guys where he didn’t have to do that in the starting lineup for the Portland Trailblazers. So I think he’s going to get a lot of great opportunities. I don’t get think we get over that 20 threshold, but we might be, if we were betting, we might be sweating it just a little bit. Boston Celtics open up their preseason tomorrow night at Memphis. I know, like I said, we got the we got the black and gold sweaters on because they’re starting their season for real tomorrow, a regular season game. But Celtics basketball is right around the corner, folks.

These Celtics predictions might sound crazy, but what if they actually hit? Adam and Ountae each drop three bold takes for the 2025–26 season that could make them look like geniuses or complete fools. No safe picks. No boring calls. Just straight heat.

From Hold My Banner with Adam Kaufman and Ountae Campbell featuring Keith Smith, Spotrac contributor. Click here for the full episode: https://youtu.be/HitnOWkMrsE

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