Sportsbooks still love Celtics, though Eastern Conference may have other ideas

The Celtics traded Jaylen Brown, are counting heavily on a 36-year-old Paul George and don’t really know how much Jayson Tatum can handle after tearing his Achilles in 2025.

Naturally, they’re considered the third-best team in the Eastern Conference.

As Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors noted, the various futures odds generally have Boston trailing only the defending champion Knicks and the Sixers, who added Brown and some fellow named LeBron James.

That ranking isn’t outrageous. It just feels a little generous.

Tatum returned remarkably quickly and appeared in 16 games last season. Now Boston will need him to return to being Tatum, not merely a guy who deserves credit for returning from a devastating injury. Those are two very different things.

George remains a gifted player, but availability has become part of the scouting report. He has played more than 56 games only once in the past seven seasons. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard form a dependable backcourt, while Mitchell Robinson should improve the interior defense. Still, this isn’t the same deep, overwhelming Celtics roster that won the 2024 championship.

Of course, everyone expected Boston to fall apart last season after its cost-cutting summer. The Celtics responded by finishing second in the East before blowing a 3-1 playoff lead against Philadelphia. So dismissing them would be foolish.

Automatically placing them third may be premature, too. Detroit finished with the East’s best record. Cleveland reached the conference finals and kept its core together. Indiana gets Tyrese Haliburton back, and both Miami and Toronto made significant additions.

Boston could absolutely remain near the top. But this version of the Celtics has more questions than its reputation and betting odds might suggest.