The Celtics could certainly use some help for next year’s roster after losing Jayson Tatum to a.torn Achilles last month. The Celtics star will be sidelined for at least a large chunk of next season, leaving Boston with plenty of minutes to fill on the wing. The path towards filling those minutes won’t come easy with Boston’s current payroll commitments. The Celtics currently sit above the second apron by about $20 million with $227 million committed to 12 players.
Multiple sources tell MassLive that the Celtics are expected to drop below that second apron via various trades in the coming weeks. However, the path towards getting there won’t necessarily be simple. Boston has different avenues to reduce payroll (Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Sam Hauser) but moving any of those players beyond Hauser will likely involved the Celtics taking back slightly less money in those deals.
There is also the looming issue of the center position. Al Horford and Luke Kornet are both free agents and their next contracts are not factored into that $227 million payroll number. If Boston wants to bring either or both back, that means further cuts will be required to get under the second apron.
Those realities make the NBA Draft a fascinating crossroads for Boston’s front office as they navigate a challenging offseason landscape. Boston has picks at No. 28 and No. 32 overall and the simple path would be merely to take those selections and boost the end of Joe Mazzulla’s bench. The possibility of landing a diamond in the rough is always there in this range, as evidenced by Payton Pritchard (No. 26 overall in 2020).
However, there are many secondary factors in play that could impact Boston’s decision making with their picks next Wednesday. One important one is salary and tax implications. The No. 28 overall pick has a $2.78 million cap hold for next season. That will cost Boston’s millions more in luxury tax penalties if the Celtics stay above the luxury tax line next season ($187 million). Moving down into the second-round pick could open the door to a much smaller starting salary ($1.27 million is minimum), opening the door to valuable cost savings next year as the team tries to work it’s way under the second apron.
Using draft capital to help reduce salary is also a potential consideration, dependent on the values of players like Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. If Boston uses a draft pick in a deal with one of those players to help improve the return, that could be a worthwhile move, since it could also eliminate that expense from Boston’s crowded financial books.
Using 2025 picks to stock up on future draft capital also needs to be a consideration. The Celtics did this masterfully two years ago, making six trades on draft night that left them with just one pick (Jordan Walsh) and plenty of future second-round selections. Stevens used a lot of those extra picks in the past two years as trade capital and it’s time to restock the cupboard again as Boston only has five second round picks available over the next seven years currently.
If the Celtics can find good value and the players they want while also moving down or even out of the draft entirely (for future picks), that has to be a strong consideration for this front office.
No matter what path the Celtics choose on draft night, it should be an active one. Standing pat doesn’t make much sense when additional moves could help the team solve some of their conundrums.