The 15

By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:

The expectations for this Celtics season were always tough to gauge. For one, not having your best player—Jayson Tatum, out with an Achilles tear—caps their ceiling dramatically. The dire salary cap situation forced management to prioritize jettisoning big contracts to clear the books, meaning free agents like Guerschon Yabusele and in-house vets Al Horford and Luke Kornet weren’t options.

It’s a bitter pill for a fan base riding the Jayson Tatum contention wave since 2018. One wrong step, and the franchise is mired in a rut not seen since the Big Three era cleared out.

The solace in this dour hour? Maybe the Celtics land among the NBA’s dregs, in the lottery, where a top-flight prospect rejuvenates a roster quietly desperate for youth and trade assets.

But even this talent-depleted squad isn’t bad enough for lottery glory. Like it or not, they house a Finals MVP (Jaylen Brown), an All-Defensive guard (Derrick White), and the reigning Sixth Man (Payton Pritchard). Not to mention 3-and-D sharpshooter Sam Hauser—a marksman any team would covet.

Yes, beyond that, they lack dudes who dribble, pass, and rebound. But the NBA—especially the East—is littered with worse. On any given night, Jaylen Brown can have flames shooting out his ass, scoring from a phone booth. Derrick White can rim-protect like a center. This leaves room for the scrubs role players to punch above: Minott, Garza, Boucher, Simons – channeling ghosts of better days.

Josh Minott, Luka Garza, Chris Boucher—and especially Anfernee Simons—aren’t championship pieces. Simons? Damian Lillard shot selection without the justification. But some nights, he splashes enough to steal W’s.

The three-point revolution proved basketball is math, not art. Bomb from deep, randomize outcomes, level the field. The Celtics are 3-4. Only the victims of one blow out, despite trash stats: 43.6% FG (27th), 32.6% 3PT (26th). No surprise—they lost three 7-foot rim protectors, replaced by barely warm bodies.

How bad are they? A 42-win squad waiting for luck? The worst clutch team ever, dropping 55 by slim margins? This ain’t 2014—no Vitor Faverani heater flipping Ws to Ls. There are made men here. That scares me.

This team wasn’t built to compete. It was built to carve cap space for Tatum/Brown 2.0. We’re too early to predict that era.

Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not live in Denmark.