Dealing with the music was the theme this previous offseason for the Celtics. The group wasn’t ready to maintain the forged of its 2024 championship collectively, so President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens commissioned an entire roster demolition.
It was a considerably totally different strategy from the one Stevens took two offseasons in the past after then-majority proprietor Wyc Grousbeck directed the entrance workplace head honcho to do something to get Boston excessive. Stevens had no drawback garnering flowers at his doorstep when taking dwelling the NBA’s Govt of the 12 months award months after uniting Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Vacation alongside Tatum and Jaylen Brown to create a direct title contender. And though this time the group has accepted its destiny created by monetary limitations, Stevens isn’t being perceived all that otherwise this go-around by his fellow colleagues.
Within the newest 2025-26 NBA GM Survey which was launched Thursday, the Celtics acquired 3% of votes from executives throughout the league for one of the best total strikes made this offseason. That positioned Boston in fifth place behind the Hawks (53%), Rockets (27%), Nuggets (10%), and Magic (7%) after Stevens offloaded Porzingis and Vacation’s contracts to scale back the group’s payroll from $540 million to $280 million.
The monetary burden of sustaining a stacked lineup shortly caught as much as Boston, leaving Stevens with little room to maneuver. The target was to alleviate the monetary stress weighing on the group’s shoulders as possession undergoes its transition from Grousbeck to Invoice Chisholm, all whereas Tatum — the franchise famous person — works to return from his ruptured Achilles tendon damage. Within the eyes of basic managers in positions like Stevens, easing that payroll burden in itself is a victory value recognizing, whatever the depleted hype surrounding the new-look group and its probabilities of competing for a title.
Final week, the Warriors signed Al Horford to a two-year contract to formally carry the long run Corridor of Famer’s second run in Boston to an finish. Horford was the de facto locker room captain, revered by all throughout the group, and additional highlighted the dropoff in expertise and depth the Celtics are assigned in working with heading into their most difficult (and fascinating) season underneath the Tatum-Brown period.
Nonetheless, even with a depth chart consisting of a slew of inexperienced newcomers with a lot to show, the Celtics themselves aren’t able to throw within the towel and look forward to 2026-27. From Mazzulla’s viewpoint, the expectations haven’t shifted a lot from these in place a yr in the past.
“Taking part in Celtic basketball, taking part in linked basketball and having an understanding of the place we wish to be nice defensively and offensively,” Mazzulla stated throughout Monday’s follow. “And having an understanding of what these particulars are. How can we be a well-balanced group on each ends of the ground? How can now we have an understanding of what offers us an opportunity to win each single evening, and the way can we attempt to execute that? However I feel the gamers do an excellent job of getting an understanding of what that’s and setting that tone by how they play.”
Profiting from an uncomfortable scenario isn’t international to the Celtics, particularly to not Brown. However that doesn’t make the mission of holding Boston’s prepare from derailing any much less difficult with new faces, together with a number of rookies, working to seek out their footing in a Celtics uniform this preseason, and as soon as Opening Evening arrives in lower than two weeks.
