NBA Season Simulation Has Celtics Sort Of Winning Championship

The various predictions and projections for the Boston Celtics’ level of success during the 2025-26 NBA season have varied.

Few, if any, have the new-look Celtics winning a championship, however.

Without the likes of Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet on their roster, and with Jayson Tatum’s status very much up in the air, Boston is no longer a title contender.

The Celtics still have a solid core trio of Derrick White, Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard though, plus head coach Joe Mazzulla, leading the way and should be able to compete with most of the Eastern Conference teams.

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wrote up a “2025-26 NBA season simulation” on Tuesday and while the model has Boston finishing 10th in the East at 40-42 and losing in Play-In Tournament, it also shows the Celtics winning the second annual NBA Cup.

Pelton’s simulation has Boston starting the year hot at 16-10 to earn the No. 1 seed in the NBA Cup.

“The NBA Cup, running from Oct. 21 to Dec. 16, resulted in an unexpected final in Las Vegas that pitted the Celtics against former guard Jrue Holiday and the Trail Blazers. Boston, off to a 16-10 start without the injured Jayson Tatum, finished as the No. 1 seed in the East play-in and beat the Pistons at home and the Heat in the semifinals in Las Vegas,” he wrote. “Alas, the Blazers’ run ended in a 115-103 loss. Portland shot 10-of-36 on 3s, while Derrick White and Payton Pritchard made four apiece for Boston, which immediately shut down talk of referring to the NBA Cup as ‘Banner 19.’ Still, the Celtics were able to match the rival Lakers’ inaugural NBA Cup title.”

The simulation has the Golden State Warriors and Orlando Magic finishing the regular season atop the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, with records of 63-19 and 57-25.

It then sees Orlando shocking the world by defeating Golden State in the NBA Finals in seven games. The Magic have never won a championship.