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When Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 against the New York Knicks, it changed the Boston Celtics forever.
Suddenly, the reigning and defending NBA Champions were not only without their best player for the remainder of this season but for much of, if not all of, next season too, leaving one of the Eastern Conference's true titans with an incredibly expensive roster but a much lower ceiling.
Before Tatum suffered his injury, there were already whispers about the Celtics blowing up their dynasty as soon as this summer, with Brian Windhorst noting that Boston's roster costs an incredible sum that the team's ownership group simply may not want to pay amid future uncertainty.
“What's gonna happen with this team? This is the conversation I didn't think we will have. Next season, their payroll will be $460 million,” Windhorst started. “If they keep their first rounder and fill the roster with the pick, I don't even know can they bring Al Horford back, it's going to top $500 million.
“New owners are here, I don't know what's going to happen, but there is a possibility that this team doesn't come back because they are one of the most expensive teams in sports history. This team proved that they can win championships, that they can get 60 wins in regular season, but if they don't get out of this series how can you justify that payroll?”
Unfortunately for the Celtics, even if they do get out of this series, they will not be the team they were when it began, to the point where paying one of the biggest sums in the NBA for a team that can't compete at the same level for much of the year. As a result, the Celtics might be in the market to make some moves, including saying goodbye to some fan favorites and bringing back assets to fill their spots on the cheap.
1. Jrue Holiday
There's no two ways about it: the Jrue Holiday trade was the right call.
Sure, it cost a lot to acquire the former Milwaukee Bucks guard, and his runway was never going to be particularly long, considering his age, but the Celtics added another title to their impressive resume in no small part because of Holiday's strong performances and it's impossible to say if the team would have matched that feat without him. Holiday can play both ways, can move effectively both on and off the ball, and knows a thing or two about winning titles, as he brought that pedigree with him to Beantown after a successful run in Milwaukee.
At 34, with over a thousand regular season games on his belt, Holiday is firmly moving out of his prime, and his numbers have fallen as a result, leading some to wonder if he could be moved by the Celtics to make room for bigger roles for Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.
Would it be tough to see Holiday go? Sure thing, it would absolutely feel like the title window was coming to an end, but considering everything Holiday has accomplished, some point guard-needy team like the Phoenix Suns could give up assets for his services, which could help to make the Celtics more viable long-term.
2. Derrick White
On paper, Derrick White is a much tougher sell to get rid of than Holiday, as he's just as versatile, a better shooter, and much younger, too, having just turned 30 last summer. With that being said, White could likely earn the Celtics a bigger return, which, if Holiday isn't moving the needle much, could be worth listening to offers.
Originally acquired from the San Antonio Spurs, White has been a perfect fit with the Celtics, playing well on and off the ball, locking opposing guards down with his switch-ability and forming arguably the best defensive backfield in the NBA, which came in handy paired up with Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
In a league where teams are still trying to figure out the new apron system, White is about to start a very team-friendly four-year, $118 million contract, which makes him as easy to move as he would be to add to a new roster.
While it would be even harder to say goodbye to White than any player not named Tatum or Brown, the emergence of Prichard on the league's most valuable contract, when coupled with the team's financial constraints, could open the door for a new money team like the Detroit Pistons to swoop in and overpay for a veteran guard to add to their backcourt, just like Boston did with Holiday a few years back.
Bonus: Al Horford
As Windhorst noted in his reporting, if anyone is going to be on the chopping block this summer from the Celtics' core, it has to be Al Horford.
A true franchise legend over his two stints with the organization, Horford is a few days away from turning 39, and unfortunately, he's starting to look it. After turning in a very good season in his first year back with the Celtics, averaging 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds in 29.1 minutes of action a night, Horford has looked less and less effective with each passing season, to the point where he's on his third-straight season with less than 10 points a game while playing less than 28 minutes a night.
Appearing in nine games with seven starts so far this playoff run, Horford has averaged 33 minutes of action a game, but he's only taking 6.4 shots a night, averaging 7.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks a night as a very expensive role player.
With Horford set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, if the Celtics were to retain him, they would need to retain him at around the mid-level exception to justify his spot on the roster. But if the team doesn't want a player who would be 40 around the 2026 NBA Finals on their team, then Horford may be on his way out of Boston once more.
