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The Boston Celtics have, on the whole, been the best team in basketball in the 2020s. With four conference finals appearances, two finals appearances, and a title, the Celtics have been on a fantastic run.
Right now, they’re in the middle of another playoff run, and dispatched the Orlando Magic easily in five games. But, this could be a bit of a last dance for the core due to recent CBA changes and a new ownership group.
The NBA’s new CBA, which took effect for the 2023-2024 season, severely punishes teams that go over the NBA’s soft cap. It’s a soft cap because teams are allowed to exceed the cap to sign their own players and for other reasons. But, once you go over the cap, there are restrictions on the kinds of player acquisitions you can do. And, the new CBA instituted a second apron of luxury tax penalties that also included even more restrictions on player acquisitions for second apron. Right now, according to some calculations, the Celtics are due for a total payroll bill of around $500 million, with over half of that number coming from paying luxury tax penalties. The team was sold to a group headed by Bill Chisholm for $6.1 billion, due in part to the insane luxury tax bill that the team will be dealing with in future years.
On Thursday, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania spoke about how the Celtics are likely to break up this core.
Shams: "The rest of the league is bracing for some level of change to come to the Celtics roster" 👀
"Sources have been telling me for weeks now the Celtics will be exploring trade options in the offseason."
pic.twitter.com/V11MRerG1v— CelticsMuse (@CelticsMuse) May 1, 2025
I’d say the most likely players to be moved would be Jrue Holiday and/or Kristaps Porzingis. It’s hard to see them breaking up the Jaylen Brown/Jayson Tatum combo and Derrick White’s contract is pretty team-friendly. But, Jrue Holiday is now 34, and Porzingis is injury prone. If they trade one or both of those guys, they would still be a contender. But, they would definitely be weakened.
Right now, though, their focus is on winning the team’s first back-to-back titles in over 50 years.