Celtics 2025-26, Off-Season/Training Camp Thread

[bisme37]

I just wanted to say I'm happy the Celtics acquire players who are not only talented but high character guys with at least eight tenths of a brain.

We never have to suffer through distractions or trade demands or stupid postgame comments or players it's hard to root for etc. It's about winning basketball games. Go Celtics.

[Fierce1]

I just wanted to say I'm happy the Celtics acquire players who are not only talented but high character guys with at least eight tenths of a brain.

We never have to suffer through distractions or trade demands or stupid postgame comments or players it's hard to root for etc. It's about winning basketball games. Go Celtics.

Celtics learned from Von Wafer.

After that Von Wafer-Delonte West altercation, Cs prioritized a player's character.

[ConstableGeneva]

This one's so random and anomalous. Also, annoying.

Celtics FT%, last 12 games: 73.1% (30th rank)
Celtics opponent FT%, last 12 games: 84.9% (30th rank)

We went 7-5 in those 12 games. In three of the losses, we missed more FTs than the point differential.

[itrsteve]

I just wanted to say I'm happy the Celtics acquire players who are not only talented but high character guys with at least eight tenths of a brain.

We never have to suffer through distractions or trade demands or stupid postgame comments or players it's hard to root for etc. It's about winning basketball games. Go Celtics.

We haven't had a dummy for a player in a long time. Even RW3 getting off to a funny start still showed that he was a high character guy. Kanter is the only one that comes to mind over recent years that was more distraction than value.

[ConstableGeneva]

C's aren't even shooting the 3-ball that well yet (10th in 3FG%) and yet they currently own the highest relative offensive rating in franchise history.

2025: +8.0 RelORtg
2024: +7.9 RelORtg
1988: +7.4 RelORtg

[ConstableGeneva]

Currently, the Celtics are 2nd on offense behind the Cavs.

It appears on the surface that the main difference has been Celtics being really bad at transition offense and Cavs being elite at it.

After Made Shot:
1. BOS (1.19 PPP)
2. CLE (1.18 PPP)

After Defensive Rebound:
1. CLE (1.21 PPP)
2. BOS (1.20 PPP)

After a Live Turnover:
4. CLE (1.42 PPP)
...
28. BOS (1.15 PPP)

Matches the eye test. We are a funny bunch to watch even when we have a 3-on-2 advantage on the break.

*Figures from inpredictable.com

[Shak_Celts]

Okay, so I’m in the jinxing mood, this will probably go the opposite way because the universe hates me, but since I’m not right about my opinions often I want to gloat for a few minutes.

Years ago I said that JB and Tatum could average a certain amount of assists in their primes. That I see it in them if no one else does. Okay I’m probably spinning it because I don’t know my exact words.

I said JB would get to around 5 or 6 LIKE JIMMY BUTLER, and I was told I was wrong. We discussed it because people said that’s part of what makes Jimmy better. I said yes, Jimmy is much older and was given roles that Brown wasn’t earlier. I said that prime JB was going to be like that but of course if you compare it to someone 6-7 years older it’s not going to look as great. Here we are with JB entering his prime and he’s averaging nearly 5 assists. Mind you, he and the coaches have said his role for most of his career was as a scorer. This is his first stated attempt by Joe and him that he was going to be tasked with getting his teammates involved more.

I said Tatum in his prime would average at least 7 but I also said I believed he could do more and average around what Luka did (i think it was around 9 or so at the time). Tatum is essentially getting 6 now but he hasn’t started his prime years yet. I still think he has more in him, it’s coming. One more and he’s meeting what I feel would be a minimum for him, but still wonderful. Did he average nearly 7 last season? Memory can’t hold much except useless info.

I don’t know when I said it or what thread, it was quite a few seasons ago, but I “know” those were the numbers I landed on.

Celtics players are never allowed to grow in a normal NBA way, we all expect it right away. We never listen to reason and see that no nba players really do it before prime years except for the ULTIMATE players. Most NBA players take time to get to high lvls. You don’t really see their best until around 27-28. That number might go up if players start playing at older ages and stay at high levels.

I know JB is old now and Tatum is coming up soon, but both still have room to grow. Don’t count them as finished yet.

Let’s go Jays, keep growing and continue proving doubters wrong. 22-23yo and that being their best and who they would always be just wasn’t in the cards. Maybe Celtics players need time to grow like the rest of the league? I dunno.

The universe may not hate me as much since it let me see a chip with both Jays, so hopefully this won’t bite me down the line.


Edit: Mind you, they are tasked with averaging those numbers on THE SAME TEAM! Neither one of them are even close in line to being a pg!

[ConstableGeneva]

Okay, so I’m in the jinxing mood, this will probably go the opposite way because the universe hates me, but since I’m not right about my opinions often I want to gloat for a few minutes.

Years ago I said that JB and Tatum could average a certain amount of assists in their primes. That I see it in them if no one else does. Okay I’m probably spinning it because I don’t know my exact words.

I said JB would get to around 5 or 6 LIKE JIMMY BUTLER, and I was told I was wrong. We discussed it because people said that’s part of what makes Jimmy better. I said yes, Jimmy is much older and was given roles that Brown wasn’t earlier. I said that prime JB was going to be like that but of course if you compare it to someone 6-7 years older it’s not going to look as great. Here we are with JB entering his prime and he’s averaging nearly 5 assists. Mind you, he and the coaches have said his role for most of his career was as a scorer. This is his first stated attempt by Joe and him that he was going to be tasked with getting his teammates involved more.

I said Tatum in his prime would average at least 7 but I also said I believed he could do more and average around what Luka did (i think it was around 9 or so at the time). Tatum is essentially getting 6 now but he hasn’t started his prime years yet. I still think he has more in him, it’s coming. One more and he’s meeting what I feel would be a minimum for him, but still wonderful. Did he average nearly 7 last season? Memory can’t hold much except useless info.

I don’t know when I said it or what thread, it was quite a few seasons ago, but I “know” those were the numbers I landed on.

Celtics players are never allowed to grow in a normal NBA way, we all expect it right away. We never listen to reason and see that no nba players really do it before prime years except for the ULTIMATE players. Most NBA players take time to get to high lvls. You don’t really see their best until around 27-28. That number might go up if players start playing at older ages and stay at high levels.

I know JB is old now and Tatum is coming up soon, but both still have room to grow. Don’t count them as finished yet.

Let’s go Jays, keep growing and continue proving doubters wrong. 22-23yo and that being their best and who they would always be just wasn’t in the cards. Maybe Celtics players need time to grow like the rest of the league? I dunno.

The universe may not hate me as much since it let me see a chip with both Jays, so hopefully this won’t bite me down the line.


Edit: Mind you, they are tasked with averaging those numbers on THE SAME TEAM! Neither one of them are even close in line to being a pg!

JB's assist % is still mediocre for his position and relative to his usage but it's already an improvement from last season, let alone couple of seasons ago (whenever you made the statement).

This season:



Last season:



I already discussed in the JB thread his playmaking leap so I won't repeat any of it but since 2020 (their first opportunity at being "the guys" on the team), their potential assists have more than doubled. So yeah, good job, you two. We all wanted the same thing. Some of us were just more impatient than some of you.

[Shak_Celts]

Okay, so I’m in the jinxing mood, this will probably go the opposite way because the universe hates me, but since I’m not right about my opinions often I want to gloat for a few minutes.

Years ago I said that JB and Tatum could average a certain amount of assists in their primes. That I see it in them if no one else does. Okay I’m probably spinning it because I don’t know my exact words.

I said JB would get to around 5 or 6 LIKE JIMMY BUTLER, and I was told I was wrong. We discussed it because people said that’s part of what makes Jimmy better. I said yes, Jimmy is much older and was given roles that Brown wasn’t earlier. I said that prime JB was going to be like that but of course if you compare it to someone 6-7 years older it’s not going to look as great. Here we are with JB entering his prime and he’s averaging nearly 5 assists. Mind you, he and the coaches have said his role for most of his career was as a scorer. This is his first stated attempt by Joe and him that he was going to be tasked with getting his teammates involved more.

I said Tatum in his prime would average at least 7 but I also said I believed he could do more and average around what Luka did (i think it was around 9 or so at the time). Tatum is essentially getting 6 now but he hasn’t started his prime years yet. I still think he has more in him, it’s coming. One more and he’s meeting what I feel would be a minimum for him, but still wonderful. Did he average nearly 7 last season? Memory can’t hold much except useless info.

I don’t know when I said it or what thread, it was quite a few seasons ago, but I “know” those were the numbers I landed on.

Celtics players are never allowed to grow in a normal NBA way, we all expect it right away. We never listen to reason and see that no nba players really do it before prime years except for the ULTIMATE players. Most NBA players take time to get to high lvls. You don’t really see their best until around 27-28. That number might go up if players start playing at older ages and stay at high levels.

I know JB is old now and Tatum is coming up soon, but both still have room to grow. Don’t count them as finished yet.

Let’s go Jays, keep growing and continue proving doubters wrong. 22-23yo and that being their best and who they would always be just wasn’t in the cards. Maybe Celtics players need time to grow like the rest of the league? I dunno.

The universe may not hate me as much since it let me see a chip with both Jays, so hopefully this won’t bite me down the line.


Edit: Mind you, they are tasked with averaging those numbers on THE SAME TEAM! Neither one of them are even close in line to being a pg!

JB's assist % is still mediocre for his position and relative to his usage but it's already an improvement from last season, let alone couple of seasons ago (whenever you made the statement).

This season:



Last season:



I already discussed in the JB thread his playmaking leap so I won't repeat any of it but since 2020 (their first opportunity at being "the guys" on the team), their potential assists have more than doubled. So yeah, good job, you two. We all wanted the same thing. Some of us were just more impatient than some of you.

No argument on how JB gets his assists and whether he should get more with his usage, I am simply saying I knew he could!

[ConstableGeneva]

Okay, so I’m in the jinxing mood, this will probably go the opposite way because the universe hates me, but since I’m not right about my opinions often I want to gloat for a few minutes.

Years ago I said that JB and Tatum could average a certain amount of assists in their primes. That I see it in them if no one else does. Okay I’m probably spinning it because I don’t know my exact words.

I said JB would get to around 5 or 6 LIKE JIMMY BUTLER, and I was told I was wrong. We discussed it because people said that’s part of what makes Jimmy better. I said yes, Jimmy is much older and was given roles that Brown wasn’t earlier. I said that prime JB was going to be like that but of course if you compare it to someone 6-7 years older it’s not going to look as great. Here we are with JB entering his prime and he’s averaging nearly 5 assists. Mind you, he and the coaches have said his role for most of his career was as a scorer. This is his first stated attempt by Joe and him that he was going to be tasked with getting his teammates involved more.

I said Tatum in his prime would average at least 7 but I also said I believed he could do more and average around what Luka did (i think it was around 9 or so at the time). Tatum is essentially getting 6 now but he hasn’t started his prime years yet. I still think he has more in him, it’s coming. One more and he’s meeting what I feel would be a minimum for him, but still wonderful. Did he average nearly 7 last season? Memory can’t hold much except useless info.

I don’t know when I said it or what thread, it was quite a few seasons ago, but I “know” those were the numbers I landed on.

Celtics players are never allowed to grow in a normal NBA way, we all expect it right away. We never listen to reason and see that no nba players really do it before prime years except for the ULTIMATE players. Most NBA players take time to get to high lvls. You don’t really see their best until around 27-28. That number might go up if players start playing at older ages and stay at high levels.

I know JB is old now and Tatum is coming up soon, but both still have room to grow. Don’t count them as finished yet.

Let’s go Jays, keep growing and continue proving doubters wrong. 22-23yo and that being their best and who they would always be just wasn’t in the cards. Maybe Celtics players need time to grow like the rest of the league? I dunno.

The universe may not hate me as much since it let me see a chip with both Jays, so hopefully this won’t bite me down the line.


Edit: Mind you, they are tasked with averaging those numbers on THE SAME TEAM! Neither one of them are even close in line to being a pg!

JB's assist % is still mediocre for his position and relative to his usage but it's already an improvement from last season, let alone couple of seasons ago (whenever you made the statement).

This season:



Last season:



I already discussed in the JB thread his playmaking leap so I won't repeat any of it but since 2020 (their first opportunity at being "the guys" on the team), their potential assists have more than doubled. So yeah, good job, you two. We all wanted the same thing. Some of us were just more impatient than some of you.

No argument on how JB gets his assists and whether he should get more with his usage, I am simply saying I knew he could!

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Even provided data to support your argument hehe.

[Shak_Celts]

JB's assist % is still mediocre for his position and relative to his usage but it's already an improvement from last season, let alone couple of seasons ago (whenever you made the statement).

This season:



Last season:



I already discussed in the JB thread his playmaking leap so I won't repeat any of it but since 2020 (their first opportunity at being "the guys" on the team), their potential assists have more than doubled. So yeah, good job, you two. We all wanted the same thing. Some of us were just more impatient than some of you.

No argument on how JB gets his assists and whether he should get more with his usage, I am simply saying I knew he could!

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Even provided data to support your argument hehe.

Yes, but adding the usage vs assist is still a dig. I knew you weren’t disagreeing, I just feel like you couldn’t help picking a little. It’s all good!

[ConstableGeneva]

No argument on how JB gets his assists and whether he should get more with his usage, I am simply saying I knew he could!

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Even provided data to support your argument hehe.

Yes, but adding the usage vs assist is still a dig. I knew you weren’t disagreeing, I just feel like you couldn’t help picking a little. It’s all good!

An awful way to say there's still room for him to improve.

[djFan71]

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Even provided data to support your argument hehe.

Yes, but adding the usage vs assist is still a dig. I knew you weren’t disagreeing, I just feel like you couldn’t help picking a little. It’s all good!

He's actually slightly better than I was hoping his best case could ever be. I don't think he makes crazy advanced reads or anything yet, but he makes the simple ones pretty consistently now and limits turnovers. Which is what I hoped for but didn't actually expect. Seemed like it was within the realm of possibility, just not super likely. Then he went and did it. Him powering through guys into the lane and creating for himself or other is now one of my favorite plays.

[bisme37]

The other night I was watching the TNT feed of our Wolves game and SVG was saying Joe and the C's are currently tweaking the C's defense to go for more steals and deflections and not be so "safe" on that end. Seems like it's been paying dividends.

It just occurred to me if you guys were watching the C's feed that night you may have not heard anything about it. Thus, my post.

[ConstableGeneva]

The other night I was watching the TNT feed of our Wolves game and SVG was saying Joe and the C's are currently tweaking the C's defense to go for more steals and deflections and not be so "safe" on that end. Seems like it's been paying dividends.

It just occurred to me if you guys were watching the C's feed that night you may have not heard anything about it. Thus, my post.

Yep, caught it. Also made a comment about how it could be an explanation as to why our foul rate is up. It must be a very recent thing. Mazzulla Cs aren't known as a team that force a ton of turnovers. We do play a conservative brand of defense.

Til Xmas: 1st in opponent FTA rate; 26th in opponent turnover rate
Since Xmas: 14th in opponent FTA rate; 10th in opponent turnover rate

[Smart2Nesmith43]

I wasn't disagreeing with you. Even provided data to support your argument hehe.

Yes, but adding the usage vs assist is still a dig. I knew you weren’t disagreeing, I just feel like you couldn’t help picking a little. It’s all good!

He's actually slightly better than I was hoping his best case could ever be. I don't think he makes crazy advanced reads or anything yet, but he makes the simple ones pretty consistently now and limits turnovers. Which is what I hoped for but didn't actually expect. Seemed like it was within the realm of possibility, just not super likely. Then he went and did it. Him powering through guys into the lane and creating for himself or other is now one of my favorite plays.

Don't think he gets there without Mazzulla pushing him into more of a playmaking role and/or that 2023 Miami series making him understand he can't do it alone but he still deserves a ton of credit for putting the work in. Crazy how much he has improved his decision making since glitching in crunch time against Chicago his rookie year.

[djFan71]

Yes, but adding the usage vs assist is still a dig. I knew you weren’t disagreeing, I just feel like you couldn’t help picking a little. It’s all good!

He's actually slightly better than I was hoping his best case could ever be. I don't think he makes crazy advanced reads or anything yet, but he makes the simple ones pretty consistently now and limits turnovers. Which is what I hoped for but didn't actually expect. Seemed like it was within the realm of possibility, just not super likely. Then he went and did it. Him powering through guys into the lane and creating for himself or other is now one of my favorite plays.

Don't think he gets there without Mazzulla pushing him into more of a playmaking role and/or that 2023 Miami series making him understand he can't do it alone but he still deserves a ton of credit for putting the work in. Crazy how much he has improved his decision making since glitching in crunch time against Chicago his rookie year.

Yep, you can even go back to Smart calling them out / Ime season as the start.

Tangentially relates, he's also just in way better shape. My 2 worries with him were not processing fast enough and what happened when his athleticism went away. Which seemed like it could happen - he was grasping the hammy a lot, and was sub 60 games 2 seasons in a row and seemed to kinda wear down as the seasons progressed. But he doubled now and is in insane shape now and just physically dominating dudes. (sore shoulder aside)

[redslastlaugh]

Comparing this year to last:
2023-24 was last yr 47 2PTA at 57.5% compared to 42.5 3PTA at 38.8%
2024-25 is this year 40.7 2PTA at 57.5% compared to 50.2 3PTA at 36.7%

Last years attempts were +5 TWOs more THREEs
This years attempts are +10 THREES more than TWOs

Our two pt % is exactly the same relative to last year.
Our three pt % is down 2% because of the higher volume perhaps leading to less discriminate shot selection.

To come back from a title season and rearrange your shot profile this much is very surprising. Has anyone asked Brad or Joe, why have you made this change, because it is frankly shocking.

We are the ONLY team of the 30 NBA teams shooting more 3s than 2s. Seems we are the only team in the HISTORY of the NBA on pace to shoot more 3s than 2s over a season. And a lot of Celtics fans are just like, “this is the modern NBA,” when no other team now or last year or EVER has done this. It’s kooky

[ConstableGeneva]

Still undefeated when taking more than 60% of shots from 3. Let's get that number to 75% to be kookier.

[redslastlaugh]

You’re nothing if not consistent, lol…

Still undefeated when taking more than 60% of shots from 3. Let's get that number to 75% to be kookier.