After trading away Jaylen Brown, trading for Paul George, and after signing Mike Conley and Mitchell Robinson, the Boston Celtics will certainly have a new look in 2026-27.

Coming off a 56-26 campaign that saw them earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference last season, the Celtics will still be expected to be contenders, but they aren't regarded as highly as the Philadelphia 76ers or New York Knicks, and maybe not even as high as the Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers or Miami Heat.

One of the challenges for head coach Joe Mazzulla will be figuring out how he wants to handle playing time, his rotations and what kind of style he wants to play in general

One question that specifically stands out to me is: How will it look when Paul George and Jayson Tatum are on the floor together at the same time? Can they even be on the floor at the same time?

Let's dive a little deeper.

One of the most accomplished players in the league already at just 28, Tatum is a nine-year veteran of the Celtics who has been to the playoffs in all nine years. A six-time All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection, Tatum was named MVP of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals and he helped lead the C's to a title in 2023-24.

As an offensive player, he's very dynamic and has been throughout his entire career, but one of the knocks on him is that he settles too much for the outside shot.

Over his career, he's averaged nearly 18 shots a game: About 11 of them have been two-points and seven of them have been three's.

But he's been trending the other way lately. Exactly half of his shot attempts were three's in his limited 2025-26 sample size and the same was true when he played a full 2024-25.

A 16-year veteran, George is also incredibly accomplished. A nine-time All-Star and a six-time All-NBA selection, he's now 36 years old.

Offensively, George, as he ages, is doing much the same as Tatum. Last season, he took 14 shots a game, and seven of them were three's. The year before was nearly identical.

We already know that Derrick White and Payton Pritchard are three-point shooters, so the questions lie here:

1) Will the Celtics continue to be a three-point dominant team, with these two, Tatum and George continuing their offensive trends? That could make for a high-octane scoring team when the group is hot, but it could also mean there are large stagnant periods.

2) Will Tatum and George have to play in separate shifts so as to break up this play style and to get them on the floor with more rim attackers.

3) Will Tatum have to make a conscious effort to get the basket more, knowing that George is mostly a jumpshooter at this point? Will he have to reverse his own trend? Without Brown, does he see more opportuntity for that?

The Celtics open up the regular season on Oct. 20 against the Detroit Pistons.