The Boston Celtics are expected to take a step back after losing Jayson Tatum to injury and trading away Jrue Holiday, although Jaylen Brown is still one of the best players in the NBA.
After winning the NBA Finals in 2024, a devastating Achilles tear to Jayson Tatum prevented the Boston Celtics from making a deep playoff run in an effort to repeat.
With their star out for next season and the second apron continuing to loom, Boston decided to sell while they could.
Al Horford and Luke Kornet left in free agency, and Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were traded away. The Celtics are expected to take a massive step back next season, but they could still be in the hunt for the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown expected to step up without Tatum
While Jayson Tatum, their best player, is expected to miss all of next season, Jaylen Brown is an All-NBA player and Derrick White is the best role-player in the league. On top of that, Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard are all quality players.
While they won’t be the class of the Eastern Conference like they have been for several seasons, they will still likely be a playoff team, and they have the experience to upset some teams along the way.
“I hope to win,” Brown told Marca’s Jorge Quiroga. “I hope to try to maximize my potential, make the most of what my teammates bring, be a good teammate, help those around me get better, win some basketball games and see what happens.”
With Brown stepping up as a leader and a proven supporting cast still in place around him, the Celtics may be down, but they are far from out.
Boston Celtics can compete even without Tatum
The recovery time for a torn Achilles is typically a year, although Kobe Bryant came back from the same injury in just eight months in 2014. Tatum is much younger than Bryant was at the time, and he is ahead of his progression.
“There is a good update on Jayson Tatum,” prefaced ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. “He’s walking again. He’s out of the boot. He’s walking again. He said he’s been doing six days a week in rehab. And I think he’s ahead of schedule and coming back.”
If Tatum can follow the same timeline as Bryant, he will be back sometime in February, and the Celtics could even clinch home-court advantage. Only the Cavaliers, Knicks, and Magic are expected to be really good in the East, and Boston could easily pass the likes of the Hawks, Bucks, and Pistons.
While Tatum is the best player in Boston, Brown stepped up in the 2024 Conference Finals and NBA Finals, and he could very well do it again.
With a healthy Brown, decent depth pieces, and the possibility of Tatum returning, Boston’s upcoming “lost season” could be good enough to make some postseason noise.
