Just five months after Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles, effectively ending any chance the Celtics had at roaring back to defeat the Knicks in the 2025 Eastern Conference semifinals, Boston is back for a new campaign.
The new-look squad will trudge through much of the regular season — if not all of it — without the services of their bona fide superstar, vastly altering expectations for the Joe Mazzulla-led group. Many hoops “experts” are pegging the Celtics as a middle-of-the-pack team in the East; some have them missing the postseason all together.
But with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard back in the fold, nothing — except maybe a championship — is off the table for Boston. It all begins tonight at TD Garden as Joel Embiid and the equally hard-to-predict 76ers come to town.
Here’s three of the more pressing storylines surrounding the Celtics as the NBA season gets underway.
How good can Jaylen Brown really be?
Without the 1A to his 1B in Tatum, the soon-to-be 29-year-old Brown will seize the reigns as the team’s go-to option. And believe me, he’s licking his chops at the opportunity.
Now in his 10th year with the Celtics (crazy, right?), Brown has averaged at least 20 ppg. in each of the last six seasons, peaking at 26.6 in 2022-23. But with Tatum on the court (and an all-star-like lineup around them in recent years), it limited Brown’s production from a statistical standpoint. Now, the floor is his and his only, and it will be interesting to see just how high he can climb.
Even after winning both an East Finals and NBA Finals MVP, Brown often gets overlooked by the media. He’s widely regarded as a Top 25-30 player but never a Top 10. With his abilities, coupled with a relentless drive and newfound opportunities in the lineup, Brown now has the potential to reach that upper echelon status.
If he does, Boston will be right there with virtually any team in the East not named the Cleveland Cavaliers or New York Knicks.
Big year for Mazzulla
Since taking over as head coach in 2022-23, Mazzulla has been both praised and maligned for his coaching style. He’s also had tremendously talented rosters to work with, perhaps masking some of his flaws as a young leader in this league.
Without Tatum, as well as key departing pieces in Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, Mazzulla will face his toughest challenge. Training camp and preseason showed us that some things will undoubtedly change this season as Boston looks to make up for the lost talent and size.
Mazzulla and his staff have altered their defensive mindset, going all-in on an aggressive, ball pressure-heavy, help-heavy and switchy scheme. When it works, Boston is going to force turnovers in bunches and get out in transition. When it doesn’t, they’re likely to concede open lanes to the rim, cross-court passes for uncontested threes, or simply foul the opponent.
It’s a high risk, high reward mindset, one that could make the Celtics one of the more frustrating defensive opponents to game plan for.
Who emerges for C’s, and how do the slew of new pieces fit into rotation?
Brown, White, Pritchard, Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta: those six players are guaranteed playing time to start the season. It remains to be seen whether Simons or Pritchard will start, and Queta appears to be the most obvious option to start at center.
But outside of those half dozen names, bench minutes are up for grabs. Young wings Baylor Scheierman (a 2024 first round pick) and Jordan Walsh (2023 second round pick), as well as rookie first-round guard Hugo Gonzalez, all figure to garner opportunities early on. At 6-foot-9, newcomer Chris Boucher, 32, offers length, outside shooting and experience that should land him just above those three in the pecking order.
Then there’s newly acquired big Luka Garza, a former NCAA Player of the Year, who never really got an opportunity with the center-heavy Timberwolves. He and undersized-yet-physical returning big Xavier Tillman will likely duke it out for frontcourt minutes. In addition, Josh Minott, a fiery, 6-foot-8, 22-year-old swingman, turned heads in the preseason with his energy and athleticism.
Boston’s rotation has been virtually set in stone in each of the past three seasons. This season it’s going to be an all-out battle among the Celtics’ reserves as far as who establishes themselves as an every-night player.
Boston may be the one team in the association with the highest ceiling yet lowest floor. They could very well win over 50 games, finish among the top four in the East and get Tatum back just in time for a playoff push. Or they could struggle to find consistency and stumble to a lottery-bound finish.
Stay tuned.
Nick Giannino covers the Celtics for CNHI Boston. Contact him at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.