Celtics Fantasy Basketball Outlook: Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and More

Unlike some of the other top teams in the NBA, there was a decent amount of turnover with the Boston Celtics roster.

Let’s take a look at the team’s top fantasy players, where their Average Draft Positions (ADPs) are and then finally determine if that’s where they should be drafted.

Get ready for draft season! Try out the Draft Genius, check out ADPs, take a look at our weekly and daily projections and get advice with our draft analyzer and trade analyzer.

Jayson Tatum Fantasy Outlook

Tatum is the leader of the Celtics after producing his first 30-point season last year. He played in 74 games and averaged just under 37 minutes a contest.

Tatum finished with averages of 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks a contest. He shot 46.6% from the floor, 35% on 3-pointers and 85.4% on his free throws. Despite having the ball in his hands a lot, he had under three turnovers a game.

Boston’s leader didn’t have many down games, finishing with over 20 points in all but 10 contests. To reach the next level of fantasy stardom, owners would like to see an increase in his assists and some of his defensive numbers, but he does plenty to warrant being one of the first picks in fantasy drafts. The fact he plays in so many games helps him sometimes outscore the few players drafted ahead of him by the time the regular season is up.

Tatum currently has an ADP of 5 in head-to-head leagues and category/roto leagues.

Jaylen Brown Fantasy Outlook

Brown is one of the league’s best No. 2 options. He played in 67 games and averaged 35.9 minutes a contest.

Brown finished the year with 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.4 blocks a contest. He shot 49.1% from the floor but a career low 33.5% on 3-pointers. Brown was 76.5% on his free throws, another fairly low mark for a guy who averages as many points as he does.

Brown scored over 10 points in all but one game last season. He tallied 30 or more points in 22 contests. Fantasy owners would love to see him get a few more assists, but there’s not many other areas of his game that lack from a fantasy perspective. 

With some of the offseason moves the team made, Brown could see a dip in points if he can’t improve his shooting percentages. Those same additions could help him average more assists, which could make up for the scoring.

Brown’s ADP is 29 in H2H leagues and 32 in category/roto leagues.

Kristaps Porzingis Fantasy Outlook

Porzingis joins the Celtics after spending the last couple of seasons with the Washington Wizards. He’s dealt with a handful of injuries over his career, but averaged 32.6 minutes over 65 games played a season ago.

Porzingis finished the year with averages of 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.5 blocks. He finished just under 50% shooting from the floor, while going 38.5% on his triples and 85.1% on his free throws.

There isn’t much to criticize from the big man’s season last year. He scored under 10 points just twice and finished with five or more boards in all but seven contests. Anything he can add defensively is a bonus.

He’ll be playing alongside two great scorers this season, so his scoring could take a dip if his percentages don’t improve a bit. He might average a bit more rebounds and in some defensive statistics to make up for the couple less points.

Porzingis has an ADP of 42 in H2H leagues and 47 in category/roto leagues.

Jrue Holiday Fantasy Outlook

Holiday joins Boston after playing three seasons with the rival Milwaukee Bucks. Last year, Holiday played in 67 games and averaged 32.6 minutes.

Holiday posted his best scoring season in Milwaukee with 19.3 points a game. He also averaged 7.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.4 blocks. Holiday was asked to score a bit more with several Bucks out with injuries, and his shooting percentage dropped below 50% to 47.9%. He shot 38.4% on 3-pointers and went 85.9% from the line.

Holiday finished with 20 or less points in 41 contests, with seven games under 10 points. He only had 10 contests in which he didn’t reach five assists. With Tatum, Brown and Porzingis around him, Holiday will probably be the team’s fourth scoring options, so a decrease in points should be expected. Holiday can make up for the lack of scoring with assists and his defensive play though.

The veteran guard has an ADP of 51 in H2H leagues and 54 in category/roto leagues.

Other Celtics to Consider

Derrick White and Al Horford should also figure heavily into the rotation, with one of them taking the final spot in the starting lineup.

Horford will be embarking on his third season with the Celtics. A year ago, he averaged 30.5 minutes across 63 games played, all of which were starts.

The big man didn’t average double digits in points (9.8) for the first time in his career, but stuffed the stat sheet in plenty of other ways. Horford averaged 6.2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 0.5 steals. He shot 47.6% overall, 44.6% on triples and 71.4% on free throws.

He likely won’t reach double figures in points again, even if he does start. He’s a nice complimentary piece, but is going to do a lot of the dirty work.

White is who I expect in the starting lineup as the Celtics already have plenty of size in it without Horford. White started 70 of the 82 games he played in last season and averaged 28.3 minutes.

White also posted averages of 12.4 points, 3.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 0.9 blocks and 0.7 steals. He shot 46.2% overall, 38.1% on 3-pointers and 87.5% on free throws. 

Even though I believe he’ll start, I think White will lead the second unit a bunch, giving him plenty of time to reach or surpass his point totals from last year. He’s likely to see an increase in assists with a couple more offensive weapons around him. His strong defensive play is a bonus.

Boston certainly won’t only have six players turn into fantasy assets, but at this point, it’s tough to guess how the rotation will play out after these players. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser could see expanded roles, and Oshae Brissett could fill in some of the post minutes, but none of those guys are likely draft worthy, so I’m not going to waste your time talking about them. We’ll cover them when one emerges as a consistent role player worth rostering.

Who Should You Draft?

After taking a look at the Celtics’ roster, you realize the team is loaded with talent for its starting lineup, but lacking a ton of depth after that. That should mean some consistent fantasy performances for the team’s top-six players for at least a little while.

Tatum will again lead the team and should be the first Boston player drafted. Even with some new talent around him, Tatum will still lead the team in scoring. I’m comfortable with his ADP, taking him after Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, Dallas Mavericks’ Luke Doncic, Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid.

Brown and Porzingis are both great secondary fantasy options, but I think they might cut into each other’s production a bit. With that in mind, I’d probably wait a couple extra picks from their current ADPs before drafting them.

I think Holiday is going to enjoy another fine fantasy season, albeit with different numbers than we’re used to over the past couple seasons. He’ll be more of a facilitator than a secondary scoring option, but he still is capable of big scoring nights and elite defensive play, so I’m comfortable taking him at or just before his ADPs.

White and Horford are going to play plenty of minutes this season, but seeing their ADPs fairly close to each other, I would suggest taking only one of them. I’d want to grab White, as I think Horford’s numbers continue to decrease as he ages. He’ll still be on the fantasy radar, but there’s guys right around him in ADP that can give you a little more fantasy production.