Celtics Player Power Rankings, Inaugural 2026-2027 Edition

I was tempted to do this after the first game, when the team was bullied out of the second half by Detroit, but I didn't want to overreact. Entering that first game, Javonte Green had played 345 NBA games. He had hit more than three three pointers in precisely one of them, and that game went into overtime. To say that that first loss in Detroit was a perfect storm of unlikely events would be an understatement. That's not how the Boston media covered it, of course. Too many corners of the Boston media have regained their taste for blood, and no longer want to give teams the benefit of the doubt – the knives are back out, all the time. Not all of the media, but enough of them. So I didn't want to pile on. The C's started 0-3 last season and still won 56 games. Lo and behold, four games later, the team is 4-1 and in the three seed.

November is going to be a tough month, but it's going to be tough for every team, as the league continues its foolish NBA Cup experiment that scrunches far too many games into November in order to give everyone an extended break around the NBA Cup semifinals and finals in early December. It's the biggest problem with the NBA calendar, and the league is going to need to find a different solution. Nobody still really cares about the NBA Cup, and it's making the product of the season worse. It's time to go back to the drawing board.

On to the point of this exercise – talking about the players! In the past, I have started at one and worked backwards, but I thought it would be fun to start reversing things.

Seventeen. Amari Williams: Did you know he's only two years younger than Neemias Queta? Last season at this time, you could see the opportunity for him, but now it will take injuries for him to get minutes. He has proven an adept shot blocker, but is still regularly seems a step slow in most facets of the game. Not getting NBA reps isn't likely to help him in that area, but I still think he's worth having on the roster. I don't mind when he plays, which is a testament to the work Brad Stevens and Co. have done.

Sixteen. Dillon Mitchell: I'm excited for him to make his NBA debut. He's unlikely to get much run, but the knock on him was that he couldn't shoot, and he hit a couple of eyebrow-raising threes in the preseason. He could be a steal, the team just doesn't really have a place for him.

Fifteen. Devin Carter: I do think Carter is a steal. I remember in his rookie season, he was injured to start the season, and so his game here in Boston in January was only his fourth NBA game, and he showed out in his brief time on the court – 11 points, four rebounds, and an assist in 17 minutes. Not earth shattering, but for a rookie starting his first cross-country road trip, I was impressed. The Kings weren't, though. He didn't play 17 minutes in any of the next 29 games – nine of which he didn't play at all. He got solid minutes in five games in late March and April when the team devolved into full-blown tanking.

The same was true last season. He hardly played at all until February, but from February on, he averaged 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and just 1.8 turnovers per game. The shooting admittedly was poor, but also the Sacramento coaching staff fucking sucks. But neither Sacramento nor Atlanta wasn't convinced, and after Atlanta traded for him, they waived him before training camp started. They had too many guys, so they had to make some hard decisions, but their misfortune was Boston's gain. Carter is on a two-way contract right now, but I could absolutely see the C's doing some salary gymnastics toward the end of the season to get Carter onto a full standard contract so that he'd be eligible for the playoffs. But let's see him get healthy and make his season debut first.

Fourteen. Chris Cenac Jr.: He and Mitchell both have the kind of athleticism that you cannot teach. He's going to have growing pains to be sure, but he's an exciting player to see on the court, and I loved the bet on him. Before his college debut, he was ranked the No. 6 ESPN recruit out of high school in 2025. He was ranked higher than Darius Acuff, Mikel Brown Jr., Brayden Burries, and Kingston Flemings, four guys who went in the top 10 of the 2026 NBA Draft. At the 27th pick? That's gold, Jerry!, even if his stocked dropped a little at University of Houston (who pays attention to them, anyway?). Let's circle back in January, see how much he has played at the NBA level. It probably won't be much, but you never know.

Thirteen. Mike Conley Jr.: He probably won't play much either, but it was fun to see him get his first two buckets in green earlier in the week. The first one was classic Conley – caught it in the corner, relocated a step to the side, and swish. He is perfect in the Blake Griffin/Sam Cassell legendary vet mentor role. This should be Al Horford's role, but Al decided he wanted to watch Stephen Curry's knees deteriorate into spaghetti in real time instead. Such is life.

Twelve. Ron Harper Jr.: Three Junior's in a row! Is that a record for Junior's on the same team in Celtics history? Who's to say, but I certainly can't remember another time the team had three of them. I'm a little sad Harper isn't getting more run, but as long as Paul George is healthy, there really isn't a lot of opportunity for him. That will probably change, but hopefully he will stay locked in and ready for when that moment does come. I have faith that he will.

Eleven. Luka Garza: Coach Joe Mazzulla seems cognizant that he needs to get Garza three-to-six minutes every game to keep him fresh. Garza has been coming in midway through the second quarter, and running around like a buzzsaw. It is awesome for those three to six minutes. Maybe a similar stint in the late third, early fourth quarter. But unlike last season, the team doesn't need to rely on him late in games, and that is going to pay dividends. Garza is a great change of pace, but his deficiencies in defensive positioning and rebounding rear their head much more in crunch time.

Ten. Hugo González: I am sad that Harper isn't playing more, but I am a little more miffed that Hugo isn't playing more. Through five games, he's averaging three minutes fewer than he did last season. He's only topped 10 minutes in the two, mostly inconsequential Chicago games. It's hard, and it's a balancing act, especially with Paul George playing so well, but Hugo needs to see the floor more. But the back-to-backs start tomorrow. There are four in November, and all four – Orlando and Houston on the road, Philly and Toronto on the road, Dallas and Orlando at home, and San Antonio and Dallas on the road – will be tough. Hopefully there will be real opportunities for him to play more in some of those games. Against Orlando especially. If there are any games I want George sitting out, it's the Orlando games. Orlando's entire ethos is just to beat the shit out of you, and those games seem ripe for a Paul George injury. Hugo is better suited to soak up those minutes. But as much as I believe in and am intrigued by Hugo, he can't rank higher than 10th when he is only averaging 11.6 minutes per game.

Nine. Baylor Scheierman: If you're sensing a theme, it's the embarrassment of depth riches the team has in this sector of the roster. I can't believe Scheierman ranks so low right now. When I last did this in March, he ranked fifth. He's been awesome, I have no notes. He just has slid back in the pecking order. Is he the best player in Celtics history who is averaging just 3.4 points per game? Well, he's on the list, at least!

Eight. Sam Hauser: It is crazy just how reliable Sam is. He comes in, and it's like the floor breathes a sigh of relief. Everyone spreads out, because Sam just always hits his threes. I remember there was a few games last season where Sam's shot didn't go in, and it was so strange. Thus far this season, there are 89 players averaging at least five three point attempts per game. Hauser's .500 3PT% ranks fourth among them, behind only Jamal Murray (once again killing it), Toumani Camara (fluke alert!), and De'Andre Hunter (lol, sure). Obviously Sam isn't going to shoot .500 all season, but he has historically shot better with Jayson Tatum on the court, so it wasn't a surprise that his .393 3PT% last season was his career low. It wouldn't surprise me if he settled in around his career highs of .424-.432 this season, and if he does, watch out.

Seven. Mitchell Robinson: Want to know a scary movie? Mitch hasn't really played a good game yet. He's going to need some time – he played with one team for eight seasons, and the C's play a much different style of ball than do the Knicks. It hasn't mattered much outside of the first game when Jalen Duren worked him pretty good, because Neemias Queta has picked up the slack. But I'm looking forward to Mitch getting more comfortable. For his career, he has averaged 7.9 rebounds per game, and this season has not pulled down more than seven boards in any one game.

Six. Jordan Walsh: He's been a revelation. We saw a little of this last season, when he opened eyes guarding Tyrese Maxey, something fewer and fewer players in the NBA can do effectively. Walsh's insertion into the starting lineup has kind of been a stroke of genius, because he doesn't need the ball to be effective. His Usage Percentage of 13.4% ranks 10th on the team, and there's a decent gap between him and Neemias Queta at ninth. By the numbers, he's not shooting as well as he did last season, but I oddly don't feel dread when he has the ball like I did before last season. I trust that he's going to make good decisions the majority of the time. Foul-wise, he's mostly calmed down. He got victimized by Norman Powell a couple of times last night, but Powell has made a career of that, and it was his second time seeing Walsh in a week, a rare occurrence for the regular season.

Five. Paul George: Paul George has become the strangest luxury. When he's been on the court, he's been marvelous. He has had instant chemistry with Jayson Tatum, and he's been mostly efficient and additive. There's been some possessions when he decides to go ISO, and I don't love those, and there's been a few times where he's reflexively thrown the ball to a spot where he thought someone would be standing but no one was and created a fun surprise for the people in the first row. That's a guy settling into a new team stuff, and should work itself out.

But as additive and efficient and revelatory as he's been, when he goes to the bench, he's not missed. Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser, and Hugo González have played so well that as important as George is, he's never going to be needed for 40 minutes per game. In fact, the 30.4 minutes per game he is averaging can and should probably come down by a couple of minutes. I called him "irrelevant" before the season started and that was much too harsh. He's been awesome. But as awesome as he's been, he just doesn't feel as pivotal to the team's success. Perhaps I'm just being cautious, because I'm just waiting for him to get hurt or start sitting out games.

As great as George has been on offense, his biggest impact has been his active hands on defense, and that seems to be catching on with all the guys, which is tremendous. The team has added a bunch more steals. Last season, the team averaged 7.1 steals per game, which ranked 28th out of 30 teams. This season so far, they're at 9.2 steals per game, which ranks 11th. Interestingly, there's been an inverse with blocks, a drop from 5.0 to 3.4. The total Stocks (steals plus blocks) is the same – 12.1 last season, 12.6 this season – but the strategic shift feels deliberate. I like it. A block doesn't always equal a change of possession, but a steal does. It's seemingly getting the team out in transition more, and I think it should help save Derrick White's legs for the postseason. D White did a lot of jumping to challenge shots at the rim last season, and as exciting as those plays are, playing in late May and June is more exciting.

Four. Derrick White: Speaking of Derrick, this was the toughest decision for me. It feels wrong to drop Derrick all the way to the fourth. I did so for a couple of reasons. One, his shot still isn't all the way back, though it is coming along. Two, he is back more in his "do all the little things well" role than he is in a pivotal "straw stirring the drink" role. And in the few moments when the offense has gotten gamey, it has seemingly been Payton Pritchard who is the one to get the team back on track, and not Derrick. Having said all of that, I love where he is right now. He is averaging 29.2 minutes per game, which is much fewer than his last three seasons (32.6, 33.9, and 34.1), but I think that's where he needs to be. He wore down too much last season.

He doesn't need to be managed the way Al Horford did, but Derrick is Mr. Durability, and as such, he ranked eighth in the NBA in minutes played over the last three regular seasons combined. In them, he played 636 more minutes than the next-highest Celtics player (Jaylen Brown in 20th place overall). And he had the Finals run in one of those seasons, the grueling two rounds against Orlando and New York the following season, and the long series with Philly last season. Derrick would never complain, and that's why we love him, but if he doesn't want to sit out games, he just needs to play a few fewer minutes per game in each of them. He's 32 now, which makes him the third-oldest player on the roster – just Paul George and Mike Conley Jr. are older. And with Payton Pritchard, Hugo González, Ron Harper Jr., Conley, and Devin Carter in the fold, the C's are better equipped than ever to soak up the minutes when Derrick rests.

Three. Neemias Queta: He's been awesome. God love Mitchell Robinson, but he has a tendency to do some really stupid things on the basketball court. Some of those are "new guy on the team" stupid things, and some of those are just a lack of discipline. And every time he does one stupid thing too many, Joe brings Neemy into the game, and everything settles down. It's pretty incredible that Neemy is now in the role of the veteran who knows how things work. The C's nearly blew the Brooklyn game the other night specifically because Neemy got whistled for a semi-ridiculous sixth foul with seven seconds left, and Mitch couldn't hit his free throws when he was fouled a couple of seconds later. Neemy would have hit at least one, and the game would have ended in regulation.

Queta also seems more comfortable shooting further away from the hoop. I no longer fear him taking an eight-foot push shot, and he is 1-for-1 on three pointers. Last season, Neemy was revelatory, and even though he isn't starting right now, he feels more important to the team than Mitch does thus far this season.

Two. Payton Pritchard: Pritchard is turning into one of the best player development stories not just in team history, but league history. There were lots of moments in his first couple of seasons when Pritchard's play felt like comic relief. To see how far he's come is nothing short of breathtaking. And right now, he's putting up the same production as he did last season, but in five fewer minutes per game. Of the 92 guards who have played 100+ minutes thus far, Pritchard's .661 TS% ranks ninth overall – better than Luka Dončić, Jamal Murray, and De'Aaron Fox, to name a few. Zoom out to all players with 100+ minutes played, and Pritchard ranks 31st, essentially tied for 30th with Kevin Durant, who, you know is pretty good at basketball. If the C's stay at the top of the conference, they may garner two All-Stars. The second one will probably be Paul George if he stays healthy, but if he doesn't, Pritchard may get his first legitimate buzz as an All-Star. Can you even imagine?

One. Jayson Tatum: He's baaaaack. I'm going to save any deep dives on the stats until we get a little further into the season, because I want to do a full piece on him, but he's putting up MVP-worthy stats (27.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and a career-best 7.8 assists per game) and he's not even shooting well yet. He's also not dominating the ball the way Jaylen Brown did last season. I don't want to do this all season, but for all the people who think JT lords over the ball, his USG% this season is 31.9. He's never had a season over 32.7. Last season, JB was at 36.2, which ranked second in the NBA behind only Dončić. Right now, JT ranks 12th in Usage and fifth in points per game. That's efficiency.

It's also really pivotal to keep everyone involved, because the team is deep enough to spread the love around.

If Jayson Tatum plays this well and the team continues to be at the top of the league, he has a real chance at an MVP run. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is unlikely to win three in a row, especially if the Thunder dip to fifth or sixth place. Though if he singlehandedly keeps them in the top three, who knows. Nikola Jokić looks more mortal than ever and the Nuggets are a mess, Luka Dončić is getting embarrassed by old man Stephen Curry on defense, and Victor Wembanyama isn't even the biggest story on his own team right now thanks to Spurs coach Mitch Johnson ridiculously choosing to shoehorn Dylan Harper into the starting lineup. Tyrese Maxey and Cade Cunningham will be heard from along with the other players listed above, but Tatum returning to first-team All-NBA form and leading the C's to the top of the conference after the JB trade and in a much more competitive East than at any point in the last decade would play really well with the voters. I'm eager to see it all unfold. His buzzer beater on Tuesday against Brooklyn provided a great early highlight to help set the campaign's foundation.