Copyright MassLive
Celtics basketball is back starting Wednesday, looking like a new team with lower expectations. It’ll be the first time Jayson Tatum doesn’t play in a season opener since the 2016-17 season. It’ll also be the first time they don’t have title expectations in years. In other words: lots of firsts. But there are familiar faces from the 2024 title team. The Celtics are still led by coach Joe Mazzulla, who enters his fourth season as Boston’s top guy. Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard are also returning rotation pieces from last season. Behind them is a mix of young, hungry players looking to prove they belong in the league. The Celtics will have their weaknesses (defensive rebounding), but they’ll try to make up those margins in other ways (crashing the glass, pushing the pace). “Chaos” has been thrown around during training camp and preseason for a reason: the Celtics should look like a group of guys flying around on both ends of the court. Game 1 is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at TD Garden as the Celtics host the 76ers. Here are five bold predictions for the Celtics ahead of the 2025-26 season: Derrick White is an All-Star Last year, one of my predictions had Pritchard flirting with the Sixth Man of the Year award before he was the favorite for most of the season. This year, I’ll go with a similar vein as White makes his first All-Star game. He got some buzz a couple years ago off a hot start, but he cooled and his counting stats weren’t quite enough to get votes. But with opportunity available, I’ll say White has a career-best season across the board. White is already considered one of the elite role players in the league, so he’ll get the nod this season. Jayson Tatum returns to the court in March Specifically, Tatum returns March 18 against the Warriors at TD Garden. A marquee home game in a 2022 NBA Finals rematch, plus Al Horford is back in town. Tatum has already stated that his first game back will be at home, whenever that might be. It’s still unclear if Tatum will even play this season, though all indications point to the Celtics star progressing well with his rehab. Tatum still has a lot of rehab benchmarks he has to hit before seeing the court again, but there’s a reason for optimism. Two new faces are key rotation members by the end of the season There have been grumblings from some Celtics fans that Brad Stevens’ draft picks haven’t panned out in the past few years. (Part of that, of course, is the Celtics routinely picking at the end of the first round.) Hugo Gonzalez changes some of that narrative as he looks the part of an NBA athlete already at just 19 years old. While some wondered if he could end up with the Maine Celtics for most of the season, he impressed enough in preseason play to earn another look. I’ll say he’s a legit rotation player by the end of the season as his defense looks pro-ready already. For the other new face, I’ll say Josh Minott is a consistent member of the Celtics rotation. His mix of size and motor were on display in the preseason. Much like many young players in the league, he’ll need to make shots. In terms of setting a culture, though, there’s a lot to like about Minott. He acknowledged at media day he knows this is the one — the season where he needs to prove he can be a contributor in this league. I’ll say he ends up being just that as a potential future building block. Celtics fans will be pleasantly surprised by this season This one isn’t easy to measure like stats and also requires a lot of subjectivity. But the way I’m going to put it is: You’ll know it when you see it. With expectations lower for the Celtics, sure, they might not be in the title hunt. But there’s something to a fun team scrapping every night and worth watching. Think the Isaiah Thomas years. They weren’t the most talented Celtics teams in the past decade, and the franchise hung Banner No. 18 since then. But those underdog teams left an impression on fans. You still hear about the IT years to this day, including from new Celtics owner Bill Chisholm. So, while this prediction is a bit more nuanced, I’ll say you have a blast watching this team more often than not. A likable group of dudes. There will be lulls and losing streaks, both inevitabilities over the course of 82 games. But there’s something to be said about what could be a fun squad that just plays hard on any given night. That’s what this team is shaping up to be. Sports is also about the journey, not just the end goal. Part of why the 2024 title felt so good was because of all the heartbreak from the past few seasons. So, when the Jays are back to full strength with a competitive roster around them, making another title push, the 2025-26 season is just another step along the way. Enjoy it while you can. Season prediction Most sports betting books have the Celtics’ over/under around the 41.5-win total. I predict that the Celtics hit the over with a 43-39 record, pending their main guys stay healthy all season. In a weaker East, that’ll be good enough for the No. 7 spot in the standings, meaning they end up in the play-in tournament for the first time in five years. The Celtics will be similar to the 2021-22 Nets, who no team wanted to face in the first round (before Boston swept them in four close games). If Tatum is back, then all bets are off when it comes to the playoffs.
