Celtics predicted to plummet down East standings this year

Just two seasons after winning it all, the once-mighty Boston Celtics have been in cost-cutting mode all summer, as they look to save money during a "gap year" in which six-time All-Star power forward Jayson Tatum is expected to participate either minimally or not at all.

The 6-foot-8 superstar, Boston's best player, ruptured his right Achilles tendon during the team's second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks in May. Given the severity of such an injury, Tatum could conceivably miss the entire season.

Knowing this, Celtics team president Brad Stevens looked to offload two of Boston's 2024 championship starters, six-time All-Defensive guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis. Stevens sent Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Anfernee Simons, and offloaded Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for veteran forward Georges Niang — who grew up a Boston fan — and one future second-round pick. 

The Celtics also let center Luke Kornet depart in free agency, and seem happy to watch former five-time All-Star backup big man Al Horford — who inarguably played a bigger postseason role for Boston over the past two seasons than Porzingis did — leave, too, although he remains unsigned as of this writing.

Boston did draft three young pieces, but only first-round swingman Hugo Gonzalez has made the team's 15-man standard roster so far. The Celtics also signed free agents Luka Garza and Josh Minott to replace some of the departures.

Stevens might also not be done dealing just yet. Although four-time All-Star wing Jaylen Brown, two-time All-Defensive guard Derrick White, and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard might be difficult for rival front offices to extract, pieces like Simons, reserve forward Sam Hauser, and Niang might all be attainable at the right price.

With Tatum, Holiday, Horford, Porzingis, and Kornet all unavailable, though, Boston is not expected to contend next year. How far the Celtics slide remains to be seen.

In a comprehensive new piece, Bobby Manning of CLNS Media takes stock of the entire Eastern Conference in its current, injury-depleted form, and projects a massive drop for the Celtics.

Took on the brutal task of predicting the east standings with some help from @LawMurrayTheNU: https://t.co/IGInAGu4Vg

— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) July 30, 2025

As Manning notes, most sports books gave Boston a 43.5-win over/under heading into the year — an understandably precipitous drop from the team's 61-win run in 2024-25. Manning thinks the Celtics will finish as the No. 9 seed in the East, play-in tournament terrain. 

Manning projects the full play-in tournament field to comprise the Milwaukee Bucks (the No. 7 seed), Boston, the Indiana Pacers (No. 8), and the Philadelphia 76ers (No. 10).

Milwaukee lost its second-best player, point guard Damian Lillard, to an Achilles tear in the playoffs, too, and opted to stretch-and-waive the former nine-time All-Star. The Bucks signed a non-All-Star, former Indiana center Myles Turner, with the added cap room.

The Pacers' best player, two-time All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton, went down in Game 7 of the NBA Finals with an Achilles tear of his own. He has already been ruled out for the year. Turner's exit is expected to be replaced piecemeal by several backup-caliber bigs, as Indiana, also, anticipates a "gap year" between contending seasons.

Manning cautions that star health could serve as a major determining factor for the Celtics' upside this year.

"Like the Bucks, there’s a play-in territory ceiling and low floor below this area if Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard don’t hold up," Manning writes. "All three step up into significantly larger roles than they have in the past. This is the first time since 2017-18 that we’ll see Boston, and all the success we’ve come to expect from them, without Tatum."

Tatum's loss will be particularly felt when it comes to exploring the positional versatility that had made the Celtics so dangerous on both ends of the court, Manning opines. Still, there's room for a little glass-half-full optimism.

"Brown is capable of a leap," Manning adds. "Their center group has next to no experience playing a full season in a NBA rotation. That’s a problem they’ll have to solve to dream of rising any higher than this. One significant injury could sink this group quickly."

MORE NEWS: Expert trade proposal ships Celtics star Jaylen Brown to West contender