While one analyst questioned the Boston Celtics trading for Paul George in exchange for Jaylen Brown, ESPN's Brian Windhorst sees the bright side for the most-storied franchise. As the dust settles from the Celtics' blockbuster trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, looking ahead to the 2026-27 season, he's giving Boston the benefit of the doubt.

Considering Joe Mazzulla's track record as the Celtics' head coach, Windhorst predicts his team will finish in the top half of a competitive Eastern Conference, he said, per ESPN's The Hoop Collective.

“I believe the Celtics will have a good year this year. I think we're going to have to retrofit what we think is a good year because I think there's going to be fewer wins for teams across the board,” Windhorst said. “So, Celtics might win fewer games than they did last year, but still have a very good year. I just think Joe Mazzulla is going to be obsessed, and the team is going to be obsessed with proving everybody wrong. And I think they're going to have a very good regular season.

“Now, whether or not they're going to be better as a playoff team, having lost Jaylen Brown and swapping him out for Paul George, that, I think, is a different conversation. But I would not be surprised if the Celtics end up with a top-5 or 6 record this season.”

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In response to ESPN's NBA Future Power Rankings, where a staff of writers ranked the Celtics third-highest for having the brightest future, Brian Windhorst disagreed with the ranking despite having high hopes for Boston this upcoming season.

“This is too high. I think we all can agree this is too high, but it may not be ridiculous,” Windhorst added. “You're basically saying the coach and the organization has a track record of getting it right, and you're betting on them getting it right.”

How the Celtics fare without Jaylen Brown for the first time in 10 years will be one of the more intriguing storylines of the 2026-27 season.