Celtics 2025-26 Regular Season Discussion

[Vermont Green]

Now that the preseason is over (at least in terms of games), I thought it would be good to start a discussion dedicated to this regular season for predictions, analysis, complaints, whatever.

The starters in this last preseason game (Pritchard, White, Brown, Boucher, Queta) looked surprisingly good against TOR starters for about a quarter.  That bodes well for the season.  But my expectations are low.  I see this as a developmental year.  More of a tryout for 2026-27 than an effort to win in 2025-26.

I am under impressed with Simons so far, but also have not given up on him.  He will be interesting to watch.  Boucher, Minott, and Garza as well will be interesting to see what these guys can do and if they can actually help the 2026-27 team.

For returning guys, Tillman looks ready to be an actual useful player again.  I hope he holds up.  How much Queta can develop will also be interesting to watch.  I have felt he was pretty close to his ceiling but you never know.

I view Amari Williams and Hugo Gonzalez as prospects.  I think both have promise, but both are going to need some time.  In my mind, their horizon extends beyond the just what they can do for 2026-27.  Scheierman and Walsh are prospect also, but both pretty close to their horizon.  They need to show something pretty much now if they are going to make it.

Then there is the returning core players, Brown, White, Pritchard, Hauser.  It is a bit of a downer that this is really all we have left to show for last season's core, with Tatum injured  I expect all of these players to be good, possibly career high box score production for all of them, but not good enough to result in a whole lot of winning.

[slamtheking]

predictions for the 25-26 season:
- White, Brown, PP and Hauser set career highs for scoring
- White, Brown and PP set career highs for rebounding
- C's lose every game that one of White, Brown or PP miss due to injury or workload
- Q builds on his last pregame performance to look like a solid back-up quality center
- Boucher and Minott show they're worth keeping for the 26-27 season.
- Hauser has a more consistent year with his shot and further improves his D.
- Simons takes at least a month to make real contributions on the court and is dealt for less than we hope for at the trade deadline.
- Walsh and Baylor continue to underwhelm and are likely used as trade chips at the deadline with Simons or in the offseason.
- Garza and Tillman have flashes of decent play but not nearly enough to help the team do much.  Tillman's likely last season in green unless they have no other options for signing big men and they bring him back because they have no choice
- Hugo shows flashes of talent in the few games he gets to play.  Leapfrogs Walsh and Baylor in the depth chart by the end of the season (or after the trade deadline if one or both are shipped out).

[Redz]

predictions for the 25-26 season:
- White, Brown, PP and Hauser set career highs for scoring
- White, Brown and PP set career highs for rebounding
- C's lose every game that one of White, Brown or PP miss due to injury or workload
- Q builds on his last pregame performance to look like a solid back-up quality center
- Boucher and Minott show they're worth keeping for the 26-27 season.
- Hauser has a more consistent year with his shot and further improves his D.
- Simons takes at least a month to make real contributions on the court and is dealt for less than we hope for at the trade deadline.
- Walsh and Baylor continue to underwhelm and are likely used as trade chips at the deadline with Simons or in the offseason.
- Garza and Tillman have flashes of decent play but not nearly enough to help the team do much.  Tillman's likely last season in green unless they have no other options for signing big men and they bring him back because they have no choice
- Hugo shows flashes of talent in the few games he gets to play.  Leapfrogs Walsh and Baylor in the depth chart by the end of the season (or after the trade deadline if one or both are shipped out).

I don't feel like Hauser ever really recovered from the back issues last year.  He is definitely capable of much more consistent input and flashes of big scoring nights.  I do hope he can show some growth in the areas you mentioned, but he may be at the limit of his physical capacity in those areas.  We shall see.

[slamtheking]

predictions for the 25-26 season:
- White, Brown, PP and Hauser set career highs for scoring
- White, Brown and PP set career highs for rebounding
- C's lose every game that one of White, Brown or PP miss due to injury or workload
- Q builds on his last pregame performance to look like a solid back-up quality center
- Boucher and Minott show they're worth keeping for the 26-27 season.
- Hauser has a more consistent year with his shot and further improves his D.
- Simons takes at least a month to make real contributions on the court and is dealt for less than we hope for at the trade deadline.
- Walsh and Baylor continue to underwhelm and are likely used as trade chips at the deadline with Simons or in the offseason.
- Garza and Tillman have flashes of decent play but not nearly enough to help the team do much.  Tillman's likely last season in green unless they have no other options for signing big men and they bring him back because they have no choice
- Hugo shows flashes of talent in the few games he gets to play.  Leapfrogs Walsh and Baylor in the depth chart by the end of the season (or after the trade deadline if one or both are shipped out).

I don't feel like Hauser ever really recovered from the back issues last year.  He is definitely capable of much more consistent input and flashes of big scoring nights.  I do hope he can show some growth in the areas you mentioned, but he may be at the limit of his physical capacity in those areas.  We shall see.

I think he had health issues last year that weren't serious enough to cause him to miss games but were enough to impact his shooting and his defense.  I think this year he'll be over those issues and improve in those areas

[Vermont Green]

Coming out of the preseason, BOS was pretty bad at 2 key stats, Opponent points off turnovers (29th) and opponent second chance points (25th).  Combined, they were giving up 44 points per game turnovers and second chance combined.  BOS was -8 net for these stats combined.  I guess all teams were sloppy to some degree, but BOS needs to clean this up.  No way they are winning many games if they lose this stat by 8 every night.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Coming out of the preseason, BOS was pretty bad at 2 key stats, Opponent points off turnovers (29th) and opponent second chance points (25th).  Combined, they were giving up 44 points per game turnovers and second chance combined.  BOS was -8 net for these stats combined.  I guess all teams were sloppy to some degree, but BOS needs to clean this up.  No way they are winning many games if they lose this stat by 8 every night.

And second-chance points allowed was a bit of a weakness last year?when they had Tatum, Porzingis, and Horford?so I can't imagine that improving this season.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Regular-season success requires top-end talent and good depth, but Boston's depth is pretty shallow, IMO, and I think that will be a big problem. Unless Brown, White, and Pritchard are going to play close to 40 minutes a game, which might be bad for the team's long-term outlook.

I'm sure there will be a pleasant surprise or two?statistically, there has to be?but I think this team will fare about as well as those late-'90s Rick Pitino teams that had Pierce, Walker, and not much else. I think this squad will get slaughtered on the boards and on the interior, and I think there could be a big dropoff in 3pt effectiveness with Tatum out and Horford and Zinger gone.

[Redz]

Sidebar random thought:  It's really nice to see the Latest Discussions board loaded with almost all Hoops threads (and one NFL).  I love that there is genuine enthusiasm and intrigue to see what this team can do.

[hwangjini_1]

Sidebar random thought:  It's really nice to see the Latest Discussions board loaded with almost all Hoops threads (and one NFL).  I love that there is genuine enthusiasm and intrigue to see what this team can do.

agreed. heck, if you can't be excited and happy for the celtics in pre-season AND on a site called "celticsstrong" then you may not be a committed fan.

[Phantom255x]

How are the Celtics 3 point favorites next Wednesday?

[Silas]

How are the Celtics 3 point favorites next Wednesday?

Home game against a team with worst betting odds to win it all.
Boston +3000
Philly +3500
Oke City +205

[Phantom255x]

How are the Celtics 3 point favorites next Wednesday?

Home game against a team with worst betting odds to win it all.
Boston +3000
Philly +3500
Oke City +205

That's wild. I thought Philly would be favored over the C's this season, unless they are already projecting Embiid to get hurt 

[Vermont Green]

Sidebar random thought:  It's really nice to see the Latest Discussions board loaded with almost all Hoops threads (and one NFL).  I love that there is genuine enthusiasm and intrigue to see what this team can do.

Agree and why I started this thread and a few others.  This season will not be pretty at times, maybe even a lot of times, but I can't wait for the season to start.

[Vermont Green]

Observations so far.

Brown is showing he can be the guy on a decent team.  Still too many turnovers but otherwise, he is doing pretty much everything you could expect.  I think he will get better still as the whole team has more time to play together as a unit.

Hauser and Pritchard are off to slow starts.  Both are better suited for bench roles, but I see the need to start Pritchard.  I see them settling into their roles just fine.  It is harder for everyone without Tatum's gravity on the court.

Derrick White is having trouble adjusting.  I am having flashbacks to when we first traded for him and it was very clear that it took him time to adjust.  I think this is happening again.  I think he will figure it out.  He is a good player, but best when he can be the complementary player, not one of the go to players.

Simons has been fine.  A useful bench player.  I am not sure he has bought in entirely.  He is still kind of spooked from being traded.  Not sure where he goes from here.

Glad to see Tillman useful again.  Queta has been fine, but he is a bench big, not a starter.  Garza has been fine for a min contract bench big.  Who doesn't like Minott so far, but he will continue with unsteady development I suspect.  He is somewhere in between a young prospect and an actual established NBA player.  Boucher is an established NBA player but they are not using him much lately.

As to the prospects, gotta love Hugo, but not seeing much from Walsh or Scheierman.

[Silas]

Defense wins games and the Celtics are playing very good defense.  Look at Q, Hugo, and Josh

Picked this up off the Celtics Sub on Reddit:

Opponent FG%:
League rankings (Min 100 Attempts):
    Dru Smith (MIA) 36.1%
    Jaqueze Jr (MIA) 36.4%
    Queta (BOS) 37.3%
    Jaylin Willians (OKC) 37.4%
    Hugo Gonzalez (BOS) 37.9%
    Josh Minott (BOS) 38%
    Wembanyama (SAS) 38.3%
    Nikola Joivc (MIA) 39.1%
    Simone (MIA) 39.6%
    Post (GSW) 40%