When the dust settles on the NBA’s 2025-26 regular season, the Boston Celtics might find themselves ahead of the pack simply based on how they are changing their style of play. Long one of the slowest teams in the NBA (last season, their pace was 30th of 30 teams, according to Basketball Reference Dot Com) thanks to the propensity of star forward Jayson Tatum seeking out matchups as he slowly walks the ball up the court, the team no longer has the right personnel for such an approach on the offensive end of the court.
With fewer vets and more young, rising prospects able to race up and down the court, expect the Celtics’ style of play to speed up — a lot. And that shift in play style was reflected in the comments of new Boston big man Josh Minott after a recent Boston training camp practice. In fact, Minott related that his role with the team will be to “speed up the other team, (and) pressure them to make mistakes.”
“Essentially, we just want to play so fast and so aggressive that the other team just can’t keep up,” added Minott, describing a version of the team that is hard to imagine after years playing as one of the slower ball clubs in the NBA.
“That’s what we want to have our identity as, and I’m trying to be one of the people that helps to push that identity,” suggested the former Minnesota Timberwolves forward. “I play fast. I’m a runner … I feel like I might be the fastest on the team.”
“I love transitions, love playing fast, love speeding people up. So it’s definitely something I can easily find myself doing, contributing to the team.”
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Josh Minott on his role as an accelerator with the Celtics this season
