Tyrese Haliburton is already looking at the East like nobody’s got a firm grip on it, and he’s putting the Celtics right in the middle of the conversation.
The Pacers guard, who missed all of last season while recovering from an achilles tear he suffered in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, said Boston is one of several teams that could realistically make a title push this year. His list was a long one: “Philly could do it, Boston could do it, New York could do it, we could do it, Miami could do it, the Pistons could do it. There’s many teams that have that opportunity to become champs" (via Legion Hoops).
That’s notable coming from a player the Celtics have already handled on the biggest stage. Boston knocked off Indiana in the 2024 playoffs, then swept the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals in a 4-0 series that was far more competitive than the final result made it look.
Haliburton’s point is simple: the East feels open. He even included the Pacers in the mix, and the broader picture backs that up. The conference is tighter than it’s been in recent years, and no one looks positioned to storm away from the pack.
That uncertainty matters for Boston, too. The Celtics and several other teams are heading into the season with brand new rotations after busy offseasons, which only adds to the unpredictability. Just two seasons removed from lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy in TD Garden for their 18th championship in franchise history, Boston is once again among the teams being talked about as a real contender.
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 🡒]