Will the Celtics be good in the 2025–2026 season? Honestly, I’m not sure. I still think they’re absolutely a playoff team, but competing for a championship without Tatum feels like a long shot or does it? The NBA is unpredictable. Some teams are extremely bad, while others are loaded with talent. There’s not always a middle ground. So even without Tatum, I still see the Celtics finishing near the top of the league standings. But will they have enough to make a real run? That remains to be seen.
Brad Stevens has pulled off some serious magic over the years, and you can never fully count out a team he’s built. A lot of people are saying this team is done, but I don’t fully buy that. They lost Jrue Holiday, who mostly brought defense to the table. His scoring ability has faded over time, and he’s getting older. On top of that, he was set to make $32.4 million this season. That’s a huge number for a player whose best skill at this stage is defense. No doubt, he was a winner, and we probably do not win it all last year without him. I appreciate everything he brought to the team, but it was time to move on.
As for Porzingis, I remember being thrilled when we got him. We all knew injuries were a concern, but when he was on the court, he was dominant. I loved his game. But again, moving on was the right decision. In 164 regular season games since joining, he played in only 99 of them—just over 60 percent. And who could forget the endless illness he had late in the season? Letting go was necessary for the long term health of the team.
Now the question is whether Al Horford comes back for another season. That’s still up in the air. He’s put a lot of mileage on his body, and whatever he decides, he’ll always have my respect. But moving forward, this is going to be a Jayen Brown season. And maybe, just maybe, Derrick White takes another step and shows us something we have not seen yet.
Let’s see how the rest of the off-season shakes out and revisit this down the road. A Celtics team without Tatum actually intrigues me. It might finally give us a chance to see what this roster is really made of and who knows, maybe we’ll witness something special this year.
– Scott C
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