BOSTON— The Celtics kicked off training camp on Tuesday at the Auerbach Center with plenty of new faces in uniform after a serious roster revamp by Brad Stevens. Boston had full player participation in the two-hour session at the Auerbach Center beyond Jayson Tatum being sidelined as he continues his recovery from a torn Achilles. Here are four takeaways from the team’s opening session coming off an offseason of change.
Picking up the pace: A main point of emphasis for Boston’s new-look roster has been playing uptempo this season after ranking 30th in the league in pace in 2024-25. Without Tatum’s offense and playmaking to rely on, the Celtics are going to try to produce good offense earlier in the shot clock.
“I think you’re always looking at building the strengths of your roster,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Just take advantage of the strengths that you have. And with that, what makes the most sense and gives us the best chance to play? Playing fast, I think, is an overused term. I think it’s more of a mindset and overall approach to the way you execute, the way you move the ball, the way also you defend. So we’ll just take a look at our roster and see what gives us the best chance to put us in position to win every night, and we’ll do that.”
Boston will lean on its guards and Jaylen Brown to drive the pace but the difference is already felt with the team’s revamped frontcourt.
“You could tell right since I got here that that’s the focus this year,” Luka Garza said. “That what we want to do is get up and down and push the pace and get into actions early and be able to move the ball around and score and kind of use all sides of the floor while doing that. I think coach said today, we’re not just gonna play like that, we’re gonna practice like that. So, that was evident from the structure of the practice.”
“Think of a NASCAR pit stop where you just don’t stop moving,” Xavier Tillman added. “And it’s just like as soon as you go in, the guys are exchange, exchange and we’re out. That’s what it is. As soon as we cross half court we’re on it.”
The Celtics had the second-best offensive efficiency in the NBA last year despite their slow pace, but the easy looks won’t come as easily this time around without Tatum taking up opponents’s attention. The early hope from Mazzulla is that speed will help Boston find some more of those good looks without him.
Xavier Tillman re-emerges as frontcourt battle takes shape: The veteran big man played just 33 games last year as he battled knee issues throughout the second half of the season. However, those issues are in the rear view mirror now according to the big man. He received a stem cell injection in March and hasn’t had any swelling issues for the past six months, setting the stage for him to be a factor in the competition for center minutes with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza.
“From just a playing perspective, it was very hard,” Tillman said of last season. “Just wanting to play, wanting to contribute. But I also knew I was going through stuff myself. My knee would have days where it would just swell up into a balloon after I had one scrimmage or stuff like that. So I knew consistency-wise, I could be there to kind of support. But as far as my actual play, I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do.”
At 26, Tillman is the most accomplished big man on the Celtics roster having served as a starter for multiple seasons in Memphis before his trade to Boston in 2024. After struggling with his health last year, Tillman has come into camp 12 pounds lighter and ready to make the most of a big opportunity at center.
“I view it as me, Neemi and Luka, we have a really great opportunity to play a lot of meaningful minutes for a great ball club like this,” Tillman said. “And so for us, I guess all you can do is like I said keep preparing. Keep preparing and don’t take it for granted. When you get those minutes, go hard. You don’t have to be perfect, but you’ve gotta go hard. Take advantage of it.”
Taylor Jenkins is a surprise observer: The former Grizzlies head coach was dismissed in dramatic fashion in the closing weeks of last year’s regular season and was passed over for head coaching opportunities this offseason. Mazzulla has welcomed plenty of coaches from all sports into the Auerbach Center in the past and Jenkins was present Tuesday taking in camp, which including a reunion with one of his former players in Tillman.
“It was great to see him first and foremost,” Tillman said. “I ain’t seen him since (Desmond Bane)’s wedding two summers ago, so it was great to see him. He was just here kind of seeing how we do things around here. He told me he’s taking the year off, so just spending a lot of time with his family. But he’s taken a couple times and opportunities to come check out other teams, see how they operate, see what he can take from their game and mold into his when he gets back into it.”
Minnesota duo embracing opportunity: Garza and Josh Minott both arrived in Boston this offseason on veteran’s minimum deals after spending the majority of their time in Minnesota sitting on the bench behind a stacked rotation. Both players will have ample chances to work their way into Joe Mazzulla’s revamped rotation and are leaning on each other for support in their new home.
“We kind of we’re similar in our journeys in terms of, you know, being down in Iowa, a lot of playing in the G League together,” Garza said. “Then kind of getting some opportunity at different points and, you know, obviously without the main thing through three years is that there was a lot of lack of opportunity. We had to stay sharp, stay focused and show up every single day with a great mindset and keep working. And so, you know, we kind of went through that together, and I think we both kind of built up and prepared ourselves for this. And so that’s why, you know, I know he’s excited, and I’m the same way, just about the opportunity to, you get out on the floor, but also you do it for a franchise like this.”
The Celtics return to Auerbach Center on Wednesday for day two of training camp before a day off on Thursday.