Without Jaylen Brown, it's clear that the Boston Celtics will look and feel different in 2026-27 than they did a season ago. We discussed some of the ways in which those changes will take shape here, but we do have a follow up question.

The Celtics played at the slowest pace of any team in the regular season last season. Payton Pritchard has already said he believes they'll play faster this season, but I do have questions about how that will manifest itself.

For starters, the Celtics went out and invested nearly $50 million in free agency to center Mitchell Robinson. They gave nearly $60 million to Neemias Queta in order to keep him in the fold. Both of those players are athletic, but both are traditional centers.

How exactly do they factor into things when it comes to trying to get the pace up? Are they going to all of a sudden start running the floor with the same dexterity as wings? Is the team more likely to run with Queta on the floor, who is more athletic, than Robinson? And if so, how different does the offense look with Robinson on the floor?

Do they have to go with a smaller lineup in general to run the way that Pritchard says they are going to? Can Queta and Robinson not even be on the floor at all when they want to push the tempo?

These are all things that the Celtics will have to figure out early in the season, and it will be the responsibility of head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Boston will open up its preseason schedule on Thursday night in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, who made the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. It's unclear exactly what the plan will be for Mazzulla as far as playing time, but with only four preseason games in total, it's certainly likely that several of the regulars see valuable minutes in these contests.

The Cavaliers are led by Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, and they also made a big move this offseason to acquire Payton Watson from the Denver Nuggets.

--Before the Celtics get to Cleveland, they have to wrap up a min-training camp in Charleston, S.C., where Mazzulla had taken them for a weekend of practice, learning and team bonding. The team has said they enjoyed the trip.