Boston Celtics 2026-27 Roster: Full Player List, Starting Lineup and Depth Chart

The Boston Celtics closed the offseason with the most polarizing move in the NBA: shipping Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks. Celtics president Brad Stevens used one word to define the philosophy behind it — “optionality.” The reaction was swift and largely skeptical. The Ringer wrote that the deal “just doesn’t add up,” and Kevin Garnett said Boston will live to regret it. Brown himself admitted he “threw my phone across the room” when he heard the news, and later expressed disappointment at how the organization communicated the trade to him. What follows is a full breakdown of what the 2026-27 Celtics roster actually looks like.

The trade and what it means structurally

Brown’s departure removes the roster’s highest-usage player. In his final full season before the trade, he averaged 26.7 points per game on a 36.2% usage rate across 83 games — a workload no one currently on the roster is built to replicate on their own. According to reports, Brown held one of the seven largest contracts in the league for the coming season, making his impending extension a central driver of the deal. Brown was entering the third year of a five-year, $285 million contract, carrying a $57.08 million cap hit for 2026-27. In return, Boston gets George, four draft picks, and a roster reset that looks more like a bridge year than a championship run.

Projected starting lineup

Jayson Tatum (SF, 2.03m, 28) — Tatum is now the unquestioned first option, but the 23-game sample from 2025-2026 (21.2 PPG, 33.8% from 3-points) is the single biggest unknown heading into this season. His usage sat at 29.9% in those logged games; absorbing Brown’s shot creation will demand significantly more from him. Everything Boston does offensively runs through him now, for better or worse depending on how fully he has recovered.

Paul George (SF, 2.03m, 36) — George brings the one thing Boston desperately needs: shooting. His 41.0% from 3-points in 56 games would have led every rotation player on last year’s team. The concern is durability and role fit. At 36, on a 23.1% usage rate, he is a floor-spacer and third option — not the self-creating scorer Brown was. Boston effectively swapped a 29-year-old first option for a 36-year-old third option and four picks. Playing him next to Tatum at forward will only work if his body holds up over a full season.

Derrick White (SG, 1.96m, 32) — White averaged 15.6 PPG last season but shot only 32.2% from 3-points, a number that stands out as a weak point in a roster that is otherwise leaning hard on floor spacing. His two-way value — play-making, size on the perimeter, and defense — still makes him a lock as a starter, but his outside shot needs to bounce back for the spacing around Tatum and George to function as intended.

Payton Pritchard (PG, 1.85m, 28) — The structural winner of the trade. Pritchard put up 16.6 PPG across 87 games on just 21.3% usage and 37.1% from 3-points last season, already outproducing his role as a lead-bench creator. With Brown and Anfernee Simons both gone, Pritchard inherits a starting job and a much larger share of the shot-creation burden that the roster now needs someone, anyone, to pick up.

Center — either Mitchell Robinson or Neemias Queta — This is the one true toss-up in the starting five. Queta averaged 10.2 PPG and 8.1 RPG last season and offers more offensive polish and better outside touch for a center. Robinson, at 2.13m, brings elite offensive rebounding and rim protection, backed by 8.0 RPG in 80 games, but almost no perimeter shooting. Whoever starts, the other becomes an immediate impact reserve — this is a two-man center rotation regardless of who technically opens games.

Bench rotation and depth chart

Whichever of Robinson or Queta doesn’t start — Still plays heavy minutes in a real center rotation rather than a traditional backup role, given how close the two profiles are in value.

Sam Hauser (SF, 2.03m, 28) — 8.8 PPG and 39.5% from 3-points last season. A reliable, low-usage floor-spacer who fits next to any combination of ball-handlers.

Luka Garza (C/PF, 2.08m, 27) — Shot 41.4% from 3-points, giving Boston a stretch-five change-of-pace option when the frontcourt needs more shooting than Robinson or Queta provide.

Ron Harper Jr. (SG/SF, 1.93m, 26) — 7.7 PPG on 37.9% from 3-points. Depth wing shooting that keeps the second unit’s spacing intact.

Baylor Scheierman (SG, 1.98m, 25) — 5.1 PPG and 39.8% from 3-points, the best raw shooting percentage on the bench outside of Garza. A developing rotation shooter.

Mike Conley (PG, 1.83m, 38) — 3.6 PPG at 35.9% from 3-points, on a $2,449,421 cap hit for 2026-27. The veteran backup point guard, brought in for stability, ball security, and locker-room experience behind Pritchard.

Amari Williams (PF/C, 2.11m, 24) — 5.6 PPG, part of the frontcourt depth chart and a developmental piece behind the top two centers.

Jordan Walsh (SF, 2.01m, 22) — 4.3 PPG on 36.5% from 3-points. A young wing still earning minutes and reps.

Jordan Walsh statistics on BeBasket

Hugo Gonzalez (SF, 1.98m, 20) — 3.6 PPG on 35.6% from 3-points. The youngest wing on the roster, part of the long-term development tier.

Hugo Gonzalez statistics on BeBasket

Chris Cenac Jr. (C, 2.08m, 19) — Averaged 9.5 PPG in non-NBA competition last season. The youngest player on the roster and a true long-term project at center.

Dillon Mitchell (F, 2.03m, 22) — Averaged 8.3 PPG in non-NBA competition, shooting just 6.7% from 3-points in that sample. Depth forward with athletic upside but an unproven perimeter game.

Full roster list

*non-NBA competition

Cap situation

Boston enters 2026-27 with a salary cap of $164,961,000, and the roster’s total payroll comes in well above it, at roughly $210.7 million. George is the single largest cap hit on the roster at $54.1 million — his contract also includes a 15% trade kicker, which pushes his actual 2026-27 salary higher than his listed cap number. White is the next-largest commitment at $30,348,000. On the other end of the spectrum, Conley carries a minimal $2,449,421 cap hit, reflecting his role as a low-cost veteran addition rather than a core financial piece. With payroll already well past the cap threshold, the four incoming draft picks — rather than any near-term cap space — are the real return on this trade, consistent with Stevens’s “optionality” framing.

Roster weakness

The most glaring hole is shot creation. Brown’s 26.7 PPG and 36.2% usage rate represented a volume of self-generated offense that simply does not exist elsewhere on this roster. Tatum can absorb some of that load — but he is coming off a heavily interrupted season, and asking him to carry a significantly higher usage rate immediately carries real risk. George, White, and Pritchard are all role-efficient players, not primary creators. If Tatum is anything less than fully healthy and fully engaged, Boston’s offense has no credible fallback.

Unanswerable questions

Three things cannot be resolved before the season tips off. First: how healthy is Tatum, really? Twenty-three games is not a sample — it is a question mark. Second: can George hold up for 65-plus games at 36? His 56-game output last season is not reassuring. Third: which of the young players — González, Walsh, Cenac, Mitchell — actually forces their way into the rotation?

Joe Mazzulla’s challenge

Head coach Joe Mazzulla faces a genuinely unusual task this season: managing a bimodal roster with four players aged 32 or older (Conley at 38, George at 36, White at 32) and five players aged 24 or under, with very little prime-age depth in between. On top of that, the Robinson-Queta center decision alone could shape how the entire defense is built. Keeping veterans fresh while developing the young tier — without sacrificing wins that protect long-term asset value — is a balancing act with no clean answer, even for a coach coming off a Coach of the Year season.

Season outlook

This projects as a play-in team, not a contender. The arithmetic is simple: Brown’s 26.7 PPG output has not been replaced by anyone currently on the roster. The bet embedded in this trade is on Tatum returning to full form, on George staying healthy, and on the four future picks eventually delivering more value than the player Boston gave up. Whether that bet pays off will be answered over multiple seasons — not this one.

FAQ

Who is on the Boston Celtics roster for 2026-27?

The full 16-man roster includes Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta, Sam Hauser, Mitchell Robinson, Luka Garza, Ron Harper Jr., Baylor Scheierman, Amari Williams, Jordan Walsh, Mike Conley, Hugo González, Chris Cenac Jr., and Dillon Mitchell.

Why did Boston trade Jaylen Brown?

The Celtics sent Brown to Philadelphia in exchange for Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks. Reports indicated Brown’s contract — one of the seven largest in the league for the coming season — was a central factor in the decision.

What is Boston’s salary cap situation for 2026-27?

The Celtics’ payroll sits around $210.7 million against a $164,961,000 cap, driven largely by George’s $54.1 million cap hit and White’s $30,348,000 salary.

Who is Boston’s best player now?

Jayson Tatum, without question. He is the only player on the roster capable of functioning as a true first option.

Is Paul George a good fit in Boston?

His 41.0% 3-point shooting addresses a real need. His age,