Quarter-season check-in: Is Celtics’ ceiling higher than we thought?

Joe Mazzulla is pushing all the right buttons lately, and the Celtics are leaning into small-ball lineups that maximize their skill and versatility. Boston still needs to tighten up its rebounding, which has conspired against a defensive rating that sits in the back half to he NBA, but the Celtics rank seventh overall in halfcourt defense and simply have been gouged by putbacks.

That’s all our long-winded way of suggesting that the Celtics might be more in the mix in this mishmash East than most expected. Trade season officially opens in less than two weeks, and Brad Stevens might be more likely now to seek frontline help (we’ve spent hours in the Trade Machine trying to finagle a reacquisition of Robert Williams III) than sweat Boston’s bottom line.

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Hovering above all this is the potential return of Jayson Tatum in calendar year 2026.

It’s impossible to watch the glimpses of his on-court work via his Snapchat stories and not ponder Tatum’s possible return in the second half of the 2025-26 season. He may not be All-NBA Jayson Tatum at that point, and the Celtics will surely bring him along slowly if he does indeed return to game action, but his presence alone changes the ceiling of what’s possible this season.

Combine that with the continued evolution of this current roster, and it’s easy to be optimistic about where this team is trending.

Of course, all of this demands the Celtics stay healthy. Brown has played in all 21 games to start the new campaign despite entering the year with hamstring woes and navigating back spasms during the most recent stretch.

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Outside of a Queta ankle sprain, the Celtics have had their core players available for much of the season. The margin for error this year is slim, even when this team is at full strength. A long-term injury to a core piece complicates matters in a hurry.

But the development of some of the youngest players, including Walsh and newcomers Josh Minott and Hugo Gonzalez, have positioned the Celtics well for the future. The C’s look like they have a stable of young wings who can be legitimate contributors on the next Boston title contender. And most have only scratched the surface of how good they can be — while playing on bargain deals.

Maybe that acceleration back to true title threat won’t happen until the 2026-27 season. Maybe Tatum needs to shake off rust and Stevens needs to make a few roster tweaks before Boston is ready for true title-chasing reentry.

But if you entered the season daydreaming about a potential lottery pick, it might be time to at least reconsider the benefits of Boston making a spirited playoff push, even if that lands the team more towards the middle of the 2026 NBA Draft order.

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At the start of the season, we were probably more bullish than most on these Celtics, in part because it felt like there was simply too much talent here for them to slide back to the lottery pack. What’s more, the Stevens-era Celtics have long prioritized wins over draft position. A new owner surely yearns to win, too.

A lot still has to break right for these Celtics to stay competitive. Brown has shouldered a heavy burden, younger players can’t get complacent with their progress, and Mazzulla has to continue to maximize the pieces that are available.

But there’s also a clear pathway to being an East playoff disruptor. Even if the Celtics are a bit up and down on the journey to the postseason, no team is going to want to match up against them in April or May, particularly if Tatum is back on the floor.

There’s a lot of work ahead for the Celtics to truly inject themselves in that playoff mix. But how quickly the Celtics dusted themselves off from an 0-3 start and found the combinations that have made them competitive against the best in the East is encouraging.

Encouraging enough to alter the outlook of what’s possible this season.