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With Opening Night just days away, it’s time for us to break down the Celtics' roster to give you an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like for the 2025-26 season.
Rather than classifying players with the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 positional tags, we’re taking a page out of President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ book by placing each athlete into one of the following categories:
We’ll begin our Roster Breakdown Series by highlighting Boston’s ball handlers. The Celtics have several players capable of facilitating the offense, including a few of their wings; however, we’re focusing on the four who specialize in that role, listed in order of minutes played per game last season.
Here are the guys who keep Boston’s offense in motion:
Derrick White
Entering his fourth full season in Boston, Derrick White is poised to take on his biggest role yet with the Celtics. With Jayson Tatum sidelined indefinitely and with several key departures from last season’s team, Boston will lean heavily on White as a scorer and facilitator while also depending on his All-Defensive skill set on the other end.
White is coming off his best pro season after averaging career-highs of 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.5 3-point makes per game in 2024-25. He also handed out 4.8 assists and blocked 1.1 shots per contest.
He showed his ability to step up in Tatum’s absence after the latter ruptured his Achilles in the playoffs last season, logging a 34-point effort with seven makes from long distance the very next game after Tatum went down. He also had some exceptional exhibition performances, including a 33-point outing in the preseason finale on Oct. 15.
White’s steady growth has transformed him from a glue guy to a go-to guy, and the Celtics will count on him to keep that trajectory climbing as their backcourt leader.
Anfernee Simons
The offseason addition of Anfernee Simons filled a critical need for the Celtics: a reliable scoring punch. Simons arrives after seven seasons in Portland, where he evolved into the Trail Blazers’ top offensive option. Over the past three years, he’s averaged 20.7 points per game and became Portland’s leading scorer following Damian Lillard’s departure.
Simons ranks sixth in the NBA over the last four seasons in made threes per game (3.28) and the former Slam Dunk Contest champion combines that shooting prowess with explosive drives and highlight-reel finishes.
He has also grown as a playmaker, averaging 4.7 assists per game across the last three seasons. Defensively, he’s committed to making strides under Joe Mazzulla’s leadership, saying he wants to become the most complete player he can be and contribute to Boston’s winning culture.
Payton Pritchard
Payton Pritchard enters the 2025-26 season coming off a breakout year that earned him the Sixth Man of the Year award. He averaged career-highs of 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 3.2 made threes per game across 80 appearances, while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Boston will look for the sixth-year guard to build on that success with an evern larger role as both a ball-handler and scorer. There’s a good chance he could see more starts this season, with both he and Simons as viable options alongside White in the backcourt.
Pritchard insists that it doesn’t matter whether he starts or comes off the bench, as long as he’s on the floor in some capacity. His relentless energy and confidence never waver, and that will be vital this season as he embraces a growing leadership role.
Ron Harper Jr. (Two-Way)
Ron Harper Jr. was the latest addition to Boston’s roster, signing a two-way deal just six days before the season-opener. However, he’s not entirely new to the system having participated in two Celtics training camps and spent part of last season with the Maine Celtics.
This season, he’ll split his time between both teams, playing a substantial role with the G League affiliate and backup role with the NBA club.
The 25-year-old sees himself fitting in as a combo guard who also has the size and strength (6-foot-5, 233 pounds) to body up against 3s and 4s. “They emphasized to me that my decision-making with the ball in my hands (is a strength). Being primary, secondary ball-handler, and just being able to defend and hit 3s.”
Harper played 14 games for Maine last season, averaging 14.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 39.2 percent from long range. He spent the rest of the season playing for Detroit’s G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, appearing in 23 games and averaging 17.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, while maintaining a 38.3 percent clip from deep on 8.7 3-point attempts per game.
Max Shulga (Two-Way)
One of the two remaining two-way spots belongs to rookie Max Shulga, a 23-year-old sharpshooter out of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Shulga averaged double-digits in scoring throughout his 162-game collegiate career, shooting 39.2 percent from three during that span. His best season came this past spring when he averaged 15.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.8 steals per game, earning Atlantic-10 Player of the Year honors.
He showcased his range at the NBA Draft Combine, where he tied for first place in the 3-point star drill, making 18-of-25 catch-and-shoot attempts from five designated spots on the floor.
He, too, will spend the season split between Boston and Maine where he’s expected to thrive in a developmental role.
