Celtics Praised By Insider for Controversial Offseason Decision

Apr 23, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) holds up the 2025 NBA Sixth Man Award as Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, right, applauds before game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics were praised by an insider for a controversial offseason decision.

Per Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Boston made a smart choice in executing a series of summer trades to dip below the NBA's second luxury tax apron with six-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum shelved probably all year due to an Achilles tendon tear.

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"The Boston Celtics may have considered paying over $500 million in payroll and taxes for its 2025-26 roster had the group won back-to-back titles," Pincus writes. "Instead, the Celtics not only fell short in a hard-fought second-round series to the New York Knicks, but lost Jayson Tatum for a year with an Achilles injury."

Boston broke apart its championship core, and appears to be ready to ditch three of its top six players when the dust settles. Starting center Kristaps Porzingis was flipped to the Atlanta Hawks for stretch four Georges Niang and a single second-round draft pick. Niang and the pick, plus an additional Boston second-rounder, were later traded to the Utah Jazz in exchange for a trade exception and two-way rookie wing RJ Luis Jr.

The Celtics also traded All-Defensive Team guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers in a straight-up deal for Anfernee Simons, an exciting scoring guard whose defense leaves plenty to be desired. It's unclear what Boston's long-term intentions are with Simons, who is eligible for a veteran contract extension on an expiring $27.7 million deal.

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"With second-apron penalties, repeater taxes and the prospect of a down season without Tatum, the front office went about the painful task of breaking up a championship roster," Pincus observes. "Trading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis made sense on paper, but executing the steps to worsen the team that took years to construct took guts."

Boston's Big Risk

Free agent power forward/center Al Horford remains very available on the market, although it appears likely he'll sign with the Golden State Warriors, once they figure out Jonathan Kuminga's restricted free agency.

Boston signed free agent vets Chris Boucher, Luka Garza and Josh Minott to compensate for some of the departures. But the team seems destined to take a major step back from its two 60-plus win seasons (and its 2024 championship) with Holiday, Horford and Porzingis in tow.

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