The Boston Celtics’ 2024-25 season ended on a rough note, with them losing a pitiful six games to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The series’ first two games each displayed an inability to hold a 20-point lead at home, and Jayson Tatum’s achilles injury in game four served as the straw that broke the camel’s back for the 2025 campaign. This series made it clear to Celtics fans that big moves are coming, due to lack of performance and the exorbitant cost of the team’s aging core.
The Celtics’ roster is stacked with five former All-Stars and several other players who are paid as such. The total roster is projected to be worth over $220 million next season, with luxury tax thresholds more than doubling that number. This towering payroll means the Celtics will have hard decisions to make. First of all, Tatum is not projected to come back from his achilles tear until the end of the regular season at the earliest, and the Celtics will be paying him a massive $54 million next season. This large sum of money puts a large weight on the Celtics: the team is shelling out $54 million to a player that will add no production this year, hindering their roster construction possibilities next season. Second, Jrue Holiday and Kristap Porzingis, two veteran All-Stars who underperformed in the playoffs, are both going to be making at least $30 million next season, along with Jaylen Brown’s $53 million. These contracts are historic, with Brown’s being the largest contract extension in history, but the new ownership group combined with Tatum’s absence signals big changes in the future.
It is evident that the Celtics roster will be seeing some tweaks, most likely through these payroll-heavy players who lack consistency. Essentially, the Celtics are missing a center due to Kristaps Porziņģis’s health concerns and overall inconsistent playing, meaning that a big-man is at the top of their list of targets this off-season. They could pick up Myles Turner in free agency, or trade for a more true rebounder/blocker such as Walker Kessler—all for much smaller contracts and with significantly less concern for health and missing games.
On the more far-fetched end, fans are speculating that the Celtics could target Giannis Antetokounmpo, the second runner-up for the MVP award who is rumored to be leaving the crumbling Milwaukee Bucks this off-season. The Celtics could trade a package including Brown, Porziņģisand/or Holiday, and picks for Antetokounmpo. This would relieve cap space as well as pair franchise player Jayson Tatum, with more world class talent when he returns from injury.
It is clear that the Celtics need to make changes if they want to be competitive in the 2025-26 season—especially with Tatum sidelined for the majority of the year. The payroll is much too large, and some major moves are imminent, but fans will have to wait and see how it really shapes up for the Boston Celtics.
This article also appears in our June 2025 print edition.
