Facing the music was the theme this past offseason for the Celtics. The organization wasn’t in a position to keep the cast of its 2024 championship together, so President of Basketball Operations Brad
Stevens commissioned a complete roster demolition.
It was a significantly different approach from the one Stevens took two offseasons ago after then-majority owner Wyc Grousbeck directed the front office head honcho to do anything to get Boston over the top. Stevens had no problem garnering flowers at his doorstep when taking home the NBA’s Executive of the Year award months after uniting Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday alongside Tatum and Jaylen Brown to create an immediate title contender. And although this time the organization has accepted its fate created by financial limitations, Stevens isn’t being perceived all that differently this go-around by his fellow colleagues.
In the latest 2025-26 NBA GM Survey which was released Thursday, the Celtics received 3% of votes from executives across the league for the best overall moves made this offseason. That placed Boston in fifth place behind the Hawks (53%), Rockets (27%), Nuggets (10%), and Magic (7%) after Stevens offloaded Porzingis and Holiday’s contracts to reduce the team’s payroll from $540 million to $280 million.
The financial burden of maintaining a stacked lineup quickly caught up to Boston, leaving Stevens with little room to maneuver. The objective was to relieve the financial pressure weighing on the organization’s shoulders as ownership undergoes its transition from Grousbeck to Bill Chisholm, all while Tatum — the franchise superstar — works to return from his ruptured Achilles tendon injury. In the eyes of general managers in positions like Stevens, easing that payroll burden in itself is a victory worth recognizing, regardless of the depleted hype surrounding the new-look team and its chances of competing for a title.
Last week, the Warriors signed Al Horford to a two-year contract to officially bring the future Hall of Famer’s second run in Boston to an end. Horford was the de facto locker room captain, respected by all within the team, and further highlighted the dropoff in talent and depth the Celtics are assigned in working with heading into their most challenging (and interesting) season under the Tatum-Brown era.
Still, even with a depth chart consisting of a slew of inexperienced newcomers with plenty to prove, the Celtics themselves aren’t ready to throw in the towel and look ahead to 2026-27. From Mazzulla’s point of view, the expectations haven’t shifted much from those in place a year ago.
“Playing Celtic basketball, playing connected basketball and having an understanding of where we want to be great defensively and offensively,” Mazzulla said during Monday’s practice. “And having an understanding of what those details are. How can we be a well-balanced team on both ends of the floor? How can we have an understanding of what gives us a chance to win every single night, and how can we try to execute that? But I think the players do a great job of having an understanding of what that is and setting that tone by how they play.”
Making the most of an uncomfortable situation isn’t foreign to the Celtics, especially not to Brown. But that doesn’t make the mission of keeping Boston’s train from derailing any less challenging with new faces, including several rookies, working to find their footing in a Celtics uniform this preseason, and once Opening Night arrives in less than two weeks.
