Celtics fans aren’t used to watching their team lose in October.
In fact, prior to this season, Boston hadn’t started 0-3 since the 2013-14 campaign, when the team won just 25 games in Brad Stevens’ first year as head coach. So, perhaps it wasn’t surprising that a few fans (and media members) were wondering aloud if it was time to start talking about the “t-word” after the Celtics’ third straight loss in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.
Then the Celtics walloped the Zion Williamson-less Pelicans by 32 points in New Orleans, and Jaylen Brown delivered a message he’s already mentioned several times early this season.
“It’s going to take some time,” Brown told reporters after Monday’s game. “We lost four All-Stars from last season between Al (Horford), Jrue (Holiday), Kristaps (Porzingis) and JT (Jayson Tatum) being out. And Luke (Kornet) is an All-Star in all of our hearts. We didn’t lose one guy — we lost five.”
“To replace those guys, it doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen in a week, either. We’ve got to build some chemistry, we got to build some identity, and adopt a new style of play.
“But I believe in this group, I believe that we have the potential.”
Whether Brown will be proven right remains to be seen. Boston’s massive talent exodus this past offseason ultimately may prove too much to overcome, especially if Tatum misses a majority of the season. But where Brown does have a point is that it might be a while before we know the identity of the 2025-26 Celtics.
Case in point: Head coach Joe Mazzulla has rolled out three different starting lineups in four games, going with Sam Hauser at power forward against the Sixers and Knicks, then deploying Hugo Gonzalez in Detroit and Josh Minott in New Orleans. Nearly half of Boston’s rotation is new to the roster, with Minott, Gonzalez, Anfernee Simons, Luka Garza and Chris Boucher all joining the team this offseason.
With so much roster turnover, there are bound to be early-season growing pains, especially as Mazzulla experiments with different rotations. And while it’s possible those “growing pains” develop into harsh realities that limit this team’s ceiling without Tatum, it’s also possible that this group starts hitting its stride once players get comfortable in their new roles.
That’s part of why president of basketball operations Brad Stevens emphasized roster flexibility heading into the season, with the dual options of selling at the NBA trade deadline in February (perhaps by trading a player like Simons) if this looks like a lost season, or investing in this team if it can develop into a playoff contender.
If the first four games are any indication, however, it may take weeks (or even months) before we know which path makes the most sense. Which is why Brown and his head coach are doing their best to trust the process (no, not that one).
“No one’s happy (about starting 1-3), but we have an understanding that we’ve undergone a lot of change, and that takes time,” Mazzulla said after the game.
“You’ve got to be patient. Just because we’ve brought back five or six guys, the habits and the disciplines of what you’ve done in the past don’t carry over. That’s not guaranteed. So, we have to redevelop those, and then obviously redevelop the identity of some of the new guys with the way we’re playing.”
