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There is a moment between seasons in sports, a springtime that occurs even in fall, when the previous season has been set firmly in the past and the upcoming season hasn’t started.
Some fanbases live for this moment. The perpetual also-rans have their moment in the sun at this time. The offseason’s changes have yet to pan out—or not—and the future is wide-open. If a chance at that brass ring is a bit too far-fetched, there’s always this hope that some things will be better this year than they were the last time around.
Boston, MA – September 15: Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, forward Paul George, guard Mike Conley and president Brad Stevens pose for photos at a press conference on September 15, 2026. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
Such optimism can be found with the green and white, and it’s not without some foundation. The Celtics have added Mitchell Robinson, Michael Conley and Paul George—and Jayson Tatum, if you look at the broad trend of last season, and have lost Jaylen Brown. Now the Celtics won 56 games last season with a missing/recovering Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown stepping up.
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So, to me, the question is whether Jayson Tatum can step up in a manner similar to Brown’s leap last season. I think he can.
Yes, the rest of the East has gotten better. Notably, the Sixers added LeBron James, who, I suspect, moved three time zones away from his family in order to have one last shot at Boston, and of course, they added Jaylen Brown. The Raptors added Kawhi Leonard, who managed to dodge the hammer that hit the Clippers as hard as any team has been hit in recent memory, but the Celtics have young guys that are still on the upswing of their career trajectories.
Right now, I would say that anything is possible. The league is as wide-open as it has ever been (there have been eight different champions in the past nine seasons, something that has never happened before). The Knicks showed last season that getting hot at the right time can be a successful path to a title.
A conflux of factors have made depth more important than…
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Publish date : 2026-10-06 10:00:00
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