NBA
Boston’s Josh Minott is expanding his role to play center for the Celtics in 2025-26
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated6 hours ago on November 07, 2025
On Wednesday night, the Celtics got a much-needed 136-107 win vs. the Wizards. In that game, Jaylen Brown led the team with 35 points. Boston is 4-5 through their first nine games.
Friday evening, the Celtics will be on the road to face the Orlando Magic. In their last game, head coach Joe Mazzulla made a change to their lineup. After being outscored by the Wizards in the first quarter, Mazzulla asked Josh Minott to play center. He logged a season-high 34 minutes on Wednesday. Minott spoke to reporters and said he is working to expand his game for the Celtics.
Josh Minott has been impressive to start the season for Boston
Interesting note from last night’s Celtics win: the C’s played ~18 minutes without a traditional center (37.5% of the game)
Joe Mazzulla used six different lineups that didn’t feature one
Josh Minott played the 5 in each of them pic.twitter.com/MFIwLB2wVH
— SleeperCeltics (@SleeperCeltics) November 7, 2025
With a second-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft, the Hornets selected Josh Minott out of Memphis. However, Minott was traded on draft night to the Timberwolves. The soon-to-be 23-year-old spent the first three seasons of his professional career with Minnesota. Josh Minott appeared in 93 games over three seasons and made zero starts for the Timebwolves in a limited role. Ahead of free agency this past offseason, Minnesota declined Josh Minott’s team option.
That made him an unrestricted free agent. He signed a two-year, $4.96 million deal with the Celtics. Minott is on the books for $2.38 million in 2025-26, and he has a $2.58 team option in 2026-27. To begin the 2025-26 season, Josh Minott is giving the Celtics elite production off the bench. His 22.5 minutes per game is far and away the highest of his career. The young forward has never seen this much playing time.
JOSH MINOTT.
21 PTS (8-12 FG, 3-6 3PT), 5 REB, 3 STL, +18 in 34 MIN
Brad Stevens have found a real diamond: pic.twitter.com/1wr9K5s1rV
— Tomek Kordylewski (@Timi_093) November 6, 2025
Boston faced the Wizards on Wednesday and was outscored 37-26 in the first quarter. Head coach Joe Mazzulla made an interesting adjustment to the lineup. He used six-foot-eight Josh Minott at center. The fourth-year pro finished the game with a career-high 21 points. Minott was 8-12 from the field, including 3-6 from beyond the arc. It was an impressive outing for Minott and one that should give Joe Mazzulla confidence.
The Celtics lost three key pieces of their front court this offseason. Boston traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks. Additionally, Luke Kornet and Al Horford left in free agency. That’s left Joe Mazzulla shuffling the lineup to begin the season. However, Boston’s head coach might have found an answer to help the team at center. Josh Minott is undersized to play center full-time, but he can give the Celtics quality minutes at the five if needed.
