Some final thoughts on Celtics season 2025-26

[tenn_smoothie]

Brown's accomplishments and milestones in the regular season means nothing when they/he folded ridiculously in the playoffs. 2022 Finals and 2023 ECF Game 7, and now this first-round series with the 76ers. I haven't even gotten to those 2017-2020 days yet. He's been in the league for 10 years and he still has tunnel vision and bad handles?

Joke Mazzulla can kick rocks; don't want him anywhere near Boston. Start interviewing new coaches. I heard Tom Thibs is available. Mike Budenholzer, or even JVG...he is a voice we need and demands accountability.

Brad also may need to be put on a short leash; guy has been here for 12 years and there's been a lot of playoff failures under his time both as a head coach and GM.

Really good points.

Most of us just think of Brad as the absolute best at roster management and he has done some very good things. Getting us out of the chokehold multi-luxury tax prison we were in was worth a "gap" year. But then we became so hopeful because of the regular season .............. we forgot how incompetent our coach is in the playoffs.

The biggest question is ....... will ownership step in and force Mazzulla out because Brad doesn't seem to get it. Probably because he has a similar basketball philosophy as Joe.

[Goldstar88]

Brown's accomplishments and milestones in the regular season means nothing when they/he folded ridiculously in the playoffs. 2022 Finals and 2023 ECF Game 7, and now this first-round series with the 76ers. I haven't even gotten to those 2017-2020 days yet. He's been in the league for 10 years and he still has tunnel vision and bad handles?

Joke Mazzulla can kick rocks; don't want him anywhere near Boston. Start interviewing new coaches. I heard Tom Thibs is available. Mike Budenholzer, or even JVG...he is a voice we need and demands accountability.

Brad also may need to be put on a short leash; guy has been here for 12 years and there's been a lot of playoff failures under his time both as a head coach and GM.

Really good points.

Most of us just think of Brad as the absolute best at roster management and he has done some very good things. Getting us out of the chokehold multi-luxury tax prison we were in was worth a "gap" year. But then we became so hopeful because of the regular season .............. we forgot how incompetent our coach is in the playoffs.

The biggest question is ....... will ownership step in and force Mazzulla out because Brad doesn't seem to get it. Probably because he has a similar basketball philosophy as Joe.

Not probably. He literally built the roster to shoot 3s. It is his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Brad wanted, he wouldn?t be here. Stevens is the boss. He gave Joe the job.  🤯

[Kernewek]

I would hope that anyone hoping for ownership to make basketball-related decisions gives that a second thought. Ownership should cut checks and stay out of the way.

[celticinorlando]

Frustrating because the sixers are ass. They are going to get beat by the Knicks in 5.

Cs played with their food, played arrogant basketball and cost themselves. Expectations were raised this season. But honestly, they still should have at least won one round.

Season was just another season no one will remember.

[slamtheking]

Frustrating because the sixers are ass. They are going to get beat by the Knicks in 5.

Cs played with their food, played arrogant basketball and cost themselves. Expectations were raised this season. But honestly, they still should have at least won one round.

Season was just another season no one will remember.

much like the playoff loss to Miami a few years ago, this one will be remembered for years. 

since the J's have become the faces of the franchise after IT's last big season, they've continually been knocked out of the playoffs by teams they should have beaten with the exception of the title year.  I give them a pass for the year Kyrie quit on the team but other than that, the J's have consistently come up short in the playoffs due to too many games of lackadaisical play leading to lost games and series that should have been won. 
They lack that killer mentality or drive to win.  JT moreso than JB.  JB has too much of a tendency to want to try to carry the team to a win but too often leads to mistakes and bad plays that sets the team back.

[ozgod]

Should have tanked like Indiana. Wasted season.

Well, after tanking and having nothing to show for it Indiana had a wasted season too?except we at least had happy moments during the season I guess 

[Who]

Should have tanked like Indiana. Wasted season.

Well, after tanking and having nothing to show for it Indiana had a wasted season too?except we at least had happy moments during the season I guess 

They did get Zubac.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Should have tanked like Indiana. Wasted season.

Well, after tanking and having nothing to show for it Indiana had a wasted season too?except we at least had happy moments during the season I guess 

They did get Zubac.

They lost a season and replaced Turner with Zubac.

[Who]

Should have tanked like Indiana. Wasted season.

Well, after tanking and having nothing to show for it Indiana had a wasted season too?except we at least had happy moments during the season I guess 

They did get Zubac.

They lost a season and replaced Turner with Zubac.

I don't think Indiana did anything that wrong.

They tried to do the same thing as Boston which was to try and win to begin the start of the season. They were confident they had a 40-45 win team without Haliburton. However, they got hit with a bunch of injuries to open the year and had a bunch of bad luck in close games. After 20-30 games, they had a terrible record and gave up on the season after that. They decided they were better off with the draft pick.

But it is not like they ever got healthy later in the season either. They were banged up all year. So it is not like they had some bad early season injury luck, got healthy and tanked anyway. They were never healthy.

Siakam missed 20 games. Mathurin missed half the first part of the season before being traded for Zubac. Zubac played only 5 games. So between Mathurin and Zubac they got 33 games. Nembhard missed 1/3rd of the season (57 games played). Obi Toppin played only a quarter of the season (24 games played). Nesmith played 1/2 of the season (45 games played). They had huge problems at the center position throughout the season with guys getting hurt. They had to use 27 different players on the year just to try and keep bodies on the court.

That is not Indiana's fault. That is not them intentionally wasting a year. They tried to compete. They just got massacred by injuries. Then gave up later on. A decision further compounded by the trade for Zubac where they had a top 4 protected pick and were trying to keep their pick.

If Boston had of had the same injury crisis Indiana had on top of the loss of Tatum (Hali), Boston would have had a terrible record as well. And may have likewise chosen to write off the season. Play for the lotto pick instead.

[Vermont Green]

I am not saying that IND did anything wrong. The point is that tanking is risky. IND didn?t get the pick they hoped for. And even if they did, you can end up drafting the next Greg Oden or Markelle Fultz. Tanking and drafting is no guarantee.  It can lead to years of being bad. Sometimes it works out. 

[ozgod]

I am not saying that IND did anything wrong. The point is that tanking is risky. IND didn?t get the pick they hoped for. And even if they did, you can end up drafting the next Greg Oden or Markelle Fultz. Tanking and drafting is no guarantee.  It can lead to years of being bad. Sometimes it works out.

Agree. I feel like tanking as a strategy is kind of a Hail Mary. Basically as a front office you're screwed things up so much or Lady Luck has cursed you so much your only option is to throw the dice and a) hope the lottery balls go your way; and b) hope that whoever you pick will be a Wemby or a LeBum or a Tatum, not a Fultz or a Risacher or a Zion (remember the Road To Zion Tank everyone wanted to be on). I don't know what the success rate is for tanking teams, or ones in a perpetual rebuild, but I can't imagine it's too high. You need to not just draft a player who works out, you also need to surround him with solid players and have a winning culture in your team.

I don't really think saying "wow this draft is really strong, let's tank" is a proper strategy. Getting the pick is the easy part. Look at the Sixers - they've had 2 No1 picks. 2 No3 picks, multiple lottery picks and have never got out of the 2nd round. Kings have had literally 12 picks in the top 10 since 2009.

Yes it can work, but too often it's a "we messed up the roster, let's tank and reset" and fans buy it because "hope is a bigger drug than certainty".

I think for good front offices, and teams with a culture of winning, tanking - or asset collection - is just part of an overall strategy, like what OKC did - they traded for Shai, collected assets, moved aging stars and contracts while they still had a lot of value, drafted complementary players instead of swinging for transformative stars, instead of "this year's not looking too good, let's lose on purpose and see if the lottery saves us and we will have something to sell to our fans instead of a season of trying to make the playoffs and failing". That's why I'm ok with Brad not tanking this season I trust him to actually have a plan to make us better via trading for established stars

[Vermont Green]

I am not saying that IND did anything wrong. The point is that tanking is risky. IND didn?t get the pick they hoped for. And even if they did, you can end up drafting the next Greg Oden or Markelle Fultz. Tanking and drafting is no guarantee.  It can lead to years of being bad. Sometimes it works out.

Agree. I feel like tanking as a strategy is kind of a Hail Mary. Basically as a front office you're screwed things up so much or Lady Luck has cursed you so much your only option is to throw the dice and a) hope the lottery balls go your way; and b) hope that whoever you pick will be a Wemby or a LeBum or a Tatum, not a Fultz or a Risacher or a Zion (remember the Road To Zion Tank everyone wanted to be on). I don't know what the success rate is for tanking teams, or ones in a perpetual rebuild, but I can't imagine it's too high. You need to not just draft a player who works out, you also need to surround him with solid players and have a winning culture in your team.

I don't really think saying "wow this draft is really strong, let's tank" is a proper strategy. Getting the pick is the easy part. Look at the Sixers - they've had 2 No1 picks. 2 No3 picks, multiple lottery picks and have never got out of the 2nd round. Kings have had literally 12 picks in the top 10 since 2009.

Yes it can work, but too often it's a "we messed up the roster, let's tank and reset" and fans buy it because "hope is a bigger drug than certainty".

I think for good front offices, and teams with a culture of winning, tanking - or asset collection - is just part of an overall strategy, like what OKC did - they traded for Shai, collected assets, moved aging stars and contracts while they still had a lot of value, drafted complementary players instead of swinging for transformative stars, instead of "this year's not looking too good, let's lose on purpose and see if the lottery saves us and we will have something to sell to our fans instead of a season of trying to make the playoffs and failing". That's why I'm ok with Brad not tanking this season I trust him to actually have a plan to make us better via trading for established stars

I think we are saying the same thing.  In the case of OKC, they got their key piece (SGA) in a trade, not a draft.  There was some good luck in that.  Then they were bad for 4-5 seasons, really bad, collecting draft picks, refusing to play Al Horford.  And even with all of that, if SGA did not emerge as an MVP, all that tanking and drafting probably would not have gotten them anywhere.

I get it, SAS tanks and get Wemby.  DAL tanks and gets Flagg.  But BOS was not at that point, in my opinion.  I still don't want to trade Brown for prospects and draft picks.  I want reconstruct the team (if anything), not destruct the team.

LAC gets lucky and gets a top 5 pick out of trading Zubac.  Let's see if that gets them anywhere.  History says it will not.  And this certainly is not going to do IND any good.

[Goldstar88]

Should have tanked like Indiana. Wasted season.

Well, after tanking and having nothing to show for it Indiana had a wasted season too?except we at least had happy moments during the season I guess 

They did get Zubac.

Exactly. They are going to be a tough team next year with Nembhard, Haliburton, Nesmith, Siakam, and Zubac. That was a huge addition.

What do the Celtics have to show for this season?

[flybono]

One word describes 26
Garbage!

Some of you stiffs saying it was a good season is laughable
Wake up you green teamers?
Big changes are needed and it starts with trading one of the big 2 who are both overrated and fundamentally flawed