The Celtics have been one of the teams hit particularly hard by the CBA’s second apron rules, especially in conjunction with the team being sold and the Achilles injury to Jayson Tatum that has forced them to take a step back from their title contention goals. That has led to the team trading away players such as Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Georges Niang (who was acquired in the Porzingis deal) in an effort to shed salary.
However, just because the Celtics have been working to get their books in order doesn’t mean that fans should expect them to outright tank this season, writes Chris Forsberg for NBC Sports Boston.
In a mailbag, Forsberg shares a story from general manager Brad Stevens‘ coaching days to illustrate his mindset. Forsberg writes about the 2014/15 season, when the Celtics, coming off their first missed playoffs since 2007, started the year 13-26.
When confronted by Jae Crowder about whether he was okay with losing, Stevens refused to consider tanking, and the team eventually pulled together a 40-42 season and a trip to the first round of the playoffs. Forsberg writes that the refusal to accept losing helped define Stevens’ tenure as head coach, and will likely do the same for his tenure in the front office.
While there would be an undeniable benefit in the Celtics landing an unexpected top pick in a loaded 2026 draft class, Forsberg believes the esteem in which Stevens holds winning and competitiveness will likely preclude the front office from selling off important future-facing pieces — even if the team falls well behind the pace established by last season’s 61-win squad.
This would be a bad move
They need to do what is best for the franchise
It wouldn’t be a smart move to pretend this team is good
Limit the core guys minutes to keep them healthy for next year
The Celtics aren’t a bad team. They still have an All-NBA talent in Jaylen Brown, a two-time All-Defense and near All-NBA point guard in Derrick White, and Simons is a proven high-volume scorer. That’s enough to keep them in the 4–5 seed range. A team at that level shouldn’t be thinking about tanking. If every non-contender had tanked last season, we’d have been left with only OKC, Cleveland, Boston, New York, Indiana, Minnesota, and maybe Denver actually competing.
Nah…overall picture. Get a lottery pick. Rookie scale contracts that crack the rotation on a legit threat are vital these days.
Crazy.
Boston will be significantly better than most people think.
Jaylen, White, Pritchard, Hauser are all scorers running the same offense as the past 3 years. They have added another scorer.
I think Al Horford is crazy if he thinks old man Steph, Draymond and a bunch of 7s.8s, and 9s are gonna win more game in the West v. Boston in the East.
Plus, Brad will find another player for Simons. He always does.
Boston will be in the playoffs.
People just hate Boston, they forget they won with IT4 and Jae Crowder, they won with rookie Tatum, and they won with various players injured.
Lottery pick is a crap shoot.
@CF you just left Jimmy f’n Butler out of the GSW picture, why? They finished the season 24-8 with Butler.
If Brown or White get hurt, Boston become a bottom 6 team. That is fact.
To be fair, most people here on this website don’t think Boston will be a bad team. .500 is a floor, and they can get to 45-50 wins for sure.
One area of worry for them is the 5. It’s very hard to be a good basketball team without good play at the center position.
I’m not sure they’ll be in the top 4 even if they go full effort.
Brown is a fake all nba player
Him making all nba that year was a joke and has cost them dearly
He averaged 27/7/4 while playing premier defense that year. What a joke indeed.
Tied for 57th in vorp
Which is more accurate of his value
Cherry picking stats to validate your argument is fun ain’t it
You mean a comprehensive stat that shows his impact his overstated??
And the Celtics are only on this mess because he got what he didn’t deserve
How many people ranked above him in that list are you taking over him? I know it isn’t 56. And no that’s not true at all. Your math ain’t mathing. He was still going to get paid a lot. Jrue was overpaid after the championship win and KP was expensive. Over 60m a year between the two. The difference in browns salary from making all nba does not cover that much money.
They would’ve ducked the apron last year so they probably could’ve ridden it out another year.
Tatums injury makes it moot for this year
Still waiting on that list. How many of the 56 are actually worth replacing brown with?
Yeah bc he shares the floor with a Top 10 player who controls the ball.
Come on.
@bjbossman I see your point, Brown is a tad overrated. But he still is good. You are underrating him.
I’m not Jaylen Brown’s biggest fan but the man won a finals MVP…
Chucktoad1 is spot on
Any hint of tanking and you all should be ashamed. Celtics don’t deserve that title they just won
and 6MoY Pritchard
What does this mean? What if all the main core get injured, are they going to make trades even if it means mortgaging the future? Without Tatum they simply are not in the same class as OKC or DEN. If Jaylen has a season-ending injury it would be stupid to not tank.
SO dont play bc someone could get injured?
Every team has that issue.
Jaylen is going to be a top player in the league as will Derrick White. Their offense is drive and dish for 3s. Losing Tatum does not make them shoot less 3s.
Jaylen and White are excellent players, never said anything otherwise – but if they are injured, Boston becomes a bottom 4 team.
I think his point is why push chips into the middle of the table if White or Brown had an injury for example. Like “no tanking” is a great message but in reality it’s unlikely they are a championship team as is with a 60m player out all year. So save the powder for the off-season to improve. Still play the games to win but don’t make moves that won’t matter this year.
@phillyballers exactly
I have no idea how good or bad the C’s will be this year. Clearly not championship level. But with Brown and White they are almost assured a playoff spot in the east. I.E. they could not tank even if they wanted to. The article seems like a bit of cheerleading from Forsberg.
I mean that is Forsberg’s style. He is usually a Celtics optimist.
Neither brown or white should play enough games to qualify for any awards
What? So dont play a season? Why?
Then why is Wemby playing? He is not winning a Championship this season either. Or why is any good player playing if their team is not a contender?
Weird position, no offense.
Because it limits their mileage on a worthless year
Avoid injuries
Exactly. Its crazy to think Boston will get a lottery pick with Brown, White and Pritchard.
They gotta trade Tatum
LOL no tf they don’t.
What a kick in the … The Celtics never give up but I guess they do now. Celtic fans should be ashamed
True Celtic fans wouldn’t even consider the thought of tanking
They play in the Eastern Conference they will make the playoffs easily
The Celtics have a target on them, to slow and won’t hit threes near like they did.
They are in the tank already.
You seem like an expert. Very impressive argument.
All I know is during the literal ECF, people were saying the Pacers weren’t a contender. And we all watched them play a future and current dynasty to a draw in the Finals before running out of gas in the second half of game 7.
I’m not sure what the point of sports is if you aren’t trying to win games. And it’s strange to me to assume a season is lost months before it begins. Tanking has a place, for sure, but I think it should be in desperate situations, if nothing else because boy does it not actually work all that often if you check the year in and year out standings. Basically 80%+ of the NBA shouldn’t consider themselves ‘desperate,’ and Boston is nowhere near that.
Current dynasty??
They won one title and needed the extender to even reach game 7
and everyone they beat was several key players down.
You’re accidentally proving my point. The upcoming season will ALSO feature lots of injuries at inopportune times that no one can predict (as well as sketchy officiating in the playoffs). It’s the NBA. These things happen. So giving up before the season starts doesn’t make any sense at all. A year from now the entire landscape of everything will look entirely different than it does now – just look at last August. That’s why tanking doesn’t make sense in most cases – this is the most chaotic, unpredictable league there is. Almost everyone should just go for it and see how the chips fall, because who knows?