“I never put a ceiling on any team.”
Brad Stevens and the Celtics are facing a tough season in 2025-26. .John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe
It’s been a painful couple of months for the Boston Celtics.
Once tabbed as perennial contenders after winning their 18th championship in June 2024, Boston is now staring at a sobering bridge season in 2025-26 amid critical injuries and cap-related roster turnover.
It felt like a given that Brad Stevens and the Celtics were going to have to subtract from this roster amid looming luxury-tax penalties, with Boston ultimately trading away two lineup regulars in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday
Boston’s continued cap crunch also led to Luke Kornet signing with the Spurs in free agency, while Stevens added that veteran Al Horford will also likely not return for 2025-26.
But, the most daunting hurdle facing Boston next season is the loss of superstar Jayson Tatum, who could miss the entire year after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon during the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Knicks.
Even with players like Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard still on the roster, Boston’s diminished roster could be looking at a lost season in 2025-26.
As such, NBA.com writer John Schuhmann projected the Celtics to finish 12th in the Eastern Conference — ahead of only the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Brooklyn Nets.
“What talent remains in Boston is all on the perimeter,” Schuhmann wrote. “As things stand, their bigs are Neemias Queta, Luka Garza and Xavier Tillman, with Niang probably set to play a lot of minutes at the four. That group is going to struggle matching up with the frontlines of the top six teams in these rankings.
“The Celtics could set another record for 3-point rate, creating high variance from game to game and quarter to quarter. But the quality of those looks will certainly go down without Jayson Tatum’s creation and with opposing defenses able to help off of pieces of the rotation more than they could in years past.”
If the Celtics are looking to retool on the fly and extend their contention window, a tough 2025-26 campaign could allow Boston to add a top-10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft — adding a blue-chip talent to a team that should have a healthy Tatum back in the fold the following year.
But speaking in July, Stevens stressed that he isn’t lowering his expectations for Boston next season in what should still be a wide-open Eastern Conference.
“I never put a ceiling on any team,” Brad Stevens said in July. “We were fortunate to have a number of teams there as we led up to this kind of window that were really fun, and that I thought never really cared about ceilings and had a chip on their shoulders. I expected this team will, too.
“The last time that Jaylen Brown was on a team that was doubted was a long time ago. The last time that Payton Pritchard’s been on a team that was doubted — he probably hasn’t been. I mean, you go down the list, Derrick White and all these guys. I’m excited to see what this team has in store. I know Joe’s excited.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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