While the Sixers still have some business to attend to before their offseason can be complete, most of their Eastern Conference cohorts have just about wrapped up their work ahead of the 2025-26 season in the fall.
Now is as good of a time as ever to survey the landscape of an Eastern Conference that has lost a pair of championship-caliber teams due to superstar injuries. Very few sure things exist in the conference this year, and there is plenty of opportunity for new contenders to arise.
The Sixers are running back a roster fairly similar to the one that finished out last season in hopes of improved health and continued development from younger players propelling them back into contention. But how have the teams they will have to surpass changed over the summer?
Up first: the Boston Celtics, whose potential sell-off due to second apron and luxury tax penalties became inevitable when superstar Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles in the Celtics' second-round playoff loss against the New York Knicks. Boston is clearly entering a gap year of sorts, as their offseason has featured a whole lot of cost-cutting.
SCOUTING THE SIXERS' COMPETITION
Boston Celtics
Roster changes
The Celtics were already looking at some money-saving trades, and Tatum's injury gave them every reason to embrace a salary cap reset. With a pair of major trades – first trading Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for the younger Anfernee Simons, then salary dumping Kristaps Porziņģis – the Celtics have saved a massive amount of money when factoring in salaries and luxury tax payments. They have thrown a few darts in free agency as well in hopes of finding some depth for future seasons:
Added: Anfernee Simons (trade), Luka Garza (free agency), Josh Minott (free agency), Chris Boucher (free agency), Hugo González (No. 28 pick in 2025 NBA Draft)
Retained: none
Extended: none
*Lost: Al Horford,*Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday, Luke Kornet, Torrey Craig, JD Davison
The Celtics are now well below the second apron, which will enable them to avoid incurring penalties that impact their future first-round picks. But the Celtics are still over $12 million above the tax line according to Yossi Gozlan's capsheets.com. That would force them to pay a luxury tax bill of neatly $40 million. If the Celtics can duck the tax by the end of the season and restart the repeater clock, it would save them tons of money not just now but in the future. The obvious path to getting there would be saving money in a trade of Simons, whose expiring contract is worth $27.6 million.
MORE: How good can Sixers be without Joel Embiid?
Depth chart projection
Because almost all of their moves have been financially-motivated, the Celtics have not exactly focused on building a coherent roster. So there is talent here, but most of it is concentrated in a few areas. Most notably, Boston's depth chart is shaky when it comes to each of their big spots:
PG SG SF PF C
Payton Pritchard Derrick White Jaylen Brown Chris Boucher Neemias Queta
Anfernee Simons Baylor Scheierman Sam Hauser Jordan Walsh Luka Garza
Hugo González Josh Minott Xavier Tillman Sr.
The most interesting subplot here is whether Simons or Pritchard starts next to White in the backcourt, assuming Simons is still on the Celtics when the season begins. Conventional thinking might suggest that the logical choice is to keep Pritchard, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year Award winner, on the bench. Simons has been a full-time starter for years, after all.
But there is definitely a case to be made that Pritchard is a better player than Simons, one who would produce similar or better numbers if he got to be a featured part of an offense every night the way Simons did for much of his time in Portland. More importantly, Pritchard is definitely part of Boston's future because of his long-term contract. Simons is on an expiring deal; even if he makes it to opening night and through the trade deadline with the Celtics he might not be long for Boston. Gap years should be about experimentation; the Celtics should test the limits of Pritchard's terrific offensive efficiency.
Sixers ties
For the first time in a while, the Celtics do not have any former Sixers on their roster. Holiday is in Portland, and fellow old friend Al Horford appears to be ticketed for a contract with the Golden State Warriors. The closest Sixers tie in the organization might be assistant coach Sam Cassell, whose time with the Sixers under Doc Rivers was essential to the growth and development of Tyrese Maxey.
The Sixers and Celtics will see plenty of each other early in the year, as they will open their seasons against each other in Boston on Oct. 22 before a rematch nine days later on Halloween in Philadelphia and then another battle at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Nov. 11.
MORE: Everything you need to know about Sixers' 2025-26 schedule
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