It’s over. The offseason is behind us. This time next week, the Boston Celtics will be on pace for either 82, 41, or 0 wins after their first two games against the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks. The Celtics have more uncertainty surrounding their roster than in any of the previous eight seasons, which made a typically mundane preseason a little more exciting. While we only got to see the Celtics matchup against one team that played their starters, we were still able to glean a fair amount about this year’s team. Let’s hand out some grades for how Celtics players fared in the 2025 NBA Preseason.
Please note that these grades are relative to expectations. Jaylen Brown was the better player than Josh Minott; however, Josh Minott could receive a higher grade based on his expectations coming into the season.
Let’s kick things off with the roster stalwarts.
Coming into the final preseason game, my biggest takeaway on Jaylen Brown was that he looked healthy. The version of Jaylen Brown that we saw in the Knicks series may as well have been a different human from the player we saw in the preseason. It was great to see the explosive Jaylen Brown back on the floor. Sadly, his status for the start of the regular season is now in jeopardy due to a hamstring injury. In the minutes that we did see Jaylen Brown, I saw what I expected: a player who was clearly the best player on the court. Primed for another All-NBA calibre season.
It doesn’t seem to matter what role Derrick White plays. Whatever role he’s asked to play, he stars in that role. We knew we would see an up-scaled Derrick White coming into the season, but with Jaylen Brown leaving the final preseason game, we saw Derrick do his best Jayson Tatum impression. Leading the team in usage, cleaning the glass, and dominating on the defensive end. White poured in 33 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks, on 61.2% true shooting. The limit to Derrick White’s powers appears to be limitless.
I look forward to seeing Derrick grace the All-Star game with his presence this season.
I have spent the offseason believing that a Jalen Brunson-Lite leap is possible for Payton Pritchard. I saw nothing in the preseason to dissuade me from believing that it is still possible. The part of Pritchard’s game I thought was capable of taking significant strides was his playmaking. In the lone game against NBA starters, Pritchard dropped 10 assists with zero turnovers. Pritchard has turned himself into an excellent basketball player. Let’s see where it takes us.
In his two preseason games, Anfernee Simons did what earned him his four-year, $100 million contract. He scored the ball efficiently. That was the expectation. I’m docking Simons for his underwhelming playmaking and decision-making. I don’t want to overreact to preseason; however, coming into the season, I was hopeful that Simons could spend a chunk of time initiating the offense, creating shots for others. Simons struggled to consistently break down the defense, which limited his ability to find shooters and cutters. He also struggled with ball pressure, leading to live-ball turnovers, of which he had six in the preseason finale. I’m not docking Simons for his sub-par defense, as that was to be expected…but Simons’ defense was as advertised.
Brad Stevens may have done it again. Josh Minott looks like a real hit. A six-foot-nine versatile wing whose motor doesn’t turn off. Some players find themselves in the right place at the right time. It’s a skill, and Josh Minott has it. Whether it’s a weakside rotation to provide some secondary rim protection, flying in for an offensive rebound, or cutting baseline for an easy slam, Minott impacted winning in every way throughout the preseason. The cherry on top was his drives to the rim. Using either hand, Minott displayed an ability to explode to the rim and finish over and around would-be rim protectors. I am glad there is a team option on the second year of Josh Minott’s contract, as I want to see him play with a fully healthy Jayson Tatum.
I won’t fail anyone for preseason basketball. However, we have come crashing down from the high of the handful of games that Baylor Scheierman played well in at the end of the 2024-2025 regular season. Scheierman turned in an underwhelming Summer Leauge, and followed that up with an underwhelming preseason. There are backup wing minutes to be seized. Josh Minott, three years younger, and Hugo Gonzalez, five years younger, appear to have seized those minutes from Scheierman. Baylor’s three-point shot continues to evade him, but what consistently stands out to me is his poor shot selection. It often looks like Baylor is hunting the highlight when he needs to make the right read and simple play. The nail in the coffin, though? 1:29 to go in the final preseason game, the Celtics are up 106-94, the ball is kicked to Jamal Shead at the top of the key, and Baylor Scheierman does one of the laziest contests I’ve ever seen. He couldn’t even muster a Kornet Contest. Shead buries the three. This kick-started a late surge for the Raptors. The identity of this Boston Celtics team has been pitched to us as the hardest, fastest-playing team in the league. You have 31-year-old NBA Champion Derrick White playing the last preseason game like it’s a Game 7, and Baylor has a lazy closeout that is the catalyst for a near collapse. It’s hard to make a case for him to get minutes ahead of Minott or Hugo Gonzalez at this point.
Coming into the season, I expected Hugo Gonzalez to spend the majority of his rookie season with the Maine Celtics. Gonzalez has comfortably moved ahead of Scheierman, and he is battling Jordan Walsh for a spot in the rotation. The 19-year-old from Spain flashed a mix of defensive intensity and offensive IQ in the preseason that should earn him some back-end rotation minutes. I love that Hugo is good for at least one soaring offensive rebound tip-in per game, which might be accompanied by a wild chase-down block later in the quarter. I don’t know how you can justify benching the 19-year-old that has tantalising upside, in favour of the 25-year-old Scheierman, who is still searching for stability possession to possession.
I am impressed with Neemias Queta. While I still believe Queta will be overtasked as a starting center this season, the Celtics will feel good about Queta as a rotational big on a contender at the end of the season. The thing that jumped out to me in preseason was Queta’s activity and effectiveness as a screener. I have vivid memories from last season of myself screaming for Queta to get in and out of his screens faster. Through the preseason, and especially in the preseason finale, it felt as though things clicked for Queta. Sprinting down the court every possession, hunting both on and off-ball screens to either spring a teammate free or to create an easy roll for himself. Queta learning to harness his size and athleticism would be a massive boon to a Celtics team searching for competent center play.
This may seem low for Chris Boucher. But I have been a Chris Boucher guy for years, and the Boucher skillset was on full display this preseason. The combination of size, length, and explosiveness, blended with shooting and shot blocking, makes me wonder why Boucher was available for the veteran’s minimum. Boucher didn’t show any glaring weaknesses that have led him to fight for rotation minutes. It won’t take long for Boucher to be heralded as one of the steals of the offseason.
This grade is based purely on Xavier Tillman looking healthy. After last season, it was fair to wonder if Tillman’s body had betrayed him and that his days in the NBA were numbered. Then Tillman threw down a one-handed alley-oop. Game 3 of the NBA Finals was not a fever dream. Xavier Tillman locking down Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in isolation in the NBA Finals happened. Xavier Tillman going toe-to-toe with Anthony Davis in the 2023 NBA Playoffs happened. If Tillman can maintain this newfound bill of health, he can find a foothold in the NBA as a rotational big man.
As expected, it was a mixed bag in the preseason for Luka Garza. Garza is like the budget big man version of Anfernee Simons. Garza is clearly a skilled offensive player. He has fantastic timing and patience when he has the ball around the basket. As evidenced by his 6.7 free throw attempts per game in the preseason. An absurd number considering Garza only played 16.3 minutes per game. On the other end of the court, we were reminded why Luka Garza was available for the veteran’s minimum. The slow feet, the limited vertical pop preventing him from protecting the rim, we saw it all. Similar to Simons, the sub-par defense was on Garza’s scouting report, so to me, he met expectations this preseason.
In case anyone forgot. It wasn’t an accident that Sam Hauser was the 7th man on a championship team. Sam Hauser rolls out of bed and shoots 40% or better from the three-point line. Not only did Hauser show off his usual three-point shooting brilliance, but he also exhibited some secondary playmaking and, excitingly, some downhill attacking prowess. Hauser’s grade should arguably be lower because the expectation is that he’s awesome. For me, the off-the-dribble moments earned him an A.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw from the Celtics in the preseason. Joe Mazzulla has buy-in from the team. The Celtics are building an identity of a team that punches above its weight each night by playing fast, hard, and shooting a boatload of three pointers.
