The 2025 NBA Draft is less than a month away. The Boston Celtics were hoping to have a split focus in the weeks leading up to the draft, with the team playing for Banner No. 19 and the front office looking towards the future. Unfortunately, the Celtics collapsed against the New York Knicks, forcing the front office to focus solely on re-imagining what the 2025-26 season will look like.
Part of that re-imagining is understanding where the Celtics may be able to add talent and what types of players they can add in those spots. Free agency is likely to be a dud considering the team's cap situation. The Celtics are understood to be looking to shed salary in what appears to be a soft-reboot year. There has been plenty of speculation about how they can achieve that goal, often leading to their core players being mentioned in trade rumors.
The Celtics only have three unrestricted free agents themselves: Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Torrey Craig. With two of those being frontcourt players who played solid rotational minutes, Boston may turn its eyes towards a low-cost big man in the NBA Draft.
Celtics C Luke Kornet is on Thin Ice Ahead of NBA Draft
If the Celtics go want to relace a veteran with a cheaper draft option, Luke Kornet may be the odd man out.
Going into the 2025 season, the Celtics have Kristaps Porzingis and Neemias Queta under contract. If Horford were to come back, which he hasn't committed to, it is assumed he would be doing so in a Celtics jersey.
Barring a significant trade of Porzingis, the rotation would look like Porzingis, Horford, and Queta at the center position, leaving minimal room for Kornet. Assuming the Celtics understand their liability in the frontcourt, even with a returning Horford, the Celtics are likely looking at big men in the NBA draft.
Looking at the range of draft prospects available for the Celtics' picks (28 and 32), there are a few big men that they should have their eye on, such as Maxime Raynaud, Joan Beringer, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and Johnni Broome. The Ringer's J. Kyle Mann has projected Beringer to be taken by the Celtics in his latest mock draft and believes he offers considerable upside and potential.
Should the Celtics add a big man in the draft and fail to offload Porzingis, the decision comes down to Horford or Kornet.
While his Game 5 performance against the Knicks was fun, and he's been a valued contributor, Kornet is likely to receive a decent pay increase this offseason. Considering the financial situation the Celtics are in, combined with Horford potentially re-signing, Kornet will likely be left on the outside looking in this summer.
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