{"id":248707,"date":"2025-09-23T10:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/248707\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:41:10","slug":"what-can-new-look-celtics-expect-from-five-offseason-additions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/248707\/","title":{"rendered":"What can new-look Celtics expect from five offseason additions?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025-26 Celtics will assemble for their first official practice next Monday, marking the end of a transformative offseason for the franchise.<\/p>\n

Boston lost five rotation players from last season\u2019s squad \u2013 including leading man Jayson Tatum, who will miss at least a large portion of the upcoming campaign while he recovers from Achilles surgery \u2013 and added five newcomers to their 15-man roster.<\/p>\n

As the start of training camp approaches, here\u2019s a look at what the Celtics can expect from each of those five new additions:<\/p>\n

Anfernee Simons<\/p>\n

The Celtics\u2019 first offseason acquisition should be their most impactful.<\/p>\n

Simons, a 6-foot-3 guard acquired from Portland in the Jrue Holiday trade, is the only Boston newcomer who\u2019s been a full-time starter at the NBA level. The 26-year-old started every game he appeared in over the last three seasons and became the Trail Blazers\u2019 top offensive threat following Damian Lillard\u2019s departure in 2023.<\/p>\n

Over those three seasons, Simons was one of just 10 players to average more than 20 points (20.7) and eight 3-point attempts (8.8) per game. The other nine (Tatum, Lillard, Stephen Curry, LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Anthony Edwards and Lauri Markkanen) all have made at least one All-Star team.<\/p>\n

Simons can score with the best of them, and his prowess from beyond the arc should make him a good fit for head coach Joe Mazzulla\u2019s offensive philosophy. The question is whether he can perform to Mazzulla\u2019s standards on the defensive end, where he\u2019s struggled throughout his career.<\/p>\n

Also unclear entering camp is whether Mazzulla plans to plug Simons into Holiday\u2019s spot, or promote reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard to the starting lineup and bring Simons off the bench. Either way, the Celtics will rely on Simons \u2013 who stuck around through several months of additional trade rumors \u2013 to fill part of the offensive void created by Tatum\u2019s injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Luka Garza<\/p>\n

One of the main factors that drew Garza to Boston was opportunity \u2014 something he never had in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

A former national collegiate player of the year at Iowa, the 26-year-old big man was buried on the depth chart behind players like Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid during his three seasons with the Timberwolves. He never ranked higher than 13th on the Wolves\u2019 roster in minutes played, and he has yet to see the floor in the NBA playoffs outside of garbage time.<\/p>\n

But while Garza\u2019s former team always was well-stocked in the frontcourt, the Celtics\u2019 stable of bigs might be the weakest in the league following the departures of Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet. Neemias Queta is the favorite to start at center, but there should be plenty of chances for Garza to contribute.<\/p>\n

Like Simons, the 6-foot-10 Garza has been a one-dimensional player at the NBA level. He posted encouraging offensive numbers in his limited action for Minnesota (25.8 points and 5.1 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes over the last three seasons) but was a liability at the defensive end. He posted the worst defensive rebounding rate of any NBA big last season, per Cleaning The Glass, and has blocked just 12 shots in his career.<\/p>\n

Opponents made 69.4% of their field-goal attempts against Garza from inside six feet in 2024-25, according to NBA player tracking, one of the highest marks of any center. Porzingis, Horford, Kornet and Queta all were below 60%.<\/p>\n

Garza said he\u2019s put \u201chuge dedication\u201d into improving his defense. Offensively, he believes he can help replace Porzingis and Horford\u2019s perimeter shooting<\/a>, though he\u2019ll need to shoot better than his career 31.4% mark from deep to follow through on that prediction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I can shoot the ball,\u201d he said last month. \u201cEspecially the big position, I can shoot it with the best of them. I know that, I have a lot of confidence in that, and I think with the right opportunity and the ability to get out there and let it fly, I\u2019m going to show that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MinnesotaMinnesota Timberwolves forward Josh Minott dunks the ball during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo\/Charlie Neibergall)
\nJosh Minott<\/p>\n

The Celtics added not one, but two Timberwolves castoffs this summer. Minott also was a deep reserve during his three years in Minnesota, logging 276 total minutes last season to Garza\u2019s 219.<\/p>\n

Nicknamed \u201cThe Lawn Mower\u201d for his high motor, Minott will look to make an impact as a dirty-work energizer off the bench. The 6-foot-8 forward has averaged 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes in his career.<\/p>\n

Offensively, Minott is a 33.9% career 3-point shooter. Ninety percent of his field-goal attempts last season were either at the rim or from 3-point range, per Basketball-Reference.<\/p>\n

Chris Boucher<\/p>\n

A month after their initial round of offseason moves, the Celtics essentially swapped out Georges Niang (acquired from Atlanta in the Porzingis trade) for Boucher, who signed after the team flipped Niang to Utah.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old Boucher was a mainstay in Toronto for the last seven seasons, appearing in more than 400 games for the Raptors. A skilled shot-blocker at 6-foot-9, Boucher also is coming off one of the best offensive seasons. His 21.0 points per 36 minutes were a career high, and his 36.3% shooting percentage from three (on 3.9 attempts per game) was his best mark since 2020-21, when he finished eighth in Sixth Man of the Year voting.<\/p>\n

Boucher hasn\u2019t started a game since 2022, but it wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see him do so for Boston, lending his experience and versatility to the Celtics\u2019 overhauled frontcourt. It will be interesting to see whether Mazzulla favors him or returning reserve Sam Hauser for the starting power forward spot. A double-big lineup with Boucher would be the stronger defensive unit with more size; going with Hauser would provide more shooting and spacing.<\/p>\n

The Celtics\u2019 starting five also could be more amorphous and matchup-dependent this season as Mazzulla experiments with different combinations.<\/p>\n

Hugo Gonzalez<\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s top 2025 draft pick is facing a steep learning curve as he makes the jump from Real Madrid to the NBA as a 19-year-old rookie. It will take Gonzalez some time to adjust to the American game and earn Mazzulla\u2019s trust, but he should have more opportunities for minutes than prior Celtics draftees since he\u2019s not joining a star-laden, championship-contending roster.<\/p>\n

What do the Celtics want to see from the 6-foot-6 wing in those minutes? Cutting, offensive rebounding, pace, tenacity. Gonzalez\u2019s offensive game is still developing (he shot just 30.2% from the field and 30.4% from three in his first NBA Summer League), but if he can be a nuisance defensively and play with energy at both ends, he can be an asset off the bench.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s far too early to pencil Gonzalez into a rotation role, however. Odds are he\u2019ll need to spend at least part of his rookie year in the G League, where he can hone his craft alongside the three Celtics rookies on two-way contracts (big man Amari Williams, point guard Max Shulga and wing RJ Luis Jr.).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025-26 Celtics will assemble for their first official practice next Monday, marking the end of a transformative…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":248708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[35027,3125,18165,82418,132002,57173,40482,107466,107467,1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-248707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-anfernee-simons","tag-boston-celtics","tag-celtics","tag-celtics-roster","tag-celtics-training-camp","tag-chris-boucher","tag-hugo-gonzalez","tag-josh-minott","tag-luka-garza","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115253194835231572","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}