With less than one week until the opening of the 2026-27 regular season, the hype train has left the station with regards to Boston Celtics big man Mitchell Robinson.

Speaking on WEEI on Wednesday, former Celtics big man Brian Scalabrine said that people in NBA circles have referred to Robinson as the best free agent deal of the offseason, not the Philadelphia 76ers signing LeBron James.

Robinson, who formerly played with the New York Knicks, got a three-year, nearly $50 million deal from the Celtics in free agency. He'll pair with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza to make up a solid trio of big men, and first-round pick Chris Cenac Jr. will eventually find himself in the mix as well.

The 28-year-old Robinson is an eight-year veteran of the Knicks, where he blossomed into a very solid player. He appeared in 60 games last season, starting 16 of them. He averaged 5.7 ppg in just over 19 minutes, finishing eighth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting. He, along with Jalen Brunson, helped the Knicks win the NBA title by beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games.

His skillset, and his championship experience, should be valuable commodities for the C's this year.

We just don't know yet, frankly. It's unclear how things will shake out with him and Queta. Who will start games? Who will finish them? Could they ever appear on the court at the same time, like they did on Wednesday night in an exhibition game against the Charlotte Hornets?

And, will we see Robinson expand his profile out offensively? He said he's been more involved in the offense in Boston in than New York, but so far, we haven't seen him do anything outside the lane really - at least in terms of shooting and scoring.

The Celtics will finish out the preseason schedule on Friday night against the 76ers in Philadelphia, marking the second time they've played each other this preseason. The C's won 144-106 last Saturday night in Boston.

After that ends, the C's will prepare for the season opener, which is next Tuesday night in Detroit against the Pistons. 

That should be an interesting matchup considering the Celtics finished No. 2 in the Eastern Conference standings last season and Detroit finished No. 1.

It will start at 3 p.m. ET.