Are the Celtics embracing a rebuild this season with Jayson Tatum sidelined?

To put it mildly, the Boston Celtics have little chance of winning their 19th title in June 2026.

In addition to losing a number of important players this offseason, including Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Luke Kornet, and possibly Al Horford, Boston will probably be missing Jayson Tatum for most, if not all, of the 2025–26 season while he recovers from an Achilles tendon tear.

A Celtics team without Tatum probably lacks the firepower to really compete for a championship, even if a redesigned roster led by Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Anfernee Simons, and Payton Pritchard could hold their own in a weak Eastern Conference this autumn.

Despite Tatum’s recovery, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has not lowered his expectations for 2025–2026.

At the Auerbach Center on Tuesday, Stevens declared, “I would never place a ceiling on any team.” As we came up to this type of window, we were lucky to have several teams there. They were a lot of fun, and I felt like they didn’t really care about ceilings and had a chip on their shoulder. I anticipate that this team will as well.

After all, it’s been a while since Jaylen Brown was a member of a squad that was questioned. And it’s unlikely that Peyton Pritchard has been on a squad that was questioned recently. Derrick White and all of these guys are at the bottom of the list. I’m eager to see what this group has planned.

Since initially entering the Celtics organization in 2013, Stevens has seen a number of highs and lows, even though he created a group that won a championship in 2024.

Expectations were low for Boston when Stevens first took over as head coach of a rebuilding team following the conclusion of the Big Three era of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

However, the Celtics have qualified for the playoffs each season since slogging through a 25-win campaign in 2013–14, regularly surpassing expectations under Stevens’ guidance in the years prior to Tatum and Brown’s arrival.

“I always expect to compete fiercely to win the next game,” Stevens stated. As if that would always be the case. That’s what it will always be. And that’s how we’re going to attempt to introduce ourselves. That will be it. As I’ve stated numerous times, winning championships is the North Star for me.

And it goes without saying that some retooling occurs when you deal players like Jrue and KP. The one thing, though, is that I felt the term “rebuild” was insane when I was coaching. Since none of us had been here previously, it ought to be built, right? You’re constantly working toward something. We have a lot of men back in this group who are excellent players, so that will not be part of our building’s lexicon, and that is how we will concentrate going ahead.