What does the Celtics' Future look like?

Written by Liam Bekavac-Hebel, 05/21/2025

The Boston Celtics' season came to a devastating end Friday night after a loss in game 6 of the second round to the New York Knicks. The Title defence ended miserably last Monday when All-NBA superstar and face of the franchise, Jayson Tatum, ruptured his Achilles on a routine play in the final minutes of a tight game 4. The reigning champs already were heading into the playoffs, knowing win or lose, change would be coming in the summer of 2025. As it stands, the Celtics are projected to become the most expensive roster of all time with a payroll of 240 million dollars, as well as an additional luxury tax bill of 250 million.

Jayson Tatum:

Having just signed a 300 million dollar 5-year deal last summer, Tatum is locked up as the future of the franchise. Despite a heartbreaking injury to the defending champ in the prime of his career, he will, without a doubt, remain the central piece of the Celtics for the foreseeable future. The superstar received surgery on his ruptured right achilles on Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after being injured. The Celtics announced a successful surgery and that they expect a full recovery without a timeline for now. Most likely, this injury will keep Tatum sidelined for the majority, if not all, of the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season. This derails the Celtics' championship window completely with their current core, as there is no world in which they are serious title contenders without their best player.

Get well soon JT 🙏

The next steps for the Celtics include taking a step back from contention for a year, letting their star heal, and retooling to create a more affordable team that can still contend around their 2 franchise cornerstones, “the J’s”.

Next Steps:

Celtics GM Brad Stevens has a tough offseason ahead of him with many different possible directions on the table. The extreme luxury tax bill is going to force him to consider a few options around the future of the team. Jrue Holiday is turning 36 soon and due for 32 million dollars a year, Kristaps Porzingis is turning 30 and struggling heavily with his health and 18-year veteran Al Horford looks to be heading off into the horizon and retirement. Likely, Stevens should take an approach with a few goals in mind

Affordability

A luxury tax bill higher than the payroll is absurd to anyone. To maximize the team's future, getting cheaper is nowhere near optimal. It looks as if expensive deals like Sam Hauser's 10 million, Jrue Holiday's 32 million, and Kristaps Porzingis’ 30 million will need to be parted with in favour of cheaper deals on the market.

Youth

With Jayson Tatum missing a year, the best option for retooling as well as getting cheaper is buying into younger players who will be able to play their best basketball on an affordable deal in 2026-2027. This likely means moving away from Porzingis, Holiday and Horford.

Size

With the likely retirement of Horford and the free agency of Luke Kornet, the Celtics will likely need to target cheap, sizeable players to fill out the roster. Ideally, a starting calibre power forward would be involved to shift Tatum back to the small forward where he plays his best basketball. The likely move involves trading Jrue Holiday and maybe Sam Hauser for a package of a power forward who can complement the rest of the roster and a high-level Centre who can fit the system.

If the Celtics are able to pull off these objectives, then in the long run, once they have gotten their superstar back in Jayson Tatum, the contention window will re-open.

What should be done:

This 3 team trade between the Celtics, Orlando Magic, and Brooklyn Nets solves all of the Celtics' problems as well as benefiting the other teams involved.

For the Celtics, they clear 12 million in salary while getting the size they need desperately going into next season. Additionally, they get slightly younger and have a chance to acquire young contributing talent with a pick from the magic. Jonathan Isaac and Cameron Johnson are both reliable stretch frontcourt players who can fit the Celtics' “Mazzula Ball” ball 3-point reliant system.

For the nets, they acquire various pieces on movable contracts they can flip to other contending teams for picks or young prospects. Additionally, they acquire former lottery pick Jett Howard, who has not panned out thus far in Orlando. The trade helps move along their rebuild and sets them up for the distant future.

For the Magic, they go all in on this year's team with a “win now” mindset. Porzingis and Holiday fit the tough defensive identity of this magic team as well as providing much-needed floor spacing and 3-ball availability. With this move, they aim to make it out of what is shaping up to be an extremely weak 2026 Eastern Conference and, hopefully, contend for a title despite being extremely young.