Can the Boston Celtics shock the NBA's Eastern Conference this season?

Can the Boston Celtics shock the NBA’s Eastern Conference this season? After the Celtics gutted their 2024 title core in the wake of star forward Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tendon injury and impending repeater tax and second apron team building penalties, the general consensus on how Boston will play in the 2025-26 NBA regular season has been a borderline playoff ball club at best, and a lottery team at worst.

But is there a chance that the current iteration of the Celtics could surprise people and comfortably make the postseason, followed by a multi-round playoff run? Or is that asking too much of a stripped down Boston roster with a number of young and rookie players?

The hosts of the CLNS Media “First to the Floor” podcast, Jake Issenberg, Ben Vallis, and Wayne Spooney, took some time on a recent episode of their show to talk it over. Check it out below!

If you enjoy this pod, check out the “How Bout Them Celtics,” “First to the Floor,” and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network: https://ytubl.ink/3Ffk

Listen to “Havlicek Stole the Pod” on:

Spotify: https://tiny.ee/CdKp

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YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3

This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Can the Celtics shock the NBA’s Eastern Conference this season?