Even with Jaylen Brown gone, the Boston Celtics still project as one of the East’s best regular-season teams. The roster looks different now, but the logic behind the optimism hasn’t changed: Boston still has the star power, the shooting, and enough defensive muscle to stay near the top of the conference.
The biggest shift is how clearly the team is built around Jayson Tatum. Boston has moved into a one-star setup, and that construction fits Joe Mazzulla’s system even better.
The Celtics are not trying to be a carbon copy of last year’s group. They’re trying to be more intentional about what they do well.
Mitchell Robinson is a major part of that. After coming over from the New York Knicks, he gives Boston a real edge on the glass and helps tilt possession battles in a way that should matter over 82 games.
That was already a strength for the Celtics in the season when they won 56 games and beat outside expectations. Robinson’s offensive rebounding and bruising screens should only make their spacing game more dangerous, because the Celtics will be able to launch even more 3s.
There will be nights when the shot doesn’t fall, but the approach is still built to win more often than it loses.
Paul George is another important piece, even if he has to prove himself in the closing lineup. He is a stronger shooter than the homegrown player he replaces, and last season he hit 41.7 percent of his 4.5 catch-and-shoot 3s, per NBA Stats. That kind of efficiency matters in a lineup built to punish defenses for helping off the wrong man.
Boston’s defense should stay elite as well. The Celtics ranked fourth in defensive rating last season and allowed the fewest points per game in the regular season.
This version of the team should remain in the top five in both categories. Hugo Gonzalez is one of the wings they expect to get more from on that end, and Robinson plus Neemias Queta gives them rim protection throughout the game.
George also showed in the playoffs what he can do as a perimeter defender when healthy, which only strengthens the case that this group can be even tougher to score on.
Health is the one real cloud. That concern stretches beyond George and Robinson.
Tatum is entering his first full season since tearing his Achilles, and Derrick White is 32 while carrying a heavy workload. Still, the Celtics have enough depth to handle the grind of the 82-game schedule and keep the high-effort style that helped them finish second in the East last season.
So where does that leave Boston? Third in the East.
The Knicks are the reigning champions, and most of that title team is still together. Even if they ease through the regular season while conserving energy for another run, they have the talent and identity to claim the conference’s top seed.
This projection also has Philadelphia finishing second. A starting five of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Brown, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid could be the best first unit in the league. The Sixers can keep at least two of those players on the floor at all times, and they understand this may be a short championship window, which should push them toward the sacrifices needed to maximize it.
Maxey put that mindset plainly when talking about sharing the floor with LeBron and Jaylen Brown: “At the end of the day I want to win, you know what I mean? And I have played with a lot of different people and a lot of different groups. So at the end of the day I am going to have to change some of the things…”
There are obvious durability concerns with James and Embiid, and the lack of quality depth behind Embiid could become a problem. The starting group also may not be strong enough shooting the ball in late-game moments. But players like Anfernee Simons and Dean Wade should help from deep and can take some of the burden off the starters before the closing stretch.
That leaves Boston behind New York and Philadelphia, but still ahead of a group that includes the Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, and Toronto Raptors. In this view, the Celtics still have enough to secure a top-three seed in the East.
In Other News...
Celtics Just Gained New Flexibility With Paul Georges Massive Contract
The Celtics summer reshaped itself around Paul George from the moment they landed him from Philadelphia in July, but the structure of that move came with an important catch. Under NBA CBA rules, Boston could not initially aggregate Georges salary with other contracts in a trade, which limited how much maneuvering room the front office had while exploring the rest of the market.
That restriction is set to expire on Sept. 6, giving the Celtics more flexibility if they choose to use Georges contract as part of a larger deal. There is no confirmed indication Boston is looking to move him, and president Brad Stevens has spoken positively about Georges fit, but the added option matters for a team that likes keeping pathways open as the season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Jaylen Browns Boston Goodbye Just Made His Next Chapter Feel Bigger
After 10 years with the Celtics, Jaylen Brown got a proper Boston sendoff, one fitting for a player who became far more than just a star on the court. The farewell event included recognition from the city and state, with a street now bearing his name, a rare gesture that underscored how deeply he was woven into the franchises modern run and the citys basketball identity.
Browns next stop, though, puts him into a very different kind of spotlight. In Philadelphia, he is set to join a core that includes LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey as the 76ers chase an NBA title, and the move brings with it a fresh set of expectations, role questions and adjustment points. For a player who spent a decade in one place, the biggest change may not be the uniform so much as the fit, and how quickly he settles into a contender built to win now. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Face One Immediate Mitchell Robinson Question
Mitchell Robinson is already giving the Celtics an interesting roster puzzle before he even logs a regular-season minute. Boston brought him in on a three-year, $47.3 million deal, banking on the kind of rim protection and rebounding that can change a game without requiring much of the ball. The fit makes sense on paper, especially for a team built to defend deep into the spring, but Robinson also arrives with the same offensive and free-throw limitations that have always shaped how he is used.
So the immediate question for Joe Mazzulla is not whether Robinson matters, but how much the Celtics should ask of him night to night. The idea is to keep him in a role that preserves his legs and keeps his impact high, even if that means bringing him off the bench and trimming his minutes in the interest of the playoffs. It is the kind of usage plan that worked elsewhere, and it leaves Boston with a clear balancing act: maximize Robinsons value now without wearing him down later. [Read more 🡒]