Boston, MA – May 7: Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown and forward Jayson Tatum lament the loss as … More
It’s hard to believe the Boston Celtics are trailing 2-0 to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
After sweeping the Knicks in the regular season, the Celtics jumped out to 20-point leads in both Games 1 and 2 of this series. They were up 75-55 midway through the third quarter in Game 1 and 73-53 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter in Game 2. They even had a 16-point lead with 8:40 left in Game 2—and a win probability of 98.8% at the time—before the Knicks rattled off a 23-6 game-ending run.
The Celtics now head to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night with their season on the line. No team in NBA history has ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit. The record is now 159-0, according to Mike Gavin of NBC Sports Boston.
That isn’t the only thing at stake Saturday, though. If the Celtics wind up losing this series, it could have monumental consequences this offseason.
During a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN’s Shams Charania already teased that changes may be afoot in Boston this summer.
“The rest of the league is bracing for some level of change to come to the Celtics from their roster this offseason,” Charania said. “Sources have been telling me for weeks now that the Celtics will be exploring trade options in the offseason. This iteration just is not gonna be sustainable for this team. And no one around the organization, from players to staffers, would be surprised if there are changes coming to this roster.”
No matter what happens in this year’s playoffs moving forward, this could be the end of an era for the defending champions.
Boston’s $500 Million Conundrum
Last offseason, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps noted that the Celtics were headed toward the NBA’s first $500-plus million roster in 2025-26. The league’s new repeater-tax rates go into effect this offseason, which could put Boston on pace for a tax bill in the $280 million range, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Combine that with a projected $233 million payroll, and the Celtics would have by far the most expensive roster in NBA history.
If the Celtics are pursuing a three-peat next season, they might be willing to stomach that massive tax bill for the chance to cement themselves as an all-time great dynasty. But if they flame out in the second round this year, their new ownership group might have less of an appetite to shell out that type of money.
“I think the Celtics knew when they traded for Jrue Holiday and they traded for Kristaps Porziņģis, they’d be staring at this in the face this summer,” Charania added.
The Celtics masterfully manipulated the one-year grace period in 2023-24 that allowed teams to get their books in order before the new apron restrictions went into effect. They aggregated contracts to acquire both Holiday and Porziņģis during that span, which they wouldn’t have been allowed to do beginning this past offseason.
Those moves allowed the Celtics to load up and cruise to last year’s title, but a roster with five players earning $25-plus million was never going to be sustainable long-term. The bill is seemingly set to come due this offseason.
The big question is which highly paid player the Celtics will try to trade, and how this series against the Knicks factors into that decision (if at all).
Jayson Tatum (15-of-43 overall) and Jaylen Brown (12-of-35 overall) have struggled with their shooting efficiency in the first two games against the Knicks, but trading either one would likely be the Celtics’ last resort. Brown won last year’s Finals MVP award, while Tatum has earned a first-team All-NBA nod in each of the past three seasons and is likely headed for a fourth this year. That leaves Holiday, Porziņģis and Derrick White as Boston’s top three trade candidates.
From an availability standpoint, Porziņģis would be the obvious choice. He hasn’t played more than 65 games in a season since his sophomore NBA campaign back in 2026-17. The 7-footer missed 25 regular-season games last year and 40 games this year, and he left the Celtics’ Game 1 loss to the Knicks after only 13 minutes due to the illness that has been plaguing him for the past months.
However, Porziņģis’ size and long-range shooting ability are the skeleton key that makes Boston’s 5-out offense so deadly. He shot a career-best 41.2% from deep this year on 6.0 attempts per game, which creates major issues for teams with paint-bound bigs who struggle to close out on the perimeter.
Fellow big man Al Horford is turning 39 in June and is set to become an unrestricted free agent one month later, so the Celtics are already facing uncertainty in their frontcourt this offseason. That could make a Porziņģis trade less appealing, although he’s heading into the final year of his contract next season and could be one of the top free agents in 2026 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
Holiday is signed through the 2026-27 season for around 20-21% of the salary cap and remains one of the NBA’s most feared perimeter defenders. However, his offensive output has plummeted since his arrival in Boston, and he’s turning 35 in June. That could narrow his trade market to older, win-now teams that need a defensive presence. The Houston Rockets, for instance, wouldn’t make much sense as a destination for him.
White might have the highest trade value of the three. He’s about to begin the four-year, $118.0 million extension that he signed last offseason, which includes a $34.8 million player option in 2028-29. He’s set to earn between only 17-18% of the cap over the next three seasons and has flourished since joining the Celtics at the 2022 trade deadline.
White averaged a career-high 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 made three-pointers this season to go with 4.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.9 steals in only 33.9 minutes per game. He also shot north of 38% from deep for the third straight season despite launching a career-high 9.1 three-point attempts per game. The 30-year-old also earned second-team All-Defense nods in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
If the Celtics made White available this offseason, they’d likely have no issue finding trade suitors for him. The question is what they’d be looking for in return and how they’d try to replace him. Since they’re over the second apron, they can’t aggregate contracts in trades or take back more salary in trades than they send out, so they could only trade White, Holiday or Porziņģis in standalone deals.
For now, the Celtics are solely focused on winning Game 3 on Saturday night and getting back into their series against the Knicks. Failing to do so would likely slam the door shut on their current core this offseason.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
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