Boston Celtics Will Give Us Something We've Never Seen in 2026-27

For better or worse, after moving on from Jaylen Brown this month, the Boston Celtics will have a new look in 2026-27. And with that new look will come a new set of opportunities. 

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There will be more chances for Payton Pritchard to take ownership of the offense, more chances for younger players like Jordan Walsh to establish themselves, and yes, more chances for Jayson Tatum to show that he's the alpha leader on this team.

While we've all anointed Tatum as the face of the franchise over the last three or four years, he's never had the chance to be the solo leader of the group.

When he came into the league, he was behind an established star like Isaiah Thomas, and then he was behind Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, and then he was behind Kemba Walker, and then he had to share the spotlight with Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, and then just Brown.

Tatum has never had ownership of the group, and now he's going to get it, solely.

It will be interesting to see what he can do in that role, especially as he gets a full year of health under his belt after recovering from the torn Achilles he suffered at the end of 2024-25.

Tatum has averaged 23.5 ppg for his career, including a career-high of 30.1 in 2022-23. While that would be a hard number to match, it's certainly going to be interesting to see how he responds when he's clearly the top option.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) controls the ball against Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Bill Streicher-Imagn

Of course, with that, defenses will counter as well and work to make life tougher for Tatum, so it will be fun to see how he and Joe Mazzulla adjust, and how those around Tatum adjust as well: particularly Pritchard, Derrick White and Paul George.

Also in the news for the Celtics

Josh Tonje was signed to a two-way contract by the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Tonje, 25, was taken in the second round of the NBA Draft in 2025 by the Utah Jazz, but ended up playing six games for the Celtics in 2025-26. In those six games, he averaged 2.5 points per game.

He had a better run with the Celtics in this year's Las Vegas Summer League that just wrapped up. He averaged 14.8 ppg in the Summer League session, also shooting 45.2 percent from the floor. 

He spent 11 games with the Celtics' G-League affiliate in Maine in 2025-26, scoring 18.1 points per game in that time.

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