OFFSEASON VIBE CHECK: BOSTON CELTICS

The Boston Celtics have done the best they can do this offseason despite being massively hampered by two huge things: the new CBA/2nd apron and an Achilles tear to their best player. But, they have done some minor moves to still mitigate their losses to remain competent enough in a projected weaker Eastern Conference. Let's take a look:

ROSTER CHANGES:

Despite bringing back a very solid amount of players from last year's roster, only 4 (in my opinion) are proven commodities. Neemias Queta is 7ft and only 26 but has never played more than 14mpg in a season in his career, and is now projected to be the starting center. Jordan Walsh is going into Year 3 in the NBA, but has yet to translate to the NBA quite yet, similar to Miles Norris going into Year 2 and JD Davison in Year 4. Xavier Tillman COULD return to the form of what he once was, which was a competent backup big in the NBA. Baylor Scheierman is still finding his footing as well. Despite coming into the NBA as a projected 3-point sniper, Baylor has struggled at Summer League: he's shot 27% from the field and 21% from 3-point land. A lot of question marks and unproven players, which makes it hard to pinpoint how these guys will produce with heavier minutes and increased roles. But now let's get into the impact players returning. I truly would not be surprised if Sam Hauser averaged double-digit points and contend for the 3-point percentage title. In 42 games where he played more than 20 minutes, Hauser averaged 11 points and 43% from three. And that's playing WITH Tatum, Porzingis, Jrue, Horford, and Kornet. Payton Pritchard is the reigning 6th Man of the Year (14/4/4 averages off the bench), and although he might still be coming off the bench, he could still see a huge increase in production by just letting him run amok and have the ultimate green light when he checks in. Derrick White finds himself in an awkward situation, though. He went from the ultimate glue guy and best "complementary" player to being thrust into the 2nd best player in a very quick turnaround. DWhite just had his highest scoring year ever (16.4ppg), and if he does indeed bump it, could finally find himself making his first All-Star team. But the biggest beneficiary of this all is none other than Jaylen Brown himself. Remember when every talk show and Twitter user would raise the truly profound question of "Who's actually better: Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum?" And how the question came back when Brown took home Finals MVP over Tatum in 2024? And when Brown got left off the Olympic team after Kawhi's injury? Well, look no further, Jaylen Brown truthers. Now you'll finally get your answer to what "number 1 option" Jaylen looks like. My prediction? Probably really fucking good. There's not too much to say about Jayson Tatum's Achilles tear other than that I hope he comes back from injury looking the same, and pray for a speedy recovery. That's a near 30ppg scorer and an All-NBA 1st Team member. Truly a huge loss. Losing Jrue for who they got (will be discussed next) isn't all that bad. Horford is 39 and is legit considering retirement. Porizingis is injury-prone, and that's before taking into account his "mystery illness". Am I crazy to say that I think losing Luke Kornet and being able to see what he does with 30 minutes per game is the biggest offseason loss for the Celtics?

ADDITIONS:

The first 2 moves came as a result of the Celtics being a victim of the new CBA rules. Moving on from Porzingis seemed imminent, and despite his talent, his injuries and illnesses hampered his value, which is why they only got Georges Niang. Now, don't get me wrong. Niang remains a solid piece to have. He just averaged 10 ppg and is a career 40% 3-point shooter. If Niang was your team's like 7th to 9th man? Your team is probably pretty damn solid. But your starting power forward? Yikes. I will admit I love the Simons-Jrue trade for both teams. For the Celtics side only, Simons adds a pretty consistent 20 points per game. Which, after losing Tatum, the C's desperately need a bit of offensive firepower. What's crazier to think about is that Simons is going into his 8th season and will only be 26, too. Minott and Garza come over from the Timberwolves for a combined $10.5M as fliers. They struggled to find playing time on a deep Wolves roster, but fill new positional needs for the C's with plenty of opportunities for playing time. Minott is a 6'8 and 22-year-old wing who has all the tools to turn into a 3&D wing, yet has only played more than 20 minutes in his career TWICE. I will admit, I do love the Garza signing. A 6'10 low post scorer who averaged 24 & 10 in the G-League at the position the Celtics have the biggest need for. The biggest thing the Celtics did is sign or trade for guys that can (in theory) help them next year. The 2026 Draft seems to be legit loaded. If the Celtics flirt with the play-in or a low playoff seed, don't be surprised if they tank a little to get a great young prospect to go with Tatum coming back. If any of these new players hit, their current players still perform, get a good young guy, and bring back an All-NBA 1st Team caliber player? 2026-27 could be a solid season for the Celtics.

DRAFT PICKS:

Ok, left hand up, I don't know much about Hugo Gonzalez. This year I really focused on a lot of college players in my draft tape grind and missed a good bit of foreign players. So here's this for you guys to watch:

Amari Williams is actually a steal of a 2nd round pick for the Celtics. As a 5-year player in college, he got better and better every year. With a 7'6 wingspan and 1.6 blocks per game for his career, there's easily a chance for him to be a competent backup big despite not being the fastest or biggest jumper. The thing I like the most about Amari is that he is actually a phenomenal passer from the low post (3.2 apg this last year) which makes me give him a Isaiah Hartenstein comparison. But, also despite me appreciating his blogs, Dan Greenberg was an idiot for this tweet:

VIBE CHECK: TIER RANKING

Ok to reiterate, as we go through and do an offseason vibe check for each NBA team, I will personally be putting them into tiers. S being the best of the best and F being absolute dogshit. Just to clarify there is no ranking within the tiers so if two teams are in the same tier it's interchangable. The Celtics to me have had an extremely average offseason hence getting a "C" grade. No BIG splashes but nothing truly head-scratching or stupid either. They moved off big contracts, lost some key players, brought in average to good players, took a chance on some guys, and had a respectable draft. Obviously the Tatum injury completely shifted how they viewed this offseason versus what they would have done if he was healthy. So overall, the Celtics were plain and simple average.