Boston's record is 0-0, so every figure here comes from last season or the sample already logged with this roster. Together they sketch a team overspending for continuity, and one bench five that outproduced every other grouping.
Boston is paying for continuity, not a discount.
Boston carries $203.9 million in salary this season, past the $200.4 million tax threshold and closing on the first apron. Tatum's $58.5 million anchors it, with George at $54.1 million and White at $30.3 million behind him. The number proves Boston chose to keep paying for the George-for-Brown bet rather than rebuild around it. It does not prove the roster is better than the one that spent less and still lost in the first round last spring.
One lineup outproduced the rest of the roster combined.
Last season's most productive five-man unit was Hauser, Pritchard, Queta, White and Brown: 35 games, 200 minutes, a net rating of plus-17.9 on a 122.6 offense and a 104.7 defense. That gap is the best in the sample recorded for this roster. It does not carry into camp, because Brown has since gone to Philadelphia in the deal that brought George to Boston, so the group can't take the floor again.
Brown scored like a starter without starting, elsewhere now.
Brown hit 20 points in four of his last five appearances off the bench, starter-level scoring produced from reserve minutes. It is a real number, and it now belongs to Philadelphia's rotation, not Boston's. What it does not do is tell Boston who replaces that scoring punch in year one without him.
Last season's defense and offense both graded well, banners didn't follow.
Boston finished last season at 120.0 on offense and 111.7 on defense, a net rating of plus-8.3 good for a 56-26 record. Both marks graded well against the league; neither prevented a first-round exit after a 3-1 series lead. The record proves regular-season quality. It does not prove postseason answers, which is the whole argument for trading Brown for George in the first place.
Is Jaylen Brown still on this Celtics roster?
No. Boston traded Brown to Philadelphia this summer for Paul George, ending the pairing with Tatum known as the Jays.
Has the 2026-27 season started yet?
No, Boston is 0-0. Preseason opens October 8 at Cleveland, and the regular-season opener is October 20 at Detroit.
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