The offseason has not been type to Boston Celtics followers, who’ve seen their workforce gutted. They traded Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Vacation and misplaced Al Horford and Luke Kornet to free company, which has severely compromised the Celtics’ depth.
They may also be with out Jayson Tatum for all of subsequent season, that means they are going to be down 5 gamers from their championship workforce. That roster change has led to them having a lackluster workforce that appears far faraway from championship rivalry.
I believe it’d make extra sense to start out Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons, Derrick White and Jaylen Brown at spots 1 by way of 4. And I am genuinely interested in Luka Garza with starter minutes. However…
…even with the East as dangerous as it’s, may the Celtics miss the playoffs? https://t.co/pRftAUZ9An
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) July 22, 2025
Even whereas they are going to nonetheless have Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, they might have a tough time making the playoffs, even within the embarrassingly dangerous Jap Convention. There are just a few silver linings.
They did achieve extra flexibility to make strikes in case they’re higher than anticipated. The Celtics additionally may use not too long ago acquired guard Anfernee Simons as a commerce chip to attempt to enhance their roster.
Painful actuality Celtics followers should settle for this season
As is, the Celtics do not have a powerful sufficient roster to make noise within the East subsequent season. Possession in all probability is aware of that, however the aim was to slash their wage and luxurious tax funds, and so they positively completed that, actually slicing these funds in half.
The tradeoff is that they are going to be a lot worse on the courtroom subsequent season. To be honest to them, they weren’t going to be a juggernaut with Tatum out for subsequent season. Even so, is their core going ahead actually going to be Tatum, Brown, and White?
All three are excellent gamers, however the Celtics’ depth was a giant a part of their championship run. That is to not point out that gamers getting back from an Achilles harm traditionally are far worse than they have been pre-injury.
The Celtics had no selection however to intestine their roster
Boston has to hope that Tatum can beat the chances and return to his peak ranges and provides the Celtics an opportunity to finally get again to the NBA Finals. That is not the best choice, nevertheless it’s the one actual one they’ve.
In any case, the ridiculous collective bargaining settlement was partly designed to interrupt up groups just like the Celtics, and it has clearly performed an ideal job of doing so. They could not have stored the championship core collectively throughout a season through which their finest participant would miss, because of the repeater tax.
Had Tatum not gotten injured, they may not have let these 4 gamers go, however right here we’re, and right here the Celtics are with a questionable roster heading into subsequent season.
