The Boston Celtics may have a shot at something they badly want next season: a crack at the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs.
ESPN’s prediction has Boston finishing 48-34, which would land the Celtics in fifth place in the East. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is projected to go 50-32 and take the No. 4 seed. If that plays out, the two teams would meet in the first round.
That would set up an especially charged matchup for Boston. The Celtics were knocked out by the 76ers in this past season’s playoffs after blowing a 3-1 lead in seven games.
The potential rematch carries even more bite because Boston traded Jaylen Brown to Philly for Paul George, two firsts, and two seconds. The 76ers then signed LeBron James, one of the Celtics’ biggest rivals.
Given how the offseason unfolded, it’s no surprise the Celtics are being viewed cautiously. George is not Brown, but Boston still has a roster that can be dangerous. The team is deeper than it was a year ago, and the young players have already banked valuable experience from being forced into bigger roles last season.
That’s part of why a first-round series against Philadelphia would mean so much. Last year’s playoff exit was a major letdown, and a chance to answer it immediately would give Boston plenty of fuel. If the 76ers are truly in the contender conversation, knocking them out would make the payoff even bigger.
Still, Boston can’t let revenge take over the season. The Celtics can absolutely use last year’s ending as motivation, but making it the whole point would be a mistake.
Revenge can sharpen a team, but it can also narrow its focus in all the wrong ways. The lesson for Boston is simple: carry the chip, not the obsession.
In Other News...
Former Celtic Weighs In On What Really Drove Jaylen Brown Trade
Nikola Vucevics brief stop in Boston gave him a front-row seat to a Celtics team still trying to sort out its long-term shape, and he said in a recent interview that he never got the sense there were player conflicts driving anything behind the scenes. Even so, he admitted he was surprised when Jaylen Brown was moved after nearly a decade alongside Jayson Tatum, a pairing that defined the franchises modern era and made Bostons roster decisions easy to track but hard to solve.
Vucevic pointed instead to the bigger structural problem the Celtics were facing: building around two max-level stars while working within the leagues salary rules. Brown was eventually dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and draft picks, a transaction that underscored how expensive it had become to keep the core intact. For Boston, the trade was less about one isolated issue than the reality of trying to keep a contender together in a cap system that leaves very little room for error. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Simmons Just Shifted The Celtics' Paul George Debate
Bill Simmons spent the early part of the summer sounding skeptical about the Celtics gamble on Paul George, a reaction that fit the way plenty of fans looked at a deal built around a veteran wing with an injury history and a recent dip in production. Bostons decision to send Jaylen Brown and multiple future draft picks to Philadelphia for a 36-year-old small forward was always going to be judged through the lens of risk, age and whether the roster was giving up too much certainty for a name with a big reputation.
But on his podcast, Simmons said he has now talked himself into supporting the trade, a notable shift for one of the franchises most recognizable voices. It does not end the debate in Boston so much as change its shape, because the Celtics still have to prove that betting on George is worth the cost of Brown and all those future assets, and that is the part of the conversation that will linger well past the initial reaction. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Face One Roster Puzzle That Could Decide Their Ceiling
Boston enters the 2026-27 season with a reshaped roster and the familiar expectation that it should still be in the mix near the top of the East. The Celtics are projected to land somewhere in the No. 3-5 range, with the Knicks and 76ers looming as the kind of competition that can quickly expose any soft spots. Joe Mazzulla is expected to spend the early part of the season testing different lineups and rotation patterns, trying to keep the group both flexible and locked into the winning standard that has defined the franchise for years.
Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White and Paul George are all set to carry major responsibilities, but the bigger question is how the pieces fit when the games start piling up. Bostons ceiling may come down to whether Mazzulla can settle the right combinations early enough to build rhythm without sacrificing the defensive identity and shot-making that keep this team dangerous. In a conference with little margin for error, the answer could shape whether the Celtics are merely solid or something more threatening by spring. [Read more 🡒]