The Boston Celtics are opening camp this week as they set out on the road to Banner 19. A lot has changed with the Green Team since they last played. Let’s dive into what happened, what the roster looks like now, and what we can expect from the new look Boston Celtics.
I, for one, am really looking forward to the Celtics season. Most people see that Tatim is going to be out (at least for most of it) and that they traded away two of their starters and lost their two best big men and think this is a wasted year. However, to me, this is going to be the best Celtics regular season in at least 5 years. In the recent past the regular season has been meaningless to the Celtics. For them it was all about what they did in the playoffs. Could they get over the hump and win an 18th world championship was all that mattered. And once they did, could they repeat.
They were sure to make the playoffs (especially once the NBA went to 20 out of 30 teams making the post season) so wins and losses didn’t really matter. You watch the games and root for them to win of course but if they won it wasn’t a big deal and if they lost, oh well, on to the next game. Watching games wasn’t even about watching guys develop. They had their top guys; the only question was if they would be healthy or not come playoff time.
This season is vastly different. Without Tatum and with Porzingis, Holliday, and Kornet, yes Kornet, no longer on the roster, the regular season is going to matter. Each game is going to matter. Unlike the last couple of seasons, the Celtics will not be favored in every game. Wins are going to be harder to come by. Especially against the good teams. Making the playoffs is far from a given and avoiding the (stupid) play in tournament is going to be a big goal for this year’s squad.
Wins are going to be big and losses are going to hurt. There can be no shrugging off games where they play down to their competition and lose to a bad team. Not if they want to make the playoffs.
And it’s not just that wins and losses will matter this season; player development is going to be big as well. Can the new guys play? Where do they fit in and are they a part of the future? Can the young guys develop? Can they become rotational players that are counted on in big games? How does Brown look as the main guy? These are all things that need to be answered during the regular season that did not matter in past seasons.
So how did we get to this point? Let’s start with talking about the players the Celtics lost in the offseason. Just to get them out of the way as they didn’t play big roles while they were here and they were never really a part of the future, Drew Peterson, Miles Norris, Torrey Craig, and J.D. Davidson all left as free agents. I do wonder what JD will become if he gets a chance after dominating the G-League. Aside from that, these were not guys Celtics fans were concerned with.
Al Horford was also lost to free agency. Losing Horford hurts more than the previously named guys combined. Though on his last legs, Horford still contributed to the team winning, made some big plays when it mattered, and had a big leadership role on the team that will have to be filled. Queta said on media day that the team lost some main voices in the room. Horford was one of the voices to which he was referring.
Luke Kornet got a nice payday from San Antonio and left for less green pastures. I can’t say I blame him but he will be missed. Big time. Kornet was the one guy I wanted them to re-sign. I know most people look at him and just see a big goofy white boy but he was so much more than that. Don’t get me wrong, he was a role player. But he was a great role player. He has a certain set of skills and he used them as well as anyone could to help the team win. In other words, he may not have done a ton, but what he did, he did great. Also, he had great chemistry with Jason Tatum. The two of them were the second-best pick and roll tandem in the league. Having a big that plays well with your best player is a great thing to have. It will not be as easy to replace the Green Kornet as most people assume it will be.
Kristaps Porzingis, and a second-round pick was traded to Atlanta for Georges Niang and a second-round pick in a three-team trade that included the Nets. I am a big fan of Porzingis. Both as a player and a person. He just seems like a very cool guy. But due to his career long inability to stay healthy, this was a trade that had to happen. With the new salary cap penalties, you just can’t afford to pay someone that much money when you never know if he will be on the court on any given night. When he was on the floor he played very well for the Celtics and really fit in with what they were doing. It’s a shame it didn’t work out better and that they have a salary cap in the NBA but that’s where we are. The good news is that with all the time he missed, they are used to playing without him and his loss will not hurt as bad as it could have if he had a bigger impact on the team. By the way, I love this move for Atlanta. If he’s healthy, he will be the rim protector they desperately need with guys just blowing by Trae Young every time down court.
Georges Niang’s stint with the Celtics was short lived as he was subsequently traded to Utah for undrafted rookie free agent R.J. Luis, whom I will talk about later. This was clearly a salary dump.
Finally, the Celtics traded guard Jrue Holiday to Portland for Anfernee Simons. Like Luis, I will talk about Simons later. As for Holiday, he will be missed. Especially while Tatum is out with his injury. It’s not his production that they will miss. He only averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. It’s a solid season but nothing that can’t be replaced. And when you consider Jrue is 35 you have to think his best years are behind him. The valuable thing that Jrue brought to the team was his veteran leadership and his command of the offence. He was the guy who could calm everything down and get them organized again when things went off the rails a bit. He and Horford were the adults in the room, if you will. This is a void that the Celtics will need to fill or they may struggle to win tight games if they can’t stay focused and in control down the stretch.
So that’s who is no longeron the Celtics. If it was up to me there would be no salary cap and no roster restrictions and they would have been able to keep the team together. Can you imagine where the NBA would be today if the Celtics and Lakers had to break up their teams in the 80’s? They would still be on tape delay. But the way the CBA is now, it is designed to break up great teams. Every team has done it. They just didn’t do it all at once. But this is the NBA we live in now and the Celtics did what they had to do. The good news is they kept the guys that mattered and now they just have to build around them once again as they did the first time. Here are the new guys they brought in to build around the Jays and White for this season.
Chris Boucher could be the most important player they brought in. I don’t know if important is the right word. What he is, is a veteran big who has been a consistently good player. As I mentioned, the Celtics lost all three of their big man rotation. Boucher should be a solid replacement. The 32-year-old, 6’9” power forward has been a solid contributor for Toronto for the past 7 seasons. Last year he averaged 10 points, 4.5 rebounds, .5 blocks, and .5 steals. He shot 49.2% from the floor and 36.3% from three. He’s not making any all-star teams or anything but he seems to fit what the Celtics do very well and would be a good player for them. My guess is he is in the starting line up at either the 4 or the 5 depending on who else starts. He’s not a long-term solution up front but he should fill in nicely this season.
Luka Garza is another player they brought in to try to replace the lost bigs. The 6’ 10” 27-year-old did not play much in Minny. He only played about 5 minutes a game. He averaged 3.5 points and 1.4 rebounds a game. When he got double digit minutes, he produced a lot better. The problem is I don’t know if those minutes came at the end of blow outs in garbage time where teams are not trying particularly hard anymore. If you extrapolate his numbers out to say 20 minutes a game he would have averaged about 12 points and 5 rebounds a game. For such a big guy, you would think the rebounding would be better. Clearly Luka is no Harkeem Olajuwon. But that’s not what the Celtics are look for him to be. What they need from him is rim protection and rebounding. And a guy who can finish at the rim when the Jays dump it down to him. I have no idea if he can be that guy. I don’t know if I ever actually seen him play. He is definitely one of the guys I am most looking forward to seeing play in the preseason. He did win the Wooden award so maybe there is still some potential there.
Amari Williams is the only other big man the Celtics added this offseason when they drafted him in the second round. Williams showed some flashes in the Summer League before signing a two-way contract. I love his skill set and he reminds me a lot of Kornet. With the lack of established big men on the roster, Williams could earn a spot if he plays well in camp and in the preseason. My guess, however, is that he spends most of this season in Maine barring a rash of injuries. It will be nice if they can develop the 7-footer into a rotation player by next season.
Hugo Gonzalez was of course the Celtics first round draft pick this year. Much like Williams, he showed a lot of potential in the Summer League even in the tough situation he was in. He reminds me a lot of Derrick White. His range of abilities should play very well with the Jays. I would think he is going to start the year in Maine as he acclimates himself to the North American game, not to mention America in general. Like with Williams, he could earn a spot in camp but unlike with Williams, the Celtics have a bunch of wings ahead of him on the depth chart baring any more trades.
Max Shulga was the Celtics third draft pick. I think they see him as a point guard and he will spend most of the year developing as one in Maine. He has a quick release and seems to see the floor really well so I think he has a good chance of becoming a full time point guard but I don’t see him playing in Beantown this season. With JD Davidson no longer on Maine, he should get plenty of playing time there.
(For a more in depth look at the draftees, check out my Summer League Review…https://furballssportspage.com/2025/07/22/celtics-summer-league-review/)
Josh Minott is another guy the Celtics poached off of the end of Minny’s bench. And much like Garza, I don’t know if I have ever seen this kid play. He is only 22 years old (only Hugo and believe it or not, Jordan Walsh are younger than he is) and stands 6’8” tall. He is lengthy and seems to have good athleticism. He only played 6 minutes a game in only 46 games. He averaged 2.6 points and 1 rebound a game. He produced more when he got more minutes including a 13 point, 8 rebound, 3 assists outing against the Clippers in 21 minutes. He did shoot 49% from the floor but only 32.6% from three. He did shoot 40% from 3 the season before. Like his old teammate, I am very looking forward to seeing this kid on the court in the preseason.
RJ Luis Jr was the guy I mentioned the Celtics got from the Jazz for Goerges Niang. Luis was an undrafted rookie signing by the Jazz. He was the Big East player of the year at Saint Johns. At 6.7 he has nice size for a wing. His shooting apparently needs a lot of work; it got him bench at the end of St. Johns last Tournament game. He will have plenty of opportunity to work on his shot in Maine this season.
Anfernee Simons is the only other guy the Celtics added to their roster. Acquired in the Holiday trade with Portland, Simons, who is named after Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, was not expected to last long on the roster as the trade was seen as a salary dump. While it did save the Celtics a little money this year, and a lot in the future if they do not re-sign the pending free agent, they are apparently happy to have Simons on the roster. At least to start the season. This isn’t a knock on Simons, it’s just what the move looked like.
Simons is an undersized two guard who can score but can’t really defend. He averaged 19.3 points last year and was over 20 points each of the two previous seasons. His assists numbers have gone up pretty steadily. He averaged 4.8 assists last year and 5.5 the season before. He is a 38.1 percent three-point shooter and has a season high of 42.6% in 2021. So, he fits in with what the Celtics want to do offensively. However, he is rather undersized for his position. At 6’3” he is the second shortest Celtic behind Peyton Pritchard. This means his role on the team is going to be interesting. He is probably best utilized by an NBA team as a scorer off the bench. But he makes starter money. Also, as a pending free agent, one would think he wants as much playing time as possible so he can earn another big contract. How happy will he be if he has to come of the bench? Also, I don’t know if you can play him and Pritchard at the same time. That is a tiny back court. But then defense might be a large concern for this team either way so they may just figure screw it and play them together. It is going to be very interesting to se how coach Mazzulla uses Simons.
For his part, Simons said on media day that he doesn’t care if he starts or comes off the bench, he just wants to win and contribute to winning. He also said that he talked to Mazzulla about defense and said it was all about whether or not he wanted to do it. That’s sounds bad but what I think he meant was that he can be better at defense if he commits to playing defense not that his desire to play comes and goes.
So those are the guys they added to the roster this offseason. Now let’s get into the guys who are returning from last season.
I’ll start with Tatum because he’s the easiest. As we all know, Tatum blew out his Achillies in the playoffs last season and will miss most of this season. I say most because he is determined to return to the court this season. It was always a possibility when he was injured. Achillies do not take as long as ACLs or UCLs to recover from so him playing at some point this season was always in the time line. There was question on whether he should return or not but I believe that if is 100% (and I mean 100%. Not 98%, not 99%, not 99.9%. 100%) then he should return from the court. Even if the team isn’t a contender, or even a playoff team, his getting back on the court this year will set him up for a good offseason and a good start to next year. Even when he is healthy, he will still have to get over the mental side of the injury and trust his leg again. He may even have to adjust his game if the injury has any lingering effects. The sooner he returns to the court the sooner he gets back to his old self, or as close to it as he can get. And who knows, maybe they get him back in position to make a big playoff run.
Jaylen Brown is going to have a very interesting season. This is the year he truly gets to prove himself. Even with the postseason awards people still doubt Jaylen. This year we are going to get to see what he looks like as the true number one guy on a team. No longer is the Robin to Tatum’s Batman, Buckey to Tatum’s Captain America, Barney to Tatum’s Fred, Sam to Tatum’s Frodo, Watson to Tatum’s Sherlock, or Donkey to Tatum’s Shrek. He’s the main character now. He’s going to be the focal point of the opposing team’s defense. He’s going to get the double teams. The offense is going to run through him now. At least until Tatum returns. Which brings up another point. If he excels at being the number one guy, is he going to want to go back to being the sidekick again? Is this going to be an issue when Tatum comes back? Will this be what finally pushes him towards wanting out of Boston? We shall see. I am not saying it will. I wouldn’t be surprised if this all went smoothly but it is something to keep in mind.
How do I think he is going to handle being the guy? I think he will do very well. Tatum has missed time in the past so it’s not like this is completely foreign territory for him. He has become a better player and a better passer as his career has moved along (though not as good as Tatum) and there is no reason to think he will not keep improving. The real issue is going to be what happens when he comes off the floor and there is no Tatum to run the offense. How will the team look then? This will be a big thing to watch out for in the preseason and the start of the regular season. Can the Celtics survive the minutes when Brown is on the bench?
Derrick White will probably be the guy they make sure is on the floor when Brown sits. The clear 3rd best player on the team the last couple of seasons will be the guy who comes out of the line up early then returns when Brown goes to then bench at the end of the first quarter. I don’t think we are going to see a big uptick in White’s production this year with Tatum out. He doesn’t see like the type of player to force things or to think that with more shots available, he’s the one to take them all. He averaged 12.6 shots a game last year. Maybe that get’s up to 15. I think he will still just let the game come to him and make the right play. Not that this is a bad thing. It’s what he should do. And it’s not what the Celtics should want him to do. I expect White to be the same productive player, making the same big shots and big plays at big times as he has been since the Celtics traded for him.
Payton Pritchard is in an interesting spot. With Jrue Holiday gone, does he become the starting point guard or do they keep him in the 6th man role he was so good at last season that he won the 6th man of the year award? They could go either way. Only one of him or Simons is going to start but I can see a case for either one. I explained Simons’ case above. As for Payton, he paid his dues and one would think was next in line to replace Jrue, especially as they did not bring in another point guard. I guess I would go with which ever plan makes it easiest to keep him and Simons separated as much as possible. Pritchard said he doesn’t care either way and he’d be ready for whatever role he has. Of course, as with Simons, pretty much everyone says the right things on Media Day. We shall see what they do. Whether he starts or comes off the bench I expect the same great three-point shooting and play making that earned him that 6th man award.
Sam Houser is a guy that I am surprised is still on the team. Not that I wanted him to be moved, I just figured he was the easiest salary dump they had. He only makes $10 mil, everyone always wants more shooting, and they drafted a guy in each of the last two drafts who could replace him. Seemed like an obvious move. But I guess if you are not tanking the season, and no matter what Mike Felger tells you, they are not tanking the season, why would you want to get rid of shooting, with it being such a hot commodity? I still would not be shocked at all if he is moved at some point before the trade deadline. He may be a better shooter than Scheierman and Gonzaez, but he is much more one dimensional than they are. Don’t get me wrong, I like Houser, he’s a really good shooter and fits in very well with what they want to do. He’s the perfect guy to have spot up and be a release valve for Tatum and Brown when they get the defense to converge on them. He can come off the bench and make shots right away or he can start at the 3 if the Celtics want to go big and have Brown and White start in thew back court. You can never have enough shooting and Houser is one of the best three-point shooters in the league.
Baylor Scheierman is someone I have high hopes this season. He should get plenty of playing time with Tatum out and after what I saw in the Summer League (yes, it’s just Summer League), I feel like he is poised to take advantage of the opportunity. In just his second Summer League he was very poised and in control. The proverbial Adult in the room. He was in control of the offense and was able to get what he wanted when he wanted. He did not shoot well at all from three but last year in the G-League he shot 40.8 percent from three. He also shot 40% from three in the NBA playoffs (in very short minutes). He can shoot. But he does so much more than that. He rebounds on both ends (6.2 per game in G-League) and can pass with very good court vision (5.1 per game in G-League). If he can start to play the way he did in the Summer League in the NBA, he will become at least a very solid rotational player.
Jordan Walsh is another player that could take advantage of the open minutes created by the off-season departures. Walsh’s biggest problem is he can be out of control at times. In summer League he showed both sides of it. He played out of control and looked like the same guy he’s been his whole career but then he also played under control and looked like an actual NBA player. He is still only 21-years-old so there’s still room for improvement. He needs to hit the threes, especially the corner threes, at a much better clip. That would allow him to be a nice D and 3 guy who brings a lot of energy to the game. On media day Jordan said he feels good about his three-point shot and feels like if he gets an open look, he will knock it down. Hopefully his confidence brings results on the court. It’s going to be interesting to see what incarnation of him we get in the preseason.
Neemias Queta is a guy who’s going to have a big role by default as one of only two centers on the team. The 26-year-old 7-footer could be the starter in the middle for the Celtics. It’s probably either him or Garza starting, though they could go small and start Boucher. Queta has shown some flashes but is rather inconsistent, especially on the defensive end. The Celtics need a rim protector and sadly, Queta has as good of a chance as anyone at being that guy. He did show his potential in a FIBA game this summer going for 23 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 steals. I don’t care about the points and obviously he’s not going to put up these numbers in the NBA but if he can just rebound and defend consistently, he will be a helpful player for the Celtics. He can’t pass like Kornet but he could be the guy who replaces him in the dunkers spot and in the pick and roll most effectively.
Xavier Tillman is the last guy on the Celtics roster not counting the exhibit 10 guys who will be in Maine come the start of the season. I really have no use for Tillman. He’s an end of the bench big who probably shouldn’t/won’t dress for any games where all the other bigs are healthy. I much rather Amari Williams play then Tillman. If Xavier is playing meaningful minutes, the Celtics are in real trouble.
So there you have the players who are on the Celtics roster entering camp. This team is more talented than people think. They lost rotation guys from last season but the losses are not as devastating as people think. The back court has plenty of talent on it, especially on offense, and the wings, even without Tatum to start the season, have a lot of skill. The bigs are where the problem is. Even Brad Stevens said “I don’t know how the frontcourt is going to play itself out right now. I can’t predict it.” They lost all three of their rotation big men. If the Celtics can figure out a big rotation that is effective, they will be a very good team. They don’t need a lot of offence from them; they need defense and rebounding. With the losses they have, the defense is going to be the side of the ball that suffers the most. If they can’t get that from the guys they brought in, or whom were already on the end of the roster, they will have to acquire a big man during the season if they want to compete for a championship. Or even be a competitive play-off team.
One last thing to look for in the preseason and more importantly in the regular season is their pace of play. The theme for Media Day was clearly that the team wants to play faster. They want to play with more pace. Everyone from the new guys to the returning vets said that the team wants to play faster and “be the fastest team in the league”. Jordan Walsh even mentioned that Mazzulla was considering playing like a hockey team and having 2 five-man lines that played for 4 to 5 minutes at a time so that each group could play as hard as possible and then rest for five minutes. Now, that’s not going to happen (I won’t get into all the issues that would cause) but it shows how much the Celtics are looking to pick up the pace this season.
Increasing the pace and playing fast would be a great thing. For one, I am always in favor of teams playing fast. It’s how basketball should be played. It’s the been the most effective way to play ever since University of Rhode Island head coach Frank Keaney invented the fast break in the 1920s and revolutionized the game. The easiest way to score is to get a good shot before the other team can set up their defense. Especially now-a-days with the zones and team defenses that are played. If there is fear that the Celtics may struggle to score without Tatum, Jrue and Porzingis, the easiest way to help the offense is to run.
The second reason is that the team is built for it. Aside from Garza, they are a very athletic team. Even the white guys play well in the open court. Jaylen Brown has been the third best finisher on the break in the league, behind LeBron and Giannis, his whole career. This would be a great way to utilize their abilities. Plus, and there are a lot of people who are going to hate to read this, it’s easy to get a wide open three point shot when the defense is scrambling to get back and protect the rim.
Also, when you move the ball and bodies quickly in the half court offense, the defense can’t keep up and it will lead to open looks and defensive miscues. It will also wear out the other team and make it harder for them to play offense. It makes them work on defense. It puts pressure on them and makes the whole game harder for them. And if you really play fast, you can put points up in a hurry and either pull away from teams fast or make comebacks in short periods of time. It’s just a better strategy than playing a slow, plodding game.
And of course, in the NBA regular season, you can win a lot of games simply by playing harder than your opponents. The NBA season is long and no individual game really matters so guys and teams take night off and they pace themselves through the season. So, if you just play hard night in and night out, you can steal a lot of wins. Especially when teams played the night before or had a lot of travel. The problem is that doesn’t work in the playoffs when everyone plays hard every night. But it could be a great way to win games and get them a good seed for the playoffs when they should have Tatum back and the team’s skill level will be higher.
With all that said, we shall see if the Celtics actually play with more pace. They were 28th in the league in pace last season so they do not have to play all that fast to increase their ranking. I am sure pretty much every team in the league spent media day talking about playing faster. The question is will the Celtics commit to it and will they execute it in the games and for 48 minutes. This, along with the big man rotation and the play of guys like Scheierman and Walsh will be the biggest things to look for in the preseason.
Furball's Sports Page 