When the Celtics tip off the 2026-27 season, Mike Conley will be in rare company. He’ll be just the 14th player in NBA history to reach 20 seasons, and at 39 in October, Boston is going to have to be smart about how it uses him.
That job falls to Joe Mazzulla, who turned 38 at the end of June. The answer won’t come from one simple fix.
Some nights, it will mean trimming the workloads of Payton Pritchard and Derrick White so one can catch a quick breather while the other stays on the floor. But the cleaner solution may be Boston’s depth on the wing.
The Celtics could start with White and Pritchard together, then settle into stretches with only one primary ball handler in the backcourt. That becomes even easier if Jayson Tatum is still out there.
And if Tatum isn’t on the floor, Boston still has plenty of ways to spread the load. Paul George can still create for himself at 36, while Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Ron Harper Jr. can all help as connectors and secondary playmakers.
Walsh, in particular, has made his offensive growth a clear offseason priority. At Summer League, he talked about wanting to become more than a spot-up piece.
"I feel like there's a lot of times in the season last year where it became clutch moments where we need a bucket, and I have to get subbed out," said Walsh about the motivation for his desire to change his offensive identity. "I talked to my PD [player development] coach.
I said, 'When those moments come, I want to always be the best option. I want to be the best choice.'
So for me, it's working on my shot, working on my handle, working on creating my own shot when I have those pockets."
Walsh already gives Boston something useful as a catch-and-shoot threat, and he can create extra chances by crashing the offensive glass. If he earns more trust in the areas he mentioned, that only helps the Celtics’ rotation flexibility.
That flexibility is the whole point. Boston may open games with Pritchard and White together, but the more practical setup for most matchups is likely one of them on the floor at a time, backed by a group of wings and whoever is holding down the middle.
Conley’s workload should reflect that plan. He averaged 18.4 minutes last season, and that number may not move much, though it could dip a bit. Sixteen minutes a night would make sense at this stage.
The trend line is already there. Two seasons ago, he played 71 games and logged 24.7 minutes per night. Last year, he appeared in 54 games and saw his minutes cut by six.
Even now, he remains a steady option who protects the ball and helps Boston control possessions while limiting transition chances for opponents. The Celtics just have to keep him fresh. And in the process, they can keep giving their young wings the minutes they need to keep growing.
In Other News...
Celtics Just Passed On A Cheap Trade Chance That Will Frustrate Fans
The latest three-team shuffle around Oklahoma City, Atlanta and Dallas offered a reminder of how quickly a modest trade can become relevant in Boston. The Thunder moved Luguentz Dort and picked up three second-round picks plus a traded player exception, while Zaccharie Risacher and Ryan Nembhard were also part of the deal, leaving the Celtics to watch from the sidelines as another low-cost wing option came off the board.
Bostons decision was driven by the same roster math that has shaped so much of its recent thinking, with the club still working near the luxury-tax line and trying to keep an eye on a repeater-tax reset. The Celtics also have a crowded wing group already, with Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman and Ron Harper Jr. in the mix, which makes the choice to pass understandable on paper even if it is the kind of move that tends to frustrate fans looking for a bargain addition. [Read more 🡒]
Which Celtics Prospects Actually Helped Themselves This Summer
Summer League can be a useful filter for a front office, and the Celtics got a clearer read on a few of their young players over the past couple of weeks. Hugo Gonzalez, Chris Cenac Jr. and Dillon Mitchell were among the names who seemed to help themselves the most, while Amari Williams mostly held steady as the games went on. For a team always looking for cheap depth and developmental upside, that kind of evaluation matters as much as the box score.
John Tonje did not exactly light up the conversation, but he did enough to stay in the mix for a two-way spot next season. That is the kind of small but meaningful summer progress Boston tends to monitor closely, especially when the margins are so thin for prospects trying to turn a few good runs into a longer look. [Read more 🡒]