The NBA playoffs couldn’t have ended worse for the Boston Celtics. As if losing star forward Jayson Tatum to a torn Achilles wasn’t enough, the Celtics took a beating in Game 6 to the New York Knicks, a 119-81 whooping at Madison Square Garden that will undoubtedly haunt this franchise through the summer.
The Celtics were the favorites to do what hardly any NBA team can: Repeat as champions. Now, they’ll have the NBA’s most expensive roster next season with very little room to make much needed changes.
Without Tatum, this team wasn't good enough to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Jaylen Brown is the most expensive player on this roster and hardly looked like it in Game 6. Now, Boston will have a 38-point whooping to think about for the next five months as the hard decisions will soon be staring them in the face.
I’m not sure how realistic it is for Boston to make really any big changes, but here’s at least three roster changes they should make as the ending to the 2024-25 season brings a gloomy outlook to the 2025-26 season.
3 Celtics who just played their last game in Boston after embarrassing NBA playoff loss to New York Knicks
Jrue Holiday
Holiday was probably out the door after this year regardless, even if the Celtics were 100 percent healthy. Holiday’s age is showing, as he doesn’t look anything like he did when he first got to Boston. He truly was the missing piece on a team that needed an upgrade over Marcus Smart, and he helped guide the team to a title in 2024.
But when the Celtics needed him most in these playoffs, he looked more like a role player than he did a starting guard that has two championships to his name. That’s why Boston has to figure out a way to get him out the door.
The Celtics may be forced to bring him back, strictly because no team is going to foot his $30 million contract that climbs all the way up to $37 million by the 2027-28 season. Even if a team were to be interested in trading for Holiday, what the Celtics would be able to get in return wouldn’t be worth it. Maybe they can find a team in the depths of the power rankings to chew up that contract, but what would they have to offer?
Brad Stevens has to figure out how to get as far away from the second apron of the luxury tax as possible. Right now, the Celtics are above the second tax apron, meaning it will be increasingly difficult to make trades, offload salaries and restructure this roster.
Whatever they do, Boston has to figure out a way to move off Holiday. He's a wasted salary at this point, and I’m sure next season won’t be any different with Tatum sidelined at least for the start of the year.
Kristaps Porzingis
Porzingis was another player that felt like a missing piece when he first arrived. When he’s healthy, he’s the perfect compliment to Tatum and Brown. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been healthy for much of his career: He’s played more than 70 games just once, and has just five seasons with 57 or more games played.
One of those seasons was in Boston, but this year was a reminder that availability is the best ability. That’s why Boston should look to move off Porzingis now. The good thing is he’s only under contract through next season, so even if the Celtics can’t trade him, they probably won’t bring him back either.
I’m not sure what his value would be, but the Celtics have to find a way to get a good return for him, preferably a player that’s a bit more reliable. Porzingis had some great moments, specifically during that Finals run last year. But those are overshadowed by the fact that he’s not as available as he needs to be.
During the series against the Knicks, he had just one game where he played more than 20 minutes. He didn’t score more than eight points in any game, either. Considering how badly the Celtics were in need with Tatum out, that absence was crippling, and Boston shouldn't be relying on him moving forward.
He’s another player that should end up being a casualty this offseason, because he simply just isn’t a reliable impact when you need him to be.
Jaylen Brown
I don’t think Boston outright tries to trade Brown this offseason; that just doesn’t seem like an immediate solution after how this season ended. But if a team like the Phoenix Suns are interested in building around Brown, it’s something to consider.
Maybe you don’t get Kevin Durant, but if you get Devin Booker out of the deal, that has to be at least a little intriguing. Boston isn’t going to shop Brown and see what the draw could be, but after his playoff inconsistencies came back around this year, I’m sure they'd be interested if the right trade came along.
If Boston really does want to move off of Brown and relieve some of the salary cap pressure, I don’t think a move will be done until the trade deadline. But that also means a team is willing to swap stars — which isn’t an impossible outcome considering what happened with Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic.
There have been rumblings for a while that Boston would be making some significant changes, even before Tatum got hurt. His injury may expedite things as Boston would rather blow it up now, get a good draft pick and look toward the 2026-27 season.