Changes are coming to the Celtics’ roster. Brad Stevens made that clear this week in his end-of-season news conference.
“My general feeling watching us play in really each of the last two playoffs … was we had a hard time generating really good looks on that first shot,” Boston’s president of basketball operations said Wednesday. “So we’ve got to figure out a way to do better in that, and I think that one of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim. And I think we do need to add to our team to do that.”
The Celtics, Stevens stressed, have “got to get better” after going 3-11 against the top three seeds from both conferences, then blowing a 3-1 lead against Philadelphia in their first-round playoff series.
This was Boston’s first opening-round exit since 2021 (and only its second since 2016), so Stevens and his lieutenants will have more time than usual to plot their next moves. As the Celtics’ shot-callers formulate a plan to bring the franchise back to true contention next season, let’s take a look at where their roster currently stands.
Boston enters the offseason with eight players under contract for 2026-27, including four of its primary starters; six with team options in their contracts for next season; one unrestricted free agent and one restricted free agent.
Salary values for 2026-27 in parentheses. All contract data via Spotrac.
Under contract
Jayson Tatum ($58.5 million)
Jaylen Brown ($57.1 million)
Derrick White ($30.3 million)
Sam Hauser ($10.8 million)
Payton Pritchard ($7.8 million)
Hugo Gonzalez ($2.9 million)
Luka Garza ($2.8 million)
Baylor Scheierman ($2.7 million)
The Celtics’ No. 1 offseason question, amid chatter about a potential Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit and rumors of Brown’s frustration with the organization, is whether they will consider trading their longest-tenured player and breaking up one of the NBA’s premier superstar duos.
Brown got his long-awaited turn as Boston’s No. 1 option this season and thrived, posting career highs in points, rebounds and assists while Tatum worked his way back from Achilles surgery. No NBA player made or attempted more field goals than Brown, and only Luka Doncic had a higher usage rate.
Tatum returned late in the season, but only at “80 to 85%” of his full capacity, he estimated. Barring complications from the knee issue that sidelined him for Game 7 against the 76ers, he should be back to full-go once next season tips off, which likely would push Brown back to the 1B role he’s occupied for most of his career.
Brown has three years remaining on the record-setting supermax contract he signed in 2023. On July 26, he will become eligible for a two-year, $142 million extension that would run through his age-34 season.
“I love Boston,” Brown said on a live stream this week. “If it were up to me, I would play in Boston for the next 10 years. … But we’ll see.”
The 31-year-old White, who excelled in nearly every area but shooting this season, is signed for another three years, including a player option for 2028-29.
Pritchard, the owner of arguably the league’s team-friendliest contract, is extension-eligible in October. He has two years left on his current deal. Hauser is reasonably paid for a rotation staple who started 49 games this season, but there is a substantial gap between his price tag and the rookie-contract salaries of Boston’s reserve wings.
Though Gonzalez fell out of the rotation late in the season, Stevens said the 20-year-old had a “great rookie year” and will be “a critical part of us moving forward.” The Celtics picked up Scheierman’s 2026-27 team option last October, and he went on to appear in 77 games with 20 starts.
The Celtics are sure to add frontcourt reinforcements this offseason, but Garza, a high-effort reserve who generally performed well when called up, said he hopes to stick around.
Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, tries to stop Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta in th first half. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, tries to stop Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta in th first half. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Team options
Neemias Queta ($2.7 million)
Jordan Walsh ($2.4 million)
Ron Harper Jr. ($2.6 million)
Amari Williams ($2.2 million)
Max Shulga ($2.2 million)
Dalano Banton ($2.8 million)
The big name here is Queta, who impressed in his first season as an NBA starting center before struggling with foul trouble throughout the Sixers series. Retaining the 26-year-old should be a no-brainer for Boston; the real question is whether he’ll come out of this offseason with a long-term extension.
Walsh, whose Celtics tenure appeared to be on life support last summer, also is coming off a career year (68 games played, 25 starts) and still is just 22 years old. It would be surprising if the team did not exercise his option.
The outlook on the other four is less clear, though Harper was the best of that bunch this season by a considerable margin. He graduated from G Leaguer to regular Celtics contributor in early February, scored 20-plus points twice down the stretch and drew a surprise start in Game 7 against Philly. Second-round draft picks Williams and Shulga and veteran Banton were low-cost placeholders to fill spots at the end of the roster.
Unrestricted free agent
Nikola Vucevic
The Celtics’ decision to trade sixth man Anfernee Simons to Chicago for Vucevic in February might have been more financially driven — it, along with other, smaller moves, allowed Boston to drop from above the first apron to out of the luxury tax — but they surely were expecting more on the court than the veteran big man provided.
Vucevic never looked fully comfortable within the Celtics’ system — the fractured finger that sidelined him for a month didn’t help matters — and proved so ill-equipped for their playoff matchup against Joel Embiid that Mazzulla benched him for all of Game 7. The tone of Stevens’ end-of-season assessment suggested he is unlikely to return.
“I thought that Vuc gave us all that he had and did what we asked, and it was a hard matchup,” Stevens said. “I have a lot of respect for Vuc as a person and as a pro. I thought he was really good in our locker room. I thought he was a really good person to have around. Certainly, a positive experience with him.”
Restricted free agent
John Tonje
Acquired from Utah in the Chris Boucher salary dump, Tonje saw most of his action with the Maine Celtics. The rookie guard’s only real run with the big club came in the regular-season finale, when he played 30 minutes and hit three 3-pointers in a win over Orlando while Boston rested its regulars.