Whether or not you name subsequent season a rebuild 12 months, a spot 12 months, a retool 12 months, or an analysis 12 months, subsequent season would be the first season since 2021 that profitable a title just isn’t a practical expectation for the Celtics.
Whereas competing for championships is at all times the objective, that doesn’t imply that subsequent season can’t nonetheless be enjoyable evening in and evening out and supply the inspiration for the following group that brings a title to Boston. The load of expectations can take its toll on not solely the gamers and coaches, however the followers as nicely. The playoffs at all times sound enjoyable till the Celtics lose Sport 4 of the 2022 Finals or go down 3-0 within the Jap Convention Finals to the Miami Warmth. A season of low expectations might be a welcome sabbatical from that postseason stress, particularly with a wholesome Jayson Tatum and a brand new rivalry window on the horizon.
Brad Stevens has approached this upcoming season accurately. He might have leaned into extra veteran assist, bringing in gamers with confirmed observe information and expertise; as a substitute, he’s leaning into youth and improvement. It might have been a travesty for the Celtics to finish up because the eighth seed, and their prime minutes earner off the bench on the wing spot be Georges Niang.
Now, if the Celtics find yourself because the eighth seed, their prime minutes earner off the bench on the wing spot will likely be whichever younger man amongst Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez, and Josh Minott wins the battle for these minutes — guys who may also help the following iteration of the Celtics as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown transfer into their 30s. It’s a win-win.
That is why the Chris Boucher commerce was so essential. It helped the roster fall into place in a manner that may assist the longer term Celtics. Boucher might be the beginning energy ahead for the Celtics on Opening Evening; nonetheless, he’ll play an enormous portion of his minutes on the 5 spot, opening minutes for the plethora of younger, unproven expertise on the Celtics bench.
At this time, we gained’t spend lengthy deliberating how good the Celtics will truly be within the 2025-2026 season. As a result of that’s the purpose. If the Celtics are a top-six seed, they’ll have exceeded expectations, and they’ll have exceeded expectations in a manner that may help their quest for Banner 19. However, if the Celtics slip out of the playoffs, as many anticipate them to, the group will get the possibility to inject some much-needed youthful expertise into the roster by the use of the 2026 NBA Draft.
I’m conscious that there’s a big faction of Celtics followers who would really like the group to lean right into a tank subsequent season. I’ve discovered myself in that camp as a rule this offseason. Nevertheless, there are a number of eventualities wherein the Celtics push their manner right into a top-six seed. The most probably final result, in a Celtics playoff push, is that no less than certainly one of Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, or Payton Pritchard takes significant steps of their improvement.
Let’s begin with the reigning Sixth Man of the 12 months: Payton Pritchard. Out of the Jaylen-Derrick-Pritchard group, Pritchard is the most effective candidate to take a professional leap subsequent season. Payton Pritchard goes into his age-28 season. Whereas it’s uncommon for gamers to interrupt out at this age, Pritchard has an opportunity to be an outlier.
The plain case for a late 20s breakout is Pritchard’s utilization thus far of his profession. Exterior of his rookie season, Pritchard has needed to cope with deep, proficient, and veteran guard rooms. Within the 2025 season, Pritchard performed a career-high 28.4 minutes per sport, considerably up from his earlier excessive of twenty-two.3 minutes within the 2024 season. What did Pritchard do together with his alternative? He turned in the most effective season of his profession.
By any metric, Payton Pritchard put up an outrageous scoring season. There have been 102 gamers who scored no less than 14 factors per sport final season. Pritchard ranked eleventh in true capturing effectivity. And if you filter out bigs who solely shoot near the rim like Ivica Zubac, Jakob Poeltl, and Mark Williams, Pritchard strikes into eighth on that record.
I do know what you’re pondering. Pritchard performed an enormous chunk of his minutes with Jayson Tatum final season. It’s not life like to assume he can thrive to this extent with out Tatum’s gravity. Now let me inform you what Payton Pritchard did in his minutes with Jayson Tatum on the bench final season. The next numbers are per 75 possessions. In 1,033 minutes with out Tatum, Pritchard put up 22.1 factors, 5.7 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 turnovers on 65.1% true capturing. Examine that to Pritchard’s numbers within the 1,233 minutes he shared the courtroom with Tatum — 16.8 factors, 3.9 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 turnovers on 61.5% true capturing. That’s nutty manufacturing from Pritchard within the non-Tatum minutes.
After all, we’ve to caveat this by highlighting that Pritchard would have been sharing the courtroom with Al Horford, Jrue Vacation, Luke Kornet, and Kristaps Porzingis within the overwhelming majority of those minutes. Alas, I feel it’s nonetheless notable that Pritchard not solely maintained his manufacturing with Tatum on the bench, however he supercharged it. The dream situation is for Payton Pritchard to take a Jalen Brunson-esque leap. Realistically, a leap right into a top-12 participant just isn’t on the playing cards. That being mentioned, if we’ve learnt something about Payton Pritchard in his five-year NBA profession, it’s that he’s going to squeeze each drop of potential out of himself.
There’s one other participant on the Celtics roster who I’d not wish to guess in opposition to taking a step ahead subsequent season: Jaylen Brown. I don’t assume Jaylen has the identical developmental upside as Pritchard at this level in his profession. Nevertheless, I mentioned the identical factor after the 2023 season ended with Jaylen melting right into a puddle of his personal turnovers in opposition to the Miami Warmth. Then, Jaylen got here again and performed the most effective season of his profession on the way in which to a Finals MVP.
Jaylen has expressed his perception that he is usually a true primary on this league. I’m skeptical. The playmaking and ball dealing with are key differentiators between him and the highest choices on contenders on this league. Secondarily, Jaylen’s rebounding and protection have by no means reached the influence of Tatum’s, however he’s additionally by no means been requested to hold this kind of load. I consider Jaylen desires this burden and believes he can thrive and push himself to new heights this upcoming season. If Jaylen is ready to unlock a brand new stage, the Celtics might discover themselves with two top-10 gamers on their roster. If that had been to occur, every other questions in regards to the future change into irrelevant as a result of when you might have two prime ten gamers that may do as many issues as Jaylen and Jayson can do on a basketball courtroom, you can be within the hunt for a championship each season — even when the Celtics should roll me on the market as their place to begin guard.
We transfer to Derrick White. Out of Jaylen, Payton, and Derrick, Derrick feels the least more likely to make the kind of impactful leap like I’ve outlined for Brown and Pritchard. This appears like time to say that since becoming a member of the Celtics, Derrick White has developed from a shaky three-point shooter into one of many league’s most potent weapons from past the arc.
A fast reminder of how good a shooter D White is now. Per Shane Younger, within the playoffs, there are 5 gamers in NBA historical past to shoot no less than eight or extra three pointers per sport, and shoot no less than 40% on these makes an attempt (minimal 15 playoff video games): Steph Curry thrice, Klay Thompson, and Derrick White. That’s the record. So, if we’re in search of indicators that Celtics gamers might take leaps into unexpected territory, Derrick White has already achieved it as soon as with the Celtics. Can he do it once more? Most likely not. But when he does, the Celtics have a 3rd All-Star on the roster locked up on a discount contract.
Shifting on to the beforehand talked about younger, unproven expertise on the Celtics roster. Relying on the place your cutoff for “younger” is — let’s make it 28 years previous) — then your entire Celtics roster outdoors of Jaylen Brown (29), Derrick White (31), and Chris Boucher (33) would fall in our “younger” class. Let’s run via what it appears to be like like in a Celtics-make-the-playoffs situation:
It’s actually exceptional how a lot unknown there’s on a roster that returned your entire 2024 championship group.
For enjoyable, let’s say that for the Celtics to achieve their high-end final result of a top-five or top-six seed, they’ll want one of many Jaylen/Derrick/Pritchard eventualities to hit, they usually want two of the function participant eventualities to hit. If I bought to select essentially the most enjoyable manner for it to play out, give me a Pritchard leap, a Josh Minott revelation, and a Jordan Walsh renaissance.
Now, if we’re being realists, and we take a look at every of those eventualities one after the other, they’re all unlikely to occur. And if none of them come to fruition, the Celtics will seemingly be a lottery choose. So regardless of how subsequent season performs out, there will likely be purpose for hope as we proceed our journey within the NBA abyss.
