The Celtics are just days into the offseason after they unexpectedly fell to the Knicks in the second round. While C’s president Brad Stevens said they’re going to take their time to determine what next steps they’ll take this summer, the league is already sniffing around potential movable pieces from the Boston roster.
Names have already been floating around the trade rumors, including Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis or others. That’s natural considering the league knows the C’s will shed salary this summer due to the luxury tax penalties and constraints. But when it comes to moving some of those contracts, there will be multiple factors at work.
For example, Holiday still has three years and $104 million left on his contract that includes a player option in the final year. Considering he’s 34 years old, even though he’s a two-time NBA champion, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that “actually trading Holiday might be harder than it sounds.”
Fischer pointed out that the Celtics might need to include “some form of incentive” as part of a deal, namely draft compensation. That’s part of the equation that’ll be difficult for the front office as the Celtics look to offload contracts. The C’s have some of their own first-round picks going forward, but it’ll remain to be seen if they want to part ways with any more of them in salary-shedding moves.
Realistically, the Celtics can go any number of ways this summer considering they have options. But the reality is that they’re going to need to reset in some ways as they won’t be one of the East contenders next season. So expect a summer of change in Boston as the roster will look different.