The One Boston Celtics Question That Could Shape Their Entire Offseason Plan

The All-Star break is almost over. The Celtics traveled to San Francisco on Wednesday, where they’ll begin a four-game Western Conference trip Thursday night.

At 35-19, the Celtics hold a slim lead over New York and Cleveland for the second seed. And no matter how the next 28 games go, the Celtics can take a look at that record at the break and bask a little in what they’ve accomplished so far.

“I'm extremely proud of our group to where we're at right now,” Jaylen Brown said at All-Star weekend. “Second in the East versus how many players and everything that was being said, the gap year, and for us to be sitting here at All-Star break and having our guys feeling like we can even be better, I'm proud, bro.”

The Celtics will face a lot of questions over the next 28 games, spanning nearly two months on the calendar. Jayson Tatum is expected to return, which alone will present some changes for players up and down the depth chart. Payton Pritchard is back on the bench and thriving, which helps, and hopefully will continue. Jaylen Brown has been amazing, but his efficiency took a hit in the final weeks before the break, so getting some of that back will be a priority for him.

But more than any of those questions, one stands out as not only shaping how the rest of this season goes, but how the summer goes for Boston as well.

Is the big man rotation of Nikola Vucevic, Neemias Queta, and Luka Garza good enough for the Celtics to become long-term contenders?

These next seven weeks will be a proving ground for this group. With the Celtics about to walk into the offseason with the full mid-level exception ($15.1 million) and a $27.7 million traded player exception at their disposal, proving this rotation is good enough for at least the near future can be a huge help to the Celtics front office.

Most obviously, Vucevic showing he can be the starting center for the Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown-led Celtics will be a relief. His ability to space the floor and give both of them room to drive is a great asset, and his passing ability will allow the Celtics to run offense through him. From a pure basketball perspective, trusting Vucevic to handle that job for the next two seasons allows the Celtics to move on to other needs.

This also applies to Queta and Garza. If Queta proves he can thrive in his role after the trade, presumably on the bench, then Boston can feel confident in their center rotation. Garza seems like the kind of player who would be happy to carve out whatever role as a third-string guy, and he’s already shown that he can do it. Still, you never know if that will change.

Beyond the basketball answers, the Celtics hold team options on Queta and Garza at the league minimum, so those guys can come back for one more season on the cheapest deals possible. Vucevic turns 36 in October, so it’s not clear what kind of money might be out there for him. If the Celtics can hold onto him for $5 million per year or less, they will have their center rotation set for $10 million combined.

That would allow them to spend more freely. Every other rotation player is under contract for the 2026-27 season, so the Celtics would then just have to decide where to spend their money. Would they pay a free agent, trade for someone, or both?

If Vucevic is a hit, he’d start next to Tatum, Brown, and Derrick White. Brad Stevens could look for a power forward to fill that last spot and move Sam Hauser to the bench, or he could like Hauser’s floor-spacing and look to punch up Boston’s reserve unit.

If Hauser starts, Pritchard and Queta would be the sixth and seventh men. The Celtics could try to go big with another bench scorer (I think some kid named Anfernee something is a free agent who likes Boston) or they could go for another power forward type (think Tobias Harris or someone like that on a cheap deal) to punch up the scoring.

The Celtics could just run with that plan this summer and see how it works during the season. The $27.7 million exception doesn’t expire until February 5, so they are in no rush to use it this summer unless a no-brainer deal crosses their path. They could wait and just use that to fill any glaring holes that pop up.

If there are none, and the roster with Tatum and a beefed up bench is good enough, that could also keep them under the tax again for one more season, thus re-setting the repeater tax. That would open up even more options the following summer as the Celtics try to keep their championship window open to maximize Tatum and Brown’s primes.

All of this is possible if Vucevic is a hit and the Celtics think he can continue to be one the next season or two. All of this works if Vucevic, Queta, and Garza prove to be the right fit. If not, then the money will have to be spent elsewhere.

The Celtics are prepared to go down either path, but the next 28 games could change a lot about how this team is constructed moving forward.