Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics got the offseason kicked off with a bang by trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in order to get themselves under the dreaded 2nd Apron. They followed that up with a selection in the first round of the draft, a day two draft trade, and a couple more picks in the 2nd round (which by the way, saved them even more money).
Next #Celtics date to watch: JD Davison’s team option due SUN. Declining would drop C’s below the 3rd tax bracket, bring their tax hit down to ~$43M & pull them within $5.1M of the 1st apron line, $12.8M of the tax line
Not drafting a 2R to a roster deal saved them about $2.3M
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) June 27, 2025
Even with all that movement and activity, we’re still just a few days into the offseason calendar. It seems silly to point this out, but there’s plenty of time for Brad to keep wheeling and dealing.
Note: I believe the Celtics when they say they never seriously considered trading Brown or White. You always have to listen in case they offer a ridiculously stupid overpay package, but even then you still need to put star level talent around Tatum or else you are messing with something special.
Free agency will open soon and some of the trades that have been agreed to around the league haven’t even been finalized yet. So there’s still a chance that the Celtics could expand those deals or flip some of the incoming players elsewhere.
In fact, we have at least two sources that have indicated that Stevens is trying to do just that.
However, with free agency approaching and the Celtics prioritizing bringing back free agents Al Horford and Luke Kornet, league sources tell MassLive that the Celtics are expected to remain active in the trade market while retooling their roster. The team is expected to explore their options with newly acquired talent like Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang and other parts of the roster including Sam Hauser.
Looking to continue shedding salary, the Celtics have explored the idea of flipping Simons’ $27.7 million expiring contract, according to league sources. In such a move, they would be aiming to accomplish two organizational directives Brad Stevens emphasized after the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday: regaining more roster flexibility and setting up a path to retain free agents Luke Kornet and Al Horford.
We’ve heard a lot from the Celtics about maximizing that flexibility. Some of that is just code for cutting costs. However, those cost cutting moves do allow you to make moves and could even open up enough space to help us re-sign our centers and/or hang onto Sam Hauser (who’s on a very good value contract for his production).
Both Simons and Niang inherently give the Celtics flexibility since they are on expiring contracts. They can be dealt right away or the team could wait till the trade deadline. Those two along with Sam Hauser all possess the very valuable skillset of being able to shoot the ball with high efficiency.
The roster and depth chart might not make a ton of sense at this moment, and that’s ok. There’s still plenty of time to put together a more cohesive short term roster while maintaining the flexibility to make moves later on. The team might not be willing to say this out loud, but it almost doesn’t matter what the roster looks like on opening night. (And there will be no shortage of mini-goals that the coaching staff will have for the players) As long as it all makes sense and is ready to compete at the highest levels when Jayson Tatum returns to the court.
