Although they would break up the Boston Celtics' top eight, a pair of major Celtics personnel moves could pay off in the long run.
During the club's longer-than-expected offseason after an early semifinal series exit, NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg is unpacking three possible routes the Celtics' new ownership group could opt to explore.
Forsberg proposes a deal that could see the Celtics save major money while preserving most of their championship core, including their three best players. With six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA power forward Jayson Tatum on the shelf indefinitely due to an Achilles tendon tear, Boston could still remain semi-competitive in the conference should the team utilize this path.
Forsberg pitches that the Celtics flip 34-year-old six-time All-Defensive Team guard Jrue Holiday and sharpshooting reserve forward Sam Hauser in a pair of cost-cutting moves, which will likely give Boston the means to keep one of its free agent centers, and move one solid bench piece into (probably) a starting role.
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"Changes were coming regardless of whether the Celtics repeated as champs. A new collective bargaining agreement, with its punitive second-apron penalties, will prevent teams from building sustainably expensive rosters," Forsberg writes.
"In a twisted way, the Celtics have to cut costs in order to ensure they can remain competitive deeper into the future. There’s a line of thinking that suggests Boston ought to try to trim payroll below the luxury tax line with a goal of eliminating long-term repeater penalties," Forsberg adds.
Holiday just finished the first season of a four-year, $134.4 million contract extension he had inked after being flipped to the Celtics from the Milwaukee Bucks late into the 2024 offseason, on the brink of his run to his second title.
Forsberg notes that, thanks to a massive performance dip this offseason, Holiday may have limited trade value. Still, Forsberg thinks playoff contenders will give him a shot, thanks to his still-solid defense and 3-point shooting.
Thanks to the offensive growth of Sixth Man of the Year guard Payton Pritchard (at least, during the regular season) — who's on a now below-market four-season, $30 million contract extension — Holiday becomes somewhat expendable, opines Forsberg.
Forsberg cautions that a deal to ditch Holiday might not even get Boston under the league's punitive second luxury tax apron on its own — which is why an additional trade needs to be enacted.
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Forward Sam Hauser, a skilled 3-point marksman, will start earning his four-season, $45 million contract extension this summer.
"His $10 million salary next season isn’t prohibitive, but it is for a Boston team that, even if it dips below the second apron this summer, still would have to pay roughly $5.5 for every dollar spent at its repeater rate," Forsberg notes. "So, Hauser’s price tag effectively becomes $55 million for the 2025-26 season."
Forsberg notes that Hauser could be traded to a team that's open to trading draft equity for Hauser via its non-taxpayer midlevel exception. Forsberg expects that wing Baylor Scheierman, who just wrapped up a promising 2024-25 rookie season, could theoretically replace Hauser in the Celtics' rotation next year.
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