All I’ve heard all offseason long is that the Celtics will be a good regular-season team with a safe floor, but a low ceiling and limited playoff and championship equity. The logic is that they lost a proven playoff performer in Jaylen Brown and that they cratered last season in round one against the Sixers, blowing a 3-1 lead.
And sure, that wasn’t great, but other than that blip, this team has done nothing but win in the playoffs since drafting Jayson Tatum. Yes, they have their flaws, but both their ceiling and floor are safer and higher than almost every trendy East team that’s getting hyped up by the experts and analysts.
Knicks must defy odds to repeat
The Knicks are the clear favorites in the East, but we’ve seen how hard it is to sustain success in the modern NBA. The last time a team won the conference in back-to-back seasons was when LeBron James was on the Cavaliers. New York had a magical run, but history says they won’t do it again.
76ers have no frontcourt depth
The Sixers are everyone’s darlings, but the defense is going to be bad, and they have no center depth behind Joel Embiid, who can’t stay on the court. We’ll see how the pieces fit together, but it’s not at all hard to imagine how this could blow up.
Raptors relying on Kawhi to turn back the clock
This Toronto group hasn’t even won a playoff series, and now they are banking on Kawhi Leonard being able to make it through a playoff run healthy, which he hasn’t been able to do since 2019. That seems like extremely wishful thinking.
Pistons have no playoff track record
The Pistons have won exactly one playoff series with this core, and it took a Franz Wagner injury to beat the 8-seeded Magic in seven games. They lost key pieces in the offseason and damaged their relationship with Jalen Duren. I’m expecting a step back from their 60-win season last year.
Cavaliers putting stock in James Harden
Cleveland is another group of regular-season darlings who generally don’t come through in the playoffs. They backed into the ECF and promptly got embarrassed by the Knicks. They still haven’t solved their wing problems, and they have a James Harden playoff problem.
Pacers don’t know what to expect from Tyrese Haliburton
Unlike Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton did not return from his Achilles injury last season. This is a team that went on an amazing playoff run in 2025, but Haliburton hasn’t played since; they’ve swapped out some key pieces, and it could take a while for this team to get its mojo back.
Heat have no shooting
Miami made a big splash for Giannis, but they gutted their depth to do so, and paired him with another star in Bam Adebayo, who lives in similar areas. This fit is awkward at best, and they have no ball handlers or shooters to make this work.
Celtics have highest floor/ceiling combo in East
The point here isn’t to rip on every other team in the East; it’s just to point out that every team has issues, and most of them are much bigger than whatever Boston is facing. We know the Celtics are going to be a win machine with Joe Mazzulla’s system in the regular season.
They’re going to have a high seed and host a lot of playoff games. Maybe things work out for some of these other teams, but even if they hit their ceilings, they’ll have their hands full against the Celtics in a series. And that’s if they can even get there.
The Celtics have a tried-and-true system, a track record of success, and a championship ring in their pocket with a lot of their current players. The idea that they can’t win in the playoffs or that they don’t have a high ceiling is absurd, and people need to stop hyping up all of these shiny new toys around the conference and appreciate the old dog that may have even learned a few new tricks.
Add us as a preferred source on Google