Jan 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla reacts in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Celtics Insider Predicts 10-Man Rotation for Upcoming Season

Originally posted on Boston Celtics on SI
By Ricardo Klein | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The 2025-26 season is slowly approaching. The Boston Celtics will enter this season in a much different place compared to where they entered last season.

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Last season, the Celtics were viewed as the overwhelming favorites to repeat as champions. As for this upcoming season, the Celtics are far from the favorites to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Boston's roster is not nearly as strong as it was last season. The Celtics lost four players via trade and free agency and will be without their best player for most, if not all, the season, Jayson Tatum.

The Celtics will be far weaker this season, but they built the best team they could with what they had. Boston will head into the new season with some new pieces. It's tough to gauge who they will rely on on a night-in, night-out basis.

Brian Robb of Mass Live conducted a mailbag, and one of the questions he received was regarding the Celtics' starting five and their 10-man roster.

Robb listed who he thinks will be the Celtics starting five.

"Jaylen Brown and Derrick White are the obvious ones to keep their spots. Give me Payton Pritchard in the backcourt alongside White. He’s earned a bigger role given the state of this roster and it makes sense to find out this year what he can do as a starter since Anfernee Simons isn’t probably a part of this team’s long-term future. After that? It depends on how Joe Mazzulla wants to play.

"If he’s starting small with one big, Sam Hauser is probably your other forward and a strong rebounding big like Neemias Queta is a likely option at center. If Mazzulla opts for double bigs, Chris Boucher could hypothetically play some power forward as well with his range. Hauser and Queta would be my bet for now barring a wildcard emerging in training camp (Josh Minott?)."

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As for the 10-man rotation, those who will play on a daily basis, Robb had this to say.

"For 10-man rotation, give me the starters, Simons, Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, Chris Boucher and one of Josh Minott/Jordan Walsh."

This year's 10-man rotation will be a lot different than last year's. Last season, it was highlighted with Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet and Al Horford, to name a few.

For the start of the 2025-26 season, that will not be the case.

The Celtics will look a lot different this season, but they believe they can compete with the best of them as currently constructed.