Celticsblog Roundtable: Should the Celtics Tank next year?

Should the Celtics tank next year?

Mark Aboyoun

No. I believe in the basketball gods and karma. I don’t want to be like the Sixers who deliberately refueled. Where did she bring? Play each game with the intention of winning. I also don’t think it’s fair for the paying fans to look at a game where they are trying to refuel.

Mike Man

Absolutely not.

1. There is no Victor Wembanyama in this design, no generation prospect cannot be missed that is appreciated in such a way that it is worth throwing away an entire season.

2. Nobody wants to view that, especially not the paying customers.

3. The Celtics do not have a lottery geluk. Fans still try to forget the 15-win season in the failed search for Tim Duncan and the 24-win season that Kevin Durant could have brought in, but did not.

4. The most important reason: refueling does not work. The Sixers refueling notoriously five seasons and collected a boat load of top contracts, but ended with only one star (Joel Embiid), different busts and a set of early playoff outputs – no better than for the tank. It’s just not worth it.

Steve Hooper

I am not sure if a team with so much talent can ‘refuel’. Jaylen Brown, D. White, Pritchard and Hauser can still win a lot of competitions in the east. Will they take a general step back, right? At the same time, there should be a level of parity in the Eastern Conference next season. Cleveland is probably the team to beat, but Boston should be one of the handful of teams who fight for places towards the end of the season. They were a top layer for several seasons, but now they notice that they mixed new talent with an established core group of veterans.

NIRAV BARAN

Although I don’t think the Celtics have to tank down, I think they should consider more this year as R&D instead of pushing a real product. As the saying says, players do not refuel, teams do. That said, I don’t see Mazzulla or Brad bringing the players in a position where they will actively try to win from games.

With perhaps the exception from Derrick White, almost every active player on the Celtics -Roster has something to prove this year. The young dollar such as Walsh, Scheierman, Queta and the Rookies will try to show off their NBA value so that they can stay in the competition. Jaylen Brown comes from perhaps the first year of his career last year and comes from the knee operation. This is also his first chance to be that guy with JT who is out all year round, and Pritchard has a similar view with his chance to finally become a starter. The new additions such as Simons, Garza, Minott and Niang will all also want to earn their next contracts.

With the overall schedule construction, the Celtics probably not enough to put together a competitive season, as we have seen since the Jay has entered the competition, but they can learn a lot about the players this year. The goal is to bounce back as quickly as possible with JT who is expected to come back in the 26-27 season. This is Mazzulla’s chance to get weird and for the players to make mistakes. Sitting players to lose games is not the path that lies in front of us, but winning is not everything this season either.

Jack Anderson

I don’t think they should go into a tank the season. Mazzulla, brown and white are too proud of that. I also think that their core of JT, JB, White, Pritchard and Hauser is a good starting place to build. They should definitely play the young boys and when the season rolls the tracks, the veterans start to rest more, but do not start the season in a tank. They should see what they have and go from there.

Jake Issenberg

Yes. The Celtics should absolutely lean in the tank. A team that is built around two super max contracts will find it aggressive difficult to add high-level talent. The Celtics are very limited in how they can pick up the 2027 version of the Jrue Holiday Trade, given the new SME. Their most obvious path to add talent at a high level is through the design. The top of the design of 2026 is stacked with franchise-changing talent. Giving prioritization to the play-in above securing the 9th best lottery opportunities, giving you a 20% chance of a top-four choice with the new flattened lottery opportunities, would be short-sighted. Lean in playing the young boys, exchange Niang and Simons for more salary lighting and future assets and then draw up the modern Len Bias.

Jeff Clark

It is not in the DNA of Joe Mazzulla to refuel. The same with Jaylen Brown or one of the players. So I don’t think they will want the outright tank (intentionally). But that is not the question.

I think there should be a lot for this team to finish even in the upper half of the Eastern Conference. If things go south for some reason (injuries, regression on defense, lack of depth), I saw them leaning in loading management and/or being extra careful with some injury. But again, that was not the question.

The question was “Do they have to refuel?” I think the players and coaches should always try to win every game. However, the Front Office must keep an eye on the larger whole. We are already 10 toes in the GAP Year plan. The talent drain alone will collect a lot of losses next year. Perhaps it is not a traditional “tank”, but a gap year is in fact a short -term tank.

So yes, they must continue with the plan they have already set in motion. However, the key will be what they follow with the schedule next season. Because this is not worth it if we don’t bounce back stronger than ever.