The Boston Celtics have already had a busy offseason, trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, while seeing Luke Kornet sign a four-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs. Al Horford seems almost certain to depart the team as well, but Boston has welcomed in the likes of Anfernee Simons, Georges Niang and rookie Hugo Gonzalez.
Could the Celtics still be preparing to make their biggest move of the summer though?
According to a report by Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, Jayson Tatum has been recruiting nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard to Boston this offseason.
Lillard officially became a free agent last week when he cleared waivers after being released by the Milwaukee Bucks and the Celtics have been one of multiple teams connected to the 34-year-old since then.
Tatum and Lillard have a relationship dating back at least four years, when the pair were teammates on Team USA during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo (which took place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). “JT” and “Dame” were also teammates at both the 2024 and 2025 NBA All-Star Games.
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The duo also shared similar devastating endings to their 2024-25 campaigns, with both suffering torn Achilles injuries during the playoffs. Tatum and Lillard are both expected to miss most, if not all of the 2025-26 season.
The Weber State product is still owed $112.6 million over the next two seasons.
Brian Robb of MassLive.com explained that the Celtics would likely need to do some financial and roster retooling if they were to seriously consider signing Lillard.
“Boston currently has a full roster with 15 players but two of those players are on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals (Jordan Walsh, JD Davison). The Celtics can offer the veteran’s minimum to Lillard at any point or could technically offer the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.7 million) if they do further cost cutting via trades and stay below the second apron,” Robb wrote. “It’s unexpected for Boston to use that MLE this season with Tatum’s injury and the team facing stiff repeater tax penalties but bringing aboard a player like Lillard on a discount could change things on that front. It’s possible that Lillard could opt to wait to sign with a team until closer to next season as well since he will be getting all of his guaranteed money from the Bucks regardless.”
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Lillard finished last season averaging 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 36.1 minutes per game across 58 contests while posting a .448/.376/.921 shooting line.