Ramp to Camp: Who will be the Celtics’ X-factor this season?

Ramp to Camp: Who will be the Celtics’ X-factor this season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Which member of the Boston Celtics is most likely to elevate the ceiling of the team based on their play during the 2026-27 season?

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In the latest installment of our Ramp to Camp series, we asked our panel to predict the one player — not named Jayson Tatum — who might emerge as the biggest X-factor in Boston’s overall success this season.

The way we look at it: Tatum sets a high floor for Boston’s season based on his MVP potential, but the complementary pieces around him might ultimately determine Boston’s ceiling.

So who is capable of pushing that ceiling the highest?

Our panel landed on three different choices and we could certainly make an argument for each of them. Derrick White is vital to winning basketball and finding his shot would undeniably aid Boston’s chances of success. If Hugo Gonzalez or any of the team’s stable of young wings have a breakout season it would help fill the obvious void left by Jaylen Brown’s departure. And we are quite bullish on the Neemias Queta/Mitchell Robinson pairing and the energy that duo can bring at a souped-up center position.

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But our choice for Boston’s 2026-27 X-factor is Paul George.

It’s been well established throughout this series that it’s unfair to suggest that George, at age 36, is a 1-for-1 replacement for Brown’s production. Brown is coming off a top-6 finish in MVP voting in his age 29 season. They are two different players and Boston is banking, in part, that George’s skillset might better complement Tatum at this stage of their careers.

If the Celtics are able to keep George upright for 50-plus games, and if George’s postseason play resembles anything close to what we saw against the Celtics in Round 1 of the playoffs in April, then Boston will outkick outsider expectations.

If George can’t stay healthy and struggles to maintain his impact at an advanced age, it narrows the margin for error throughout the roster. Tatum has to be Superman, even as he’s still working his way back to full health, all while White and Pritchard have to find…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ramp-camp-celtics-x-factor-100346999.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-23 10:03:00

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