These Are Not The Same Boston Celtics

These Are Not The Same Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics 2025 season had one of the best starts you could ask for, raising the 2024 NBA title banner while blowing out their division rival, the New York Knicks, on national television, but then ended one of the worst ways you could imagine with a shocking round two defeat to the affforementioned New York Knicks. And Jason Tatum ruptured his Achilles and there was expected roster turnover in the offseason. The 2025 Celtics went 61-21, capturing the two seed in the Eastern Conference, and finished second in offensive rating, fifth in defensive rating, and third in net rating. Jason Tatum finished fourth in MVP voting, Jaylen Brown was an all-star, and Peyton Pritchard won six man of the year. The Celtics looked destined to repeat or at the minimum make it to the 2025 finals, as that was my prediction going into last year’s playoffs. And while all that was going on, Shamserani of ESPN reported that with the Boston Celtics recent sale to Bill Chisel, they will be looking to shed payroll, which had a tax bill of $540 million as of June 15th. And going back to the 2025 playoffs, it wasn’t easy for Boston in round number one. They ended up beating the Orlando Magic in five games, but they had to grind out that matchup against a very physical Orlando Magic team. Round two, they met the New York Knicks, a team that also had to grind out a round one series against the Detroit Pistons. And pretty much everybody was on the Boston Celtics to win this series, as was I. And then the Celtics blew game one. They were leading 6145 at halftime, then proceeded to only score 39 points in the second half, eventually losing in overtime. Game two, as crazy as the odds were, the same thing happened. The Celtics blew a 20point lead and lost 91 to 90. They ended up shooting 25 for 100 from three in the first two games. Yeah, 25% for a team that shoots the most amount of threes in the NBA. Game three was a blowout win for the Celtics at Madison Square Garden, and they were still the favorites to win the series. And game four was when it all came crashing down. Late in the game, Jason Tatum planted his foot awkwardly and was in a ton of pain. We later found out he tore his Achilles tendon, an injury that usually sidelines athletes for around a year. Not only did the Celtics season seem over, but so did the next season. They went on to win game five at TD Garden, but they ultimately lost game six at MSG in blowout fashion. And now all eyes were on the Boston Celtics offseason who were going to be very active in some way, shape, or form because of the massive cap sheet they had to dwindle down for the new owners. This wasn’t going to be a second apron team yet again. And with Jason Tatum’s 2026 season in serious doubt, it made total sense for the Boston Celtics to look to move expensive contracts such as Drew Holiday, Chris Sporzingis, and maybe even the 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, who was also on a supermax contract like Jason Tatum. The Celtics were indeed active this offseason, trading away veteran guard Drew Holiday to a surprise suitor in the Portland Trailblazers for Anthony Simons and some seconds. They weren’t done though. They then sent Chrisops Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade and netted George Niang, who they later salary dumped to Utah for RJ Lewis, who was an undrafted free agent out of St. John’s. The Celtics would go on to draft Real Madrid wing Yugo Gonzalez at 28, Kentucky center Mari Williams at 46, and Max Schulga, a guard from VCU at pick number 57, making all three of their draft picks in the 2025 class where all three of these guys were going to have a chance to compete in the 2026 season with the injuries and the roster influx so far this off seasonason. They then proceeded to lose V Cornet to the San Antonio Spurs who signed a $40 million deal with San Antonio. And it’s all but likely Al Horford will not be playing in the green and white next season. The Celtics signed two benchwarmers over in Minnesota getting wing Josh Minot and big Luca Garza. And they also signed Toronto big man who won a title with the Raptors in 2019, Chris Buchet. Going into the season, the Celtics lineup seems like it’s going to be mainly incorporated with Anthony Simons, Peyton Pritchard, Derek White, Jaylen Brown, and Sam Hower as the five most trusted players in that rotation without Jason Tatum. The center rotation with Chris Buchet, Nemesis Kada, Xavier Tilman, Luca Garza has a chance to be one of the worst center units in the NBA. Other players like sophomore Baylor Shyman, rookie Yugo Gonzalez, and new free agency pickup Josh Minot, as well as Jordan Walsh, will presumably crack the rotation at some point this season with second round picks Max Schulga and Amari Williams at one point could see some playing time as well. And then R.J. Louis, who they picked up in the George Nang trade to Utah, and Hayden Gray, another undrafted free agent from UC San Diego, have a chance to appear on your TV at some point this season. But if you’re seeing them, they are either one of the best G-League players we have seen, or this season has gone to a complete disaster for the Boston Celtics. The Celtics currently have an overunder of 42 and a half wins this season. So, Vegas is projecting them to be near 500. They also have the seventh best odds to win the East, just ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks and just behind of the Detroit Pistons. Now, five key things that I’m watching for the Boston Celtics in 2026 are number one, how does Jaylen Brown finally look as a number one option? He was drafted back in 2016, one year ahead of Jason Tatum, but never had that chance to become the guy. Now, we could finally see Jaylen Brown become the guy in Boston. Is it going to result in Boston outperforming their 42 and a half win projection this season? Or is Jaylen Brown not going to exceed those expectations and is now going to be known leaguewide as a really good number two? My next thing that I’m watching is who emerges as the best center between Luca Garza, Nemesis Kada, Chris Buchet, Amari Williams, and Xavier Tilman. Those are five different guys that could be the number one center. I do like Nemesis Kada the most out of that group. Maybe Amari Williams showcases that Brad Stevens knows what he’s doing in the second round and by the end of the year could be the most impactful offensive big man on this team. But like I said before, this is probably going to be one of the worst big man units in the NBA, at least on paper right now. My next key thing that I’m watching is Anthony Simons on this team after the deadline. He has a $27 million expiring contract. There’s a chance the Celtics could move him before the season starts. Maybe there could be a market for Anthony Simons at the deadline because I don’t think that Boston is going to be looking to give Anthony Simons a long-term contract with Derrick White, Peyton Pritchard, and Jaylen Brown on the roster. Tatum coming back and massive work to be done in the front court after the end of the 2026 season. Number four is, can Peyton Pritchard or Derrick White elevate their shot creating and workload to be a good enough sidekick next to Jaylen Brown? We’ve never seen Derek White or Peyton Pritchard get as much opportunity as they’re going to get in the 2026 season. I have a little bit more faith in Peyton Pritchard. I think he has more scoring upside. As for Derrick White, he’s a little bit more of a well-rounded player than Peyton Pritchard, but this could be a great opportunity for Pritchard to take that leap in 2026 and be that sidekick next to Jaylen Brown and could take some of the offensive workload off their supermax player. And then the last thing is obviously, will Jason Tatum return this season? He ended up tearing his Achilles in May. Some people can come back in 10, 11 months. Some people come back in 12 plus months. Will Boston even want to rush Jason Tatum back in 2026 if they’re around 500 in the month of March? Is it worth ramping up Tatum throughout the final four weeks of the season to maybe be healthy for the playoffs, but then you’re risking a team that’s probably not even good enough to win the Eastern Conference? So, I think it would be wise just to let Tatum sit out for 2026 and he’s fully healthy, ready to go for 2027. exactly what we saw from Kevin Durant in the Brooklyn Nets when he didn’t play for them in 2020 and came back and maybe had one of the best years of his career in 2021. And I have some people who do great work around the Boston Celtics. Some things they’re keeping an eye on on the Celtics next year. What’s just going on around the organization? And I got a lot of that the organization doesn’t really want to tank next year. They do want to compete and maybe that could result in Jason Tatum returning at some way, shape, or form. Maybe that allows Boston to be aggressive next year at the deadline. And I have the same opinion with a lot of people around the organization that Peyton Pritchard can take that leap in 2026 and become a borderline top 15 point guard in the NBA. But ultimately 2026 feels like a gap year for the Boston Celtics. I believe there will be some highs, especially playing in a weaker Eastern Conference, but also some lows being without their franchise superstar and having a decimated front court. On the bright side though, they recently extended Joe Mazuma and for the first time in three years, they won’t have any of their assistant coaching staff gutted. Will Hardy, Emodoka, and Charles Lee, former assistant coaches and a head coach in Emodoka for the Boston Celtics, have taken a plethora amount of Boston Celtics assistants over the years. So, they’re going to have some continuity from the 2025 season into next year, which will be great for their player development and the chemistry going forward. And I’m going to be predicting Jaylen Brown to be the only All-Star for the Celtics in 2026. And he’s going to be a good number one, but not a great number one in Boston. It’s going to be tough with no inside presence and volatile ball security for Jaylen to take the Jason Tatum workload. But he will show flashes of greatness. This is his first season after all as the real number one. And not many stars can exceed those high expectations right out of the gate. Jaylen Brown’s going to be playing a completely different style of offense and it’s going to take some time for him to handle that workload. In my opinion, I believe that Peyton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Anthony Simons will be the definition of a boomer complimentary scoring court. There will be on nights and there will be off nights. I’m the most intrigued though about Peyton Pritchard. Like I’ve said multiple times in the season preview, potentially taking a leap as a definitive top 15 point guard in the league next year. Bisherman struggled shooting in year 1 and in summer league. You shouldn’t say it’s now or never for a sophomore, but for Baylor, he’s going to be 25 years old in September. And in Boston, there’s an added level of pressure to succeed. They’re going to have a first round pick next year, Yugo Gonzalez in the mix, and some other flexibility next offseason where they can’t fully commit to Ba Charman in year number three if he does struggle next year. back on Hugo Gonzalez. I think that he’s going to show plenty of flashes this season, especially on the defensive end of the floor and will be a great depth piece for Boston for years to come as long as they’re patient with him. But I believe in Brad Stevens in the process going over there in Boston. I also believe in Amari Williams will be the best offensive center for Boston this season while Nemesis Kada will be the best defensive center. But who knows, maybe Joe Mazuma can tap into the Iowa National Player of the Year out of Luca Garza this season. But ultimately, I expect the Celtics to play competitive 500 ball for most of the season. And if they don’t suffer any serious injuries, we’ll be in plain tournament contention. I like seven teams at the minimum more than Boston bearing injuries and potentially nine at the most. I expect the Celtics to be in the 7 to9 range and could sneak into round one in the Eastern playoffs. But all eyes will be on 2026 with a hopeful offensive leap from Jaylen Brown and Peyton Pritchard, a returning Jason Tatum, veteran presence of Derek White along with Yugo Gonzalez, Sam Hower, a projected top 20 first round pick and full access to their mid-level exception being roughly $30 million as a team below the first apron in a calendar year from now, which is going to give Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics front office a ton of flexibility going forward. And if you’re a Celtics fan or not, I would love to know what you guys think of the Boston Celtics down below. This is going to be my first version of a 2026 season preview. If you guys show good support on these, I would plan on doing it for every single NBA team because we’re in the offseason right now. All eyes are on the regular season. The schedule’s come out. We know who’s playing on opening night, Christmas, MLK day. So, I think it would be really fun to just talk about every team’s current outlook and what we could keep an eye on in the 2026 season. players that could rise, players that can fall, could somebody get traded, could team take a leap? And that’s what we could hit on in these team previews. So, if you guys want to see more of these, drop a thumbs up on the video, make sure you are subscribed, and I’ll catch you guys in the next one. Peace. [Music]

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