The Boston Celtics were fully expected to at least get back to the The Finals if not repeat as the champions this season. Once the playoffs started the Celtics took care of business in the first series against the Orlando Magic (4-1). The second round is where the Celtics started to fall short of their repeat champions goal where they met the New York Knicks. The Knicks started out the second round with a 2-0 lead where in game 3 the Celtics woke up and got their first win in the series. In game 4 the Celtics experienced their biggest loss of the season with superstar Jayson Tatum going down with a non contact injury which ended up being a torn Achilles. However, game 5 the Celtics rallied behind the injury to Tatum and ended up domination the Knicks to extend the series. Game 6 was back in Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks showed up and showed out and took the series with a dominating win to send the Celtics back to Boston. So that being said what will the Celtics due next season? Let me tell you what I think they should do… 

Jayson Tatum will not be available for the 2026 season unless the Celtics make a deep playoff run and Tatum’s recovery is faster than expected. All that needs to be expected is that Tatum is not available for next season so that’s a lot to try and replace what he contributes night in and night out and in all likelihood you can not replace it. In addition to the Celtics main superstar, Jayson Tatum, being out next season the team is also looking at a $227.7 million dollar salary for the 2026 season, barring any free agents they may lose/gain. That means they will be above the 2nd tier for salary cap tax for 3 out of 4 seasons now. What should the Celtics do? Should they blow it all up and enter into rebuild mode? Should they move one or two (maybe three) key pieces? Should they try and get another superstar for Tatum’s absence? Or should the Celtics do “nothing” and see what happens? 

I am going to end with what I think the Celtics should do given the injury to Tatum and their financial situation. First and foremost I do not believe the Celtics should go to any extremes such as starting a rebuild or getting rid of players just to get below a salary cap tier. However, I do think the Celtics have some work to do before next season. The Celtics have a few free agents for next season including Al Horford, Luke Koret, Torrey Craig, and Drew Peterson that will either need to be resigned or let go to free agency. I fully believe from this list of players the Celtics should focus on bringing back Al Horford (assuming he does not retire). He is a savvy veteran with playoff and championship experience that you may not be able to replace. 

The next thing I would do if I were the Celtics would be finding a trade partner for either Kristaps Porzingis ($30.7 million) or Jrue Holiday ($32.4 million) and getting either a cheaper replacement or draft capital for the coming years. This move would help in the salary cap department and just give the roster a little refresh. I have heard a lot of rumors or experts saying they should trade Jaylen Brown (again). I fully disagree with getting rid of Brown for mainly two reasons 1) With Tatum being out the upcoming season you need a superstar on the team to be able to compete Jaylen Brown is that guy 2) Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are one of (if not the best) duo in the NBA at this time both players can score at will, have the size to dominate or battle against bigger players, and play decent defense in today’s NBA standards. There is no way I am splitting these two players up especially after one suffered a serious injury. Lastly I want to add a “What if” part to my article and now is the time to do it. What if the Celtics decide to say fuck it and trade for another superstar ignoring the salary cap tax all together? Maybe trade for a player like Giannis Antetokounpo or Trae Young?

Highly doubt they could/would pull this off but what superteam if they ended up getting one of these superstars. I believe the Celtics stay quiet overall this offseason making little moves here and there and at most maybe trying to trade one or two big names on their team (Porzingis or Holiday). Honestly there is nothing wrong with that, I am not a pure Celtics fan but I do keep up with them and I enjoy the Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum duo they have and just hope they keep these superstars together in Boston.