In some ways, this Boston Celtics season is unpredictable. The team has a long list of new players. Joe Mazzulla hasn’t revealed his starting lineup. It’s not yet clear what his rotation will look like — actually, he said he might not have one all season.

The unpredictability can’t stop me from making predictions. Here are 15 bold ones.

1. The Celtics will finish top-five in offensive rebounding

The Celtics are built differently this season. As The Athletic’s John Hollinger pointed out while suggesting they should fall short of preseason expectations, they no longer feature the floor-spacing big men who were so pivotal to their five-out success. Luka Garza and Chris Boucher shoot 3-pointers, but, um, not very well. Without any centers proven to knock down outside shots consistently, the losses of Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis will change the geometry of the Boston offense. But it will also leave the Celtics with a new strength: offensive rebounding.

Mazzulla has asked the Celtics to hunt second chances more aggressively over the last couple of seasons and now has the frontcourt personnel to carry out that vision. Boston’s offensive rebound rate plummeted last season when either Horford or Porziņģis were on the court. Many of their minutes should go to Garza and Neemias Queta, who have done great work on the offensive glass in limited playing time to date. Though the Celtics finished 18th in offensive rebound rate last season, they had the equivalent of a top-three ranking when either Luke Kornet or Queta were on the court. Kornet signed with the San Antonio Spurs in free agency, but Garza is in his class as an offensive rebounder and should allow the Celtics to churn out extra opportunities.

2. The Celtics will again have a top-10 defense

The Celtics lost two elite rim protectors in Porziņģis and Kornet, one of the league’s best defenders in Jrue Holiday and the ever-sound Horford, whose versatility was the key to so many difficult matchups over the years. Throw in the injured Jayson Tatum — whose stellar defense rarely receives proper credit — and Boston will need to replace a full lineup of great defenders.

That won’t be easy. The Boston frontcourt lost enough defensive awareness to fill a book. Garza and Anfernee Simons, two of the key offseason acquisitions, carry suspect defensive reputations. Mazzulla will need to patch over roster limitations he has never encountered as an NBA head coach.

With frenetic energy and more aggressive schemes, the Celtics defense will still finish in the top 10. Returners Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard will set a fierce tone on that end of the court. Josh Minott, who looks ready for a big role, has constantly racked up steals and blocks over limited minutes throughout his young career. Xavier Tillman, who barely played while struggling with knee issues last season, now appears to be moving much better — and he has always been a great defender when healthy. It’s not clear yet what Hugo González, Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh will provide on offense, but the Celtics’ backup wings should be chaos agents.

Mazzulla will keep the Boston defense in the top 10 for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons. The Celtics haven’t fallen out of the top 15 since Brad Stevens’ rookie season as a head coach in 2013-14. Despite the personnel losses, this won’t be the season that streak ends.

3. The Celtics will rank 27th or worse in DReb rate

The Celtics will force a lot more turnovers with a swarming style of defense. Unfortunately for them, they will also plummet down the defensive rebounding leaderboard.

More aggressive schemes will leave them vulnerable on the glass. Plus, the Celtics just don’t have the personnel to be a good defensive rebounding team. As much as Mazzulla focused on the skill throughout the preseason, sometimes yanking everyone who gave up an offensive board, Boston finished the preseason with a miserable 65.7 percent defensive rebound rate. It won’t kill their defense, which has other strengths, but the Celtics will not be able to fix this weakness.

4. Jayson Tatum will return in March

During a media tour last month, Tatum made it clear he is aiming to return this season, though he made no promises on that front. While he and the Celtics should still be as patient as possible with his recovery from a torn Achilles, March will mark 10 months out from the injury. That’s a somewhat realistic target, assuming everything with recovery goes well.

Jayson Tatum watches his Boston Celtics face the Toronto Raptors in preseason action. Will he return from an Achilles injury this season? (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

Even if Tatum does appear this season, it’s highly unlikely that he will come back at his usual All-NBA level. He will need time to ramp up physically and will likely need to climb psychological hurdles after the first significant injury of his career. Still, based on how he has always fought to play in the past, he will likely be pushing the Celtics to suit up as quickly as possible.

They can’t let him do so before he has checked every box in the rehab process, but once he does, it could be good for him to shake off the rust late this season.

5. The Celtics will still lead the league in 3-point attempts

Let me do a quick Meek Mill impression: Hold up, wait a minute. Y’all thought they were finished (launching 3-pointers)?

They are not. At all. Despite the lack of a true stretch five, the Celtics have enough willing shooters to lead the league in 3-point attempts for the third straight season. Pritchard and Simons won’t stop looking for long-distance opportunities. White should hunt long balls like never before. Sam Hauser is one of the league’s most consistent marksmen. And Mazzulla will give the green light to lesser shooters because he doesn’t want defenses to stop worrying about them.

6. Jaylen Brown will average six assists per game

Brown has committed to playmaking growth over the last few years. He set a career high with 4.5 assists per contest last season. It would still take a big jump for him to record six assists per game.

Brown is ready to take that jump. The prevailing sentiment might be that he will have to score more with Tatum sidelined indefinitely, but the evidence shows Brown’s playmaking actually takes center stage when he plays without his co-star. Over 748 minutes without Tatum on the court last season, Brown averaged 9.6 assists per 100 possessions. That nearly doubled his average with Tatum on the floor and would have ranked in the top 20 across the league last season. The Celtics should still have an abundance of shooting around Brown, giving him easy passes when he dashes into the paint. If they play faster (and they should), it will only give him more chances in the open court, where he is often at his best.

As the No. 1 option, Brown will have more pressure this season. It will be on him to lift up the others around him each night. The guess here is that his biggest improvement will come as a passer. He’s far more equipped now to be the primary playmaker than he was earlier in his career.

7. Luka Garza will finish top three in offensive rebound percentage … if he plays enough minutes to qualify

The funniest Garza stat: He has actually had a higher offensive rebound rate than defensive rebound rate in each of his four seasons to date. That’s … not normal. None of the 179 players to qualify for the rebounding leaderboard last season finished with the same statistical oddity. Yet, Garza has done it for his entire career.

Over 973 career minutes, he has rebounded like Steven Adams on offense and Sam Hauser on defense. The Celtics will need more from Garza on the defensive boards but must at least be able to trust that he can punish teams on the offensive glass. He should do that whenever he is on the court.

8. Derrick White will be an All-Star

Preseason statistics don’t always carry over to the regular season, but White’s sky-high usage rate (27.8 percent) was a sign of things to come. If he remains as aggressive during the regular season — and he should — there is the possibility of him establishing new career highs in scoring and assists.

Derrick White (9) could be a key player for the Boston Celtics this season. Will he have a season good enough for All-Star consideration? (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

Combined with his always-sparkling impact numbers, he will have a strong case for the All-Star Game if the Celtics win enough games. They will be good enough for him to make an All-Star team for the first time.

9. The Celtics will have a negative net rating without White

How negative it will be depends on Simons’ fit and the performance of the young wings. Perhaps the Boston bench will force enough turnovers and grab enough offensive rebounds to stay afloat during non-White minutes.

The guess here is that the Celtics will fall apart when he’s off the floor. They were able to outscore opponents by 7.2 points per 100 possessions without White last season but no longer have enough talent to thrive without their best players. White’s presence helps them in every facet of the game. They won’t have enough playmaking or defensive acumen when he’s on the bench and will lose the minutes without him this season.

10. Payton Pritchard will average at least 18 points per game

In his last 20 games without Tatum, Pritchard has averaged 19.4 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. Though some of those games were meaningless ones at the end of the regular season, Pritchard has spread his wings when given more of an opportunity to fly.

He will have such opportunities consistently this season. Expect Pritchard, who averaged 14.3 points per game last season en route to winning the Sixth Man of the Year award, to take another leap statistically. The Celtics will need more scoring and playmaking from him.

11. Anfernee Simons will get traded before season’s end

Following an offseason of salary cutting, the Celtics sit about $12.1 million above the luxury-tax threshold. They would be looking at a luxury-tax payment of about $39.5 million if they finish the regular season with their current roster. In a season of lower expectations, it might make sense for the new ownership group to avoid paying that much.

If the Celtics can get out of the luxury tax entirely — and begin the process of resetting the repeater tax — they should do it. Even if they can’t find a Simons trade (or a series of trades) that would shed that much money, it would be smart to move him in another salary-cutting trade if they don’t consider him a part of the long-term future.

12. Hugo González will appear in 50-plus games

Before the preseason, I wouldn’t have anticipated any role in Boston for González. The 19-year-old Spaniard is facing a big adjustment after playing a minor role for Real Madrid last season.

He looked readier for the NBA than I expected throughout the preseason. He’s smart. He’s tough. He possesses advanced defensive instincts. He has the physical tools to impact a game athletically from day one. With the Celtics likely to play a lot of guys this season to maximize their new fast pace, expect González to be part of the rotation in many games, if not all of them. Based on the way he played during the preseason, he has likely jumped some more experienced players on the depth chart already.

13. Chris Boucher will be in the lineup with the best net rating

I don’t know if Boucher will start. I don’t know how many minutes he will play. I doubt he will always finish games. But with his length and activity, he will give the Celtics a needed dynamic.

Boucher will play power forward in the lineup that leads the Celtics in net rating. And that group will force a bundle of turnovers and grab loads of offensive rebounds.

14. The Celtics will finish top 10 in pace

The Celtics haven’t tweaked their style so much as they have cranked it up. Mazzulla has emphasized playing fast. He appears likely to sub quickly so that the players can give nothing but top intensity while in the game. He looks ready to use a rotation of 10 or more players to maximize the depth on his roster. Without as much scoring talent, the Celtics are aiming to be as gritty as possible. They intend to apply more defensive pressure, take more risks and push the ball up the court in transition.

After finishing seventh in pace during the preseason, the Celtics will rank in the top 10 during the regular season. That will be a massive shift from last season when they ranked 29th.

15. The Celtics will finish 45-37

The roster isn’t built to sustain key injuries. A long absence for any of the main scorers would spell doom. But when healthy, the Celtics will rack up wins. Their core is proud. Their supporting cast is hungry and athletic. They won’t be great, but the city will appreciate this team.