Where Do the Celtics Go From Here

Zak Drapeau
May 4
3 min read

by Sportz Nation - 5/4/2026

2026 Review

The Celtics miraculous 2026 season has come to an end with a Game 7 loss to the 76ers after initially leading the series 3-2. To start the season being predicted to miss the playoffs, then become the #2 seed in the East and Favorite to win the Eastern Conference Finals, all before getting heartbroken in the First Round has been a roller coaster of a year for Boston.

And yet, there is still a lot of hope for this team.

First and foremost, this team was never been supposed to be competing. Jayson Tatum started the year rehabbing a torn achilles and leaving the Celtics in the offseason was Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, meaning Jaylen Brown would be the only returning starter from a year ago.

Being elevated and counted on more this season were Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Neemias Queta, with Luke Garza, Jordan Walsh and Xavier Tillman to be their key role players. White and Pritchard have been role players for this team for multiple seasons and were expected to make the transition seamlessly but the rest of the team was a work in progress at best.

Then the season got underway and players rose to the occasion, none more so than Jaylen Brown. An MVP candidate from start to finish, Jaylen Brown played like the superstar, team leader we never were quite sure he could be. When Tatum returned in early-March the Celtics still held a 41-21 record. For the final 20 games, the team would finish 15-5 with a 13-3 record when Tatum played.

Offseason

Now that the season ended in heartbreaking fashion, the offseason is upon the Celtics and it's time for Brad Stevens to go to work. The Celtics have no major contracts to extend other than Nikola Vucevic, who they traded for midseason for next-to-nothing results. Currently they have a reported $180 million pay roll entering the 2026/27 season which is almost $10 million less than this season but not exactly enough to give them wiggle room in Free Agent spending.

So here's the question: Do they need to add any help this offseason or does a healthy Jayson Tatum make the difference?

Jayson Tatum came back for 26 regular season games and averaged 22 points 10 rebounds and 5 assists. In the playoffs he would do even better with 23, 11 and 7 averages but would crucially miss Game 7 due to leg stiffness. The decision was out of Tatum's hands and was made by Joe Mazzulla and the team's medical staff based on the "return-to-play" protocol from his Achilles injury.

We saw the Celtics rise to the occasion all season without Tatum. Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White averaged over 62 points per game this season with Brown's jump to almost 29 per game.

Right now, a projected starting lineup of White, Brown, Tatum, Hauser and Queta with Pritchard as 6th man is solid but with a deficiency in their front court. The Celtics could certainly look to add some inside scoring and rebounding in the offseason and I think a veteran like Andre Drummond or Marvin Bagley for $5 million could be a perfect addition for this team even if they are the first big man off the bench.