When you play beneath 18 championship banners, there are perpetual expectations.
The Boston Celtics, as a franchise, are defined by their rich title history, and every team that steps onto the Garden floor feels the pressure of what the squads before them accomplished.
But it’s undeniable that expectations have swung drastically from last season to the approaching 2025-26 campaign. The Celtics shouldered a championship-or-bust burden last season that exaggerated every bump in the road, and made a disappointing second-round exit feel that much more painful.
We’ve spent a lot of time this offseason thinking about expectations. The talent drain brought upon by the quest to get off the prohibitive second apron has caused a radical shift in how people will judge the success of the 2025-26 team.
There will still be internal pressure. Payton Pritchard is adamant that a championship remains the goal regardless of how outsiders perceive the team, and Brad Stevens reaffirms at every opportunity that crafting a championship contender is his North Star.
But so much of how we view the success or failure of a team boils down to how they perform versus expectations. And this year’s team will have so much more room to endure those potential bumps in the road compared to recent seasons.
For Part 4 of our Ramp to Camp series, we asked our panel to finish this sentence: The 2025-26 Boston Celtics will exceed expectations if …
It’d be easy to attach a tangible goal — a certain win total or a seed in the East — or maybe an appearance in a certain playoff round. But, for a team that often prioritizes process over results, the success of the upcoming season hinges more on answering one simple question:
Did the 2025-26 Boston Celtics move closer to being a championship team based on the experiences of the season?
Does Jaylen Brown elevate to a new level while operating as the focal point while Jayson Tatum rehabilitates? Does Payton Pritchard thrive if elevated to a starting role? Is there even another level that Derrick White can rise to? Do some of the younger players on the roster show they can definitively be contributors on a championship-level team?
Those storylines are way more important than, say, winning 45 games or advancing to Round 2 of the postseason. Success will be judged by how strongly we feel this team has positioned itself to compete for a title in the 2026-27 campaign.
Maybe exceeding expectations is as simple as getting a healthy Tatum back sooner than later. But exceeding expectations to us is as simple as finding answers to many of the questions we are tackling in this series. Success is emerging with a more defined view of what Boston’s next title contender will look like.
We’re strangely excited for a season without the weight of expectations on this team. We can fully acknowledge how thin the margin for error has become given the changes, and especially while Tatum is rehabbing. But we also think there’s a lot of remaining talent that people are overlooking, and there’s a real chance to perform well above what pundits will predict for this squad.
Here are our panel’s responses to the following question: The Celtics will exceed expectations if…
Darren Hartwell, Managing Editor
At least one newcomer makes a big impact.
The obvious candidate here is Anfernee Simons, who very easily could average 20 points per game in Joe Mazzulla’s 3-ball-heavy offense. But we also have our eyes on the frontcourt, where Chris Boucher and Luka Garza both may need to play meaningful minutes behind unproven starter Neemias Queta.
If either Boucher or Garza makes the most of those minutes, this could be a sneaky good Celtics team in 2025-26.
Michael Hurley, Web Producer
They make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.
I’m using that as the benchmark because — I’m sorry — the New York Knickerbockers just got there despite not being very good.
I know they whooped the Celtics (and the whooping was on before Tatum got hurt), but … no, not a great team. Neither were the Pacers, for that matter. So while I wouldn’t bet my house on a Tatum-less Celtics team getting to the Conference Finals, I also don’t think that’s setting too high of a ceiling for a season that I believe too many have already completely written off.
They should make the playoffs. They might win a round. The conference semis are probably the better mark for exceeding expectations, but I’m moving it one round deeper.
Sean McGuire, Web Producer
They win a playoff series.
The Celtics are not going to win a championship without Tatum. I also don’t think they’re going to land in the lottery just because Tatum is expected to miss most, if not all, the season after rupturing his Achilles.
The Eastern Conference isn’t that good and they still have Jaylen Brown and Derrick White as well as championship-level depth pieces like Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser.
Josh Canu, Media Editor
Jaylen Brown is who he says he is.
This is Brown’s chance to prove he can be an alpha on this team. Can he be an All-Star starter? A top-five MVP candidate? First-Team All-NBA?
This season will be his best chance to prove it, and if he does, the Celtics will skyrocket with him.
Drew Carter talks about his expectations for Jaylen Brown this season, and he says it might be a first team All-NBA type season for him.
Max Lederman, Content Producer
Anfernee Simons plays average defense.
He’s an immensely talented offensive player, but if he can’t defend, the C’s could be in trouble.
Kevin Miller, VP, Content
They finish Top 3 in the East — and I think it’s possible.
I think this will be a group that plays with a serious chip on its shoulder and wins games due to mindset.
Adam Hart, EP, Content Strategy
The rest of the East has a stepback year.
Cleveland, New York, Indy and Milwaukee are all ripe for a disappointing season.