Brian Windhorst isn’t buying the idea that the Celtics are about to fade away.
On the latest Hoop Collective Podcast, the ESPN voice said Boston could shock people this season and finish with a top-5 record in the NBA. His read on the team starts with the way Joe Mazzulla and the locker room are wired.
“I just think Joe Mazzulla is going to be obsessed and the team is going to be obsessed with proving everybody wrong.”
That kind of edge is exactly why Boston remains such a tricky team to dismiss. Mazzulla has already spent the summer sitting with the pain of the brutal playoff loss and the blown 3-1 lead, while the outside noise has only gotten louder after the Jaylen Brown trade sent people piling on the Celtics.
Windhorst’s point lines up with what Boston showed last season, when the team was dismissed after Jayson Tatum’s injury and the departures of Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and others. Instead of collapsing, the Celtics still won 56 games under Mazzulla.
This year, the motivation looks even sharper. Mazzulla, Brad Stevens, Tatum, and the rest of the group have spent months hearing the league laugh at them and question the move that supposedly wrecked their championship window. That kind of constant doubt can turn into fuel fast.
There’s also a basketball case for Boston being better than the panic suggests. Tatum and the roster are fully healthy, the Celtics have added players who fit the system, and the young guys who flashed last season now have a full year of experience and an offseason behind them.
So while plenty of people are bracing for a step back, Windhorst sees a team that could be a lot more dangerous than expected. A title push is still a different question, but the idea that Boston is headed for a slide? That may not age well.
In Other News...
Jaylen Brown Trade Debate Just Took On New Meaning For Celtics Fans
The Pistons standoff with Jalen Duren is the kind of offseason mess Celtics fans know all too well, because it brings back the logic behind Bostons decision to move on from Jaylen Brown before he ever reached extension eligibility. Boston was not just thinking about talent in a vacuum. The front office was looking at the larger picture, where a young players next contract can change the direction of a roster and force hard choices about the rest of the payroll.
For Celtics followers, the comparison lands because it goes beyond a simple talent-for-talent debate. Brown was good enough to raise the stakes, but the teams move was also about avoiding the kind of internal conflict and cap squeeze that can linger for years. With Duren now in the middle of his own negotiation fight, the old Brown debate suddenly feels less like hindsight and more like a reminder of how quickly a promising core can turn into a financial decision. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Could Face A Fast Paul George Reckoning In Boston
The Celtics offseason gamble on Paul George has already put Boston in an awkward place, because the move was never just about talent. Swapping Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for George and draft picks was always going to invite immediate scrutiny, especially with Georges health history hanging over the deal and every cold stretch or missed game in Boston carrying extra weight.
Now the conversation has moved a step further, with one speculative idea floating around that would send George to Brooklyn for Julius Randle and Terance Mann if things go south quickly. It is the kind of contingency talk that underscores how fragile this setup can be for the Celtics: if George does not hold up or produce, Boston could be forced into an early rethink of a trade that was supposed to reshape the roster, not reopen it. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Walsh Is Forcing A Tough Celtics Rotation Question
Jordan Walsh spent much of last season in a limited role, but he still found ways to stand out on the defensive end. BBall Index ranked him among the NBAs top-5 point-of-attack defenders, a notable mark for a player who played fewer than 18 minutes per game and was often asked to handle the toughest perimeter assignments. Even in the playoffs, he drew difficult matchups and showed why Boston kept leaning on his energy and length when the game demanded it.
The real question now is whether Walsh can turn that defensive trust into a larger place in the Celtics rotation. Boston already knows what it has when hes locked in on that end, and the next step is making sure his offense gives the staff enough reason to keep him on the floor more often. If that development comes, Walsh could move from a matchup piece to a much more regular part of the picture. [Read more 🡒]