News Celtics Team Notes

[Boston Celtics]

Celtics players believe team can contend for a title without Jayson Tatum

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Without Jayson Tatum and well into the second apron, the Celtics find themselves in a bind next season. But, several members of the current roster believe if the Celtics ran it back, they’d once again be championship contenders.

After a devastating finish to the season, the Celtics have plenty of difficult choices to make this offseason. Al Horford and Luke Kornet are both unrestricted free agents who are likely to seek more than the veteran minimum.

And, the team is more than $40 million into the luxury tax and $20 million into the second apron, meaning that some sort of salary shedding is expected. (The second apron is a financial threshold that triggers harsh penalties, including restrictions on trades, free agency, and draft picks).

Moves to get out of the second apron could involve trading Jrue Holiday (who is due to make $32.4 million next season), Kristaps Porzingis (who is due $30.7M), or even Jaylen Brown ($53.1M).

And with Jayson Tatum sidelined for most, if not all, of next season, many have assumed next year’s Celtics team will be out of the mix to contend for a championship — further incentivizing organizational leadership to reduce payroll next season.

But that’s not how the current Celtics players feel ​

Payton Pritchard, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year this past season, said he’s 100% certain that the Celtics will be very competitive despite Tatum’s prolonged absence.

“We will put a good team together — a lot of competitors, and people will go out there and lay it all on the line every night,” Pritchard said. “And I believe people will elevate their games and have bigger roles, especially with JT being out [and] until he comes back, and they should take full advantage of it and be ready for those opportunities. And we will compete.”

And, veteran wing Torrey Craig, who is a free agent this summer, told CelticsBlog his confidence in next year’s Celtics team remains high.

“Even without JT, this team could still compete for a championship,” Craig said. “They’re talented. You just have to find a way to play basketball a little differently. But this group is way more capable. I have the utmost confidence.”

This season, the Celtics went 8-2 without Jayson Tatum​

They were 2-1 without their MVP candidate in the postseason, with Brown turning in two of his best games of the playoffs in Tatum’s absence.

The Celtics’ ability to stay afloat without Tatum will largely depend on who they keep on next season’s roster, ownership’s willingness to spend, and what next year’s Eastern Conference looks like. It’ll also depend on whether players like Derrick White, Pritchard, and even rookie Baylor Scheierman can take another leap.

But, there’s no shortage of confidence inside the locker room about the team’s potential to compete if given the opportunity.

“We still have a really, really great opportunity and a great window to be successful and win the championship again,” Holiday said. “I think the talent that we have in this team, not only on the court, but the coaching staff, all the way up to Brad [Stevens], has been amazing. The opportunity to win is now, and I still want to be part of it.”

The only question is whether Celtics ownership and management feel the same.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...ig-jayson-tatum-payton-pritchard-jrue-holiday

 

[Boston Celtics]

The Celtics just got a $1 billion investment from a brand-new stakeholder

Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Aditya Mittal, the CEO of steel giant ArcelorMittal, has agreed to invest $1 billion into a group purchase of the Boston Celtics, Sportico reported Thursday.

By now, you’ve heard of William Chisholm, the lifelong Celtics fan who agreed to purchase the team from the Grousbeck family in mid-March. But, although Chisholm has emerged as the face of the incoming ownership group, he’s far from the only one investing resources in the Celtics.

Aditya Mittal, the CEO of steel giant ArcelorMittal, has agreed to invest $1 billion into a group purchase of the Boston Celtics, Sportico reported Thursday. Mittal is expected to be the second-biggest stakeholder in the ownership group.

The top stakeholder remains Chisholm, whose group reached a deal to purchase the team in March for an unprecedented $6.1 billion — it’s the most expensive sale for a sports franchise in North America.

At the time, the agreement was not fully financed, though Chisholm’s commitment to purchasing the team was evident.

“He seems like a great person and seems super excited about the Cs,” Brad Stevens said soon after the sale was announced. “He’s always been a big fan.”

Over the past few months, Chisholm and his group have gotten closer to the agreed-upon price. In addition to Mittal’s $1 billion commitment, private equity giant Sixth Street, which also owns a stake in the San Antonio Spurs, is expected to own around 12.5% of the Celtics.

Who is Aditya Mittal? ​

Aditya Mittal is a member of one of India’s wealthiest families and could become the second-largest Celtics stakeholder, after Chisholm. He lives in London and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, per Sportico.

Photo by BENOIT DOPPAGNE/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images
Aditya Mittal, the CEO of the largest steel and mining company in the world, joins the Celtics ownership group.

He is the son of Lakshmi Mittal, executive chairman of ArcelorMittal, the largest steel and mining company in the world. The company generates around $68 billion in revenue. Bloomberg reported that his net worth is $23.9 billion.

“Aditya has long been a huge supporter of the Boston Celtics,” a spokesperson said in an email to Sportico. “When Wyc and Bill approached Aditya, he saw it as a tremendous opportunity to get involved with this incredible team. Obviously he remains super focused on ArcelorMittal and also very much looks forward to supporting the team further.”

The investment group also includes Rob Hale, a current Celtics investor, and Bruce A. Beal Jr., president of Related Companies. Details around the rest of the ownership group have yet to be reported.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/22/24435466/celtics-sale-william-chisholm-aditya-mittal

 

[Boston Celtics]

The Celtics are at a crossroads and that’s okay

Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Boston can go in a lot of directions this offseason, but the objective remains the same.

Jayson Tatum’s injury, and the early playoff out, leaves the Boston Celtics in a strange position. They are too good (as currently constructed) to tank, but they’re not impressive enough without their best player to actually contend.

That is, in some ways, a frightening thought.

Boston has been firmly in contender status for quite some time, and with Tatum behind the wheel, they’ve always got a shot. Even with a more aggressive recovery timeline, their franchise player won’t start on-court work until at least the All-Star break. The Celtics aren’t going to rush him back either.

The bright side to all of this is despite the injury, this doesn’t have to be a lost season. Instead, the uncertainty might actually be a good thing.

The Celtics were destined for change regardless of the season’s conclusion. It’s clear that the process of ducking the 2nd apron would be a priority, and it’ll start this summer. What I find encouraging is that the range of possibilities has grown significantly.

They can opt for a drastic reset next year, or be more strategic and methodical in planning for the following season.

Boston can be sellers in the offseason — or at the deadline — and enter the draft lottery sweepstakes. It would be nearly impossible to self-destruct to the level of the NBA’s bottom feeders, but records of 39-43 and 34-48 landed the Mavericks and Spurs the number 1 and 2 picks this year. I don’t encourage rigging the draft, but hometown prodigy AJ Dybantsa from Brockton, MA is a projected top-3 pick. I’d be happy to look the other way this time.

Even without lottery luck, having a pick anywhere in the top 14 is useful. Whether it’s to add cost controlled young talent, or offer as a trade chip to retool, the value is there.

Realistically, it’s hard to imagine the Celtics new ownership giving management a green light to tank. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White is not the nucleus of a losing basketball team, and the right supplementary moves could be enough for a 3-6 seed in the current Eastern Conference.

Either way, Brad Stevens end of year presser reinforced that the end goal must remain the same. “How do we get ourselves in the mix to compete for championships best?,” Stevens said.

Stevens did not commit to a quick timeframe for this, focusing instead on the best course of action. In most scenarios, that equates to building a roster and infrastructure that is ready to go upon Tatum’s return.

A determination needs to be made on whether or not that can be accomplished in one offseason. Fortunately, having one of the brightest decision-makers in basketball is extremely reassuring at this crossroads.

There are enough resources at Stevens’ disposal to reset the payroll while constructing a team that maximizes Tatum’s versatility. While Kristaps Porzingis’ and Jrue Holiday’s contracts are the most obvious options to move, Boston should be open for business if the right deal emerges.

The prospect of a big overhaul isn’t unfamiliar, considering Stevens shipped out two fan favorites in Marcus Smart and Robert Williams to build a championship roster. The changes may not be as extreme, but I wouldn’t discount anything.

Even if that unpredictability feels disheartening, the franchise’s objective will always be aligned: bringing another championship to Boston is the priority, regardless of what it takes to get there.

No matter how different this group looks next year, the ‘24 title makes everything a lot easier to accept.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...s-okay-brad-stevens-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown

 

[Boston Celtics]

Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Joe Mazzulla, and other mailbag answers

David Butler II-Imagn Images

Answering your Boston Celtics offseason mailbag questions

Thank you once again for all the great questions to my open mailbag. There were a number of really good ones and a ton of trade proposals, which I want to get to soon. But a few well thought out questions floated to the top that I wanted to address first.

Zolak’sclipboard

JB is my favorite Celtic of the last 8 years, but as I look at how the tax aprons work, it increasingly seems to me that it is not feasible to construct a contender around two super max guys. Unless you surround them with guys on rookie contracts (Oklahoma is attempting this, we will see how it works).

If trading JB is inevitable in the next year or two, does it make sense to pull the trigger this summer? Try to get pieces back that fit around Tatum or try to get a high pick back and a few rotation pieces and let the rookie get heavy minutes while Tatum is rehabbing?

I don’t want to trade JB, but the pathway back to contention with both JT and JB on the payroll looks narrow

Very well crafted question. My initial instinct is that the team will try to keep the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown together because they are a proven foundation for a title contender (and winner at least once). The trick, as you point out, is filling the roster out around them when they take up such a huge portion of the payroll that Brad is trying to fit under the various aprons and tax lines.

To accomplish that feat, the team will either have to be very creative to dip below the 2nd Apron and perhaps even the Luxury Tax line. Once the worst of the penalties is lifted, you can start building the salaries up again (likely a repeating long term process).

The alternative is to hit the “easy button” and simply put Jaylen Brown on the table and maximize what you get back. That could mean younger players with star potential, draft picks, and of course salary relief. In theory you could keep around some of the expensive vets that we’ve been talking about offloading (Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis).

The problem I have with that plan is the “bird in the hand” of it all. In the duo of Tatum and Brown, we have something that most teams in the league are trying desperately to acquire or develop. Letting go of one of them for a package of pieces that you are hoping maybe could produce another star somewhere in the range of Jaylen is a gamble I’d rather not take if it can be avoided.

Said another way, we have two or three (if you include Derrick White, and I think I do) pillars to build around. I’d rather strip everything else down to the studs and rebuild around the pillars than try to prop things up while trying to find another pillar.

Of course, we might be backed into a corner where there aren’t any better options. If that’s the case, you have to at least consider the option of trading Brown. The next factor would be timing. Do you wait till next year to see how much he levels up as his usage and responsibility increases? Or do you sell teams on the fact that he could be the number 1 option for them but hasn’t had that opportunity here (yet)?

Oh yeah, and if he were to be traded this offseason, we would all have to get back in the habit of calculating ping pong ball odds and scouting the draft pool. At least in the short term.

Eric Canha-Imagn Images

357Dust

Where do we get the bigs? Horford and Kornet are FAs and you have to think they will try to move on from KP just because he is on an expiring and might be easier to move - not that teams won’t want Holiday but he is 35 and there is a limited market for his skills.

There is no way Brad and new ownership is letting this ride - it is just a question of how many moves he can make and what pieces are in play.

Very curious off season for sure and the Tatum injury might give them the license to really make more moves toward retooling for 26-27.

Good question and one that I’ve been wondering about since before the playoffs even ended. I was previously hopeful that Kornet could somehow return. However, barring some very creative financial moves, I don’t see us having the room to sign him to what he’s worth (and he’s made himself very valuable).

Queta is a serviceable backup big option, but I don’t know that he’ll be reliable enough starting on a contending team (though you never know).

So my current hope is that we can get a serviceable big man as part of one of the salary slashing trades involving Jrue or KP. In addition, I’m hoping that there’s some good, young bigs available where the Celtics are drafting. They probably won’t be ready right away, but maybe they could be developed next year and ready for a larger role by the time Tatum is ready to go.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

mahonedog88

I’m curious where the new ownership and Brad stands on a new Mazzulla contract. He’s going into the final year of his deal, and so rarely in professional sports nowadays do we see a coach go into the final year of their contract. I do think he’ll get an extension, but if it’s only a 1 or 2 year extension, I think that could be a subtle sign that his seat is getting warm.

Because while yes, the resume speaks for itself for his first 3 years if you zoom out...57 wins and the ECF, 64 wins and a title, and 61 wins and the second round. That’s objectively excellent. But another way to look at this objectively is that in two out his three years, they lost to inferior teams with his play style and system playing a major role in it.

Are we sure Bill Chisolm is on board with chucking up 50 to 60 3s every game? Are we sure Brad Stevens is?

I appreciate the nuance of this question. The knee-jerk reaction to losing a playoff series to a team the Celtics were favored to beat is to blame the coach and call for his head. That would be a bit silly given his track record and the trust he’s built up in that locker room.

My first instinct is to give coaches the benefit of the doubt because I am fully aware that almost all of them know the game way better than I do. There are so many factors at play that it is never as simple as it seems from our seats. With that said, I don’t think Joe had a great series and probably deserves a good share of the blame for the first two losses that slipped away.

Does he get an extension? Most likely. After winning a title, he probably earned himself a nice raise. It doesn’t count against the cap anyway. Is it worth giving him only a shorter term deal in order to maintain flexibility if he isn’t actually the long term answer? I think I’d prefer to give him a nice extension and see how next year goes (it will be a whole different challenge for him).

A side note: It seems like in most cases, coaches have a limited shelf life. Even Brad had to move to the front office when it seemed like the team wasn’t necessarily all-in on his vision. Joe has only been here 3 years and the record speaks for itself.

Agit8or

Celts have two or three contracts that can bring back value, assuming JT is untouchable: JB, DW, and PP. All other trades will get you a ham sandwich back.

DW is getting old. I believe next year is a lost season. Maybe the one after that as well, as JT may take two full years to get back to top form. By year three, I think DW is on the downhill slide.

So, despite the author’s position re DW, he is one Celts can trade high, and target youth or picks that might be ready three years from now.

KP needs to go, and Jrue, for whatever Celts can get. I think Celts should reset with the aim of making a big run again in 27/28. JB, JT, PP, and whatever youth and picks we get for DW, and whatever we can do to develop the bench, and Celts should have a decent team in 27/28. I just don’t see the Celts making a run next two years given salary cap and injury issues, and Father Time is catching up with DW. Tatum will be 29, and assuming he is once again healthy, Celts get a few more years of prime JT, and JB.

JB would draw the biggest haul, but again there is the two year delay, and DW isn’t enough.

So DW is my choice of who to trade, along with as big a salary dump as we can get.

Pie in the sky: JB, DW, and a couple picks for Giannis. If the salaries work? But it would waste another year or two of Giannis prime, so totally unfair for him.

Putting aside my visceral reaction to the thought of trading Derrick White, I can at least see where you are coming from. White would bring back a haul. Maybe not the full Mikal Bridges package, but you never know.

I just go back to the comments I said about Brown. It is so very hard to find guys like White, and I would even argue that he’s got another level he can reach. He’s making a good amount of money over the next few years, but if he was on the open market right now he’d probably be commanding near max level. So from that perspective, he’s a bargain at his price point.

As for the age, he’s about to turn 31 in July. That means he’ll still be 32 the season after next. His game doesn’t seem to be one that will age poorly. Sign me up for 4 more years please.

Thanks again for the questions everyone. I’ll do what I can to get to the trade ideas soon.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...ilbag-answers-nba-trade-rumors-boston-celtics

 

[Boston Celtics]

Jaylen Brown talks knee surgery, Celtics offseason, 741 Performance — and his love for the Boston community

741 Performance/@a_ciggs

On a gloomy Saturday afternoon in Boston, Jaylen Brown spent five uninterrupted hours with Celtics fans still digesting the team’s early playoff exit — and eager to support their favorite player’s sneaker launch.

BOSTON — The rain came down in sheets. And, every couple of minutes, just when it seemed it had finally let up, another surge of torrential downpour would begin.

But the dozens and dozens of Celtics fans in attendance who lined Canal Street on a gloomy Saturday afternoon in Boston were unfazed, sporting a poncho or carrying an umbrella, and patiently waiting for the opportunity to meet Jaylen Brown.

Brown, who was rumored to be arriving to his 741 Performance pop-up to unveil his White Noise sneakers to the public for the very first time, hadn’t been out and about once since the Celtics’ stunning playoff elimination.

But, his newly-launched performance company was finally selling the sneakers he wore for most of the Celtics season. And, for fans still grieving the year’s unexpected outcome, the chance to see Brown out and about just steps away from TD Garden was therapeutic.

“I thought about skipping the event because of this rain,” said one diehard Celtics fan covered in 741 performance attire from head to toe.

Then, she suppressed a self-aware grin. “Who am I kidding? I was never going to miss this.”

Before Saturday, the last time Celtics fans saw Brown was on television, after he had just fouled out of a frustrating Game 6 blowout loss in which seemingly nothing went the Celtics' way.

After the defeat, he addressed fans in his postgame press conference: “I know Boston — it looks gloomy right now, obviously with JT being out, and us ending the year, but it’s a lot to look forward to. I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end.”

For many of the fans at the pop-up, the remark provided a sense of comfort, a sort of light, after a devastating sequence of events few could have predicted.

“It really, really hurt,” said one fan of the Celtics’ season-ending 119-81 loss at Madison Square Garden, which came just four days after Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon. “But, Jaylen saying that? I don’t know how to explain it, but it really helped.”

Jaylen Brown arrived at the 741 pop-up with his grandfather, Willie ​

And, when the duo pulled up on Saturday afternoon, the rain momentarily halted.

741 Performance/@a_ciggs
Jaylen Brown arrives at the 741 Performance pop-up in Boston on Saturday alongside his grandfather, Willie Brown.

For a moment, the Celtics’ 2024 Finals MVP stopped to take in the scene: the parents and kids who had been on the street since the early morning, the diehard fans who arrived overnight in hopes of securing a free pair of shoes (the first 10 arrivals were promised free pairs by 741 Performance).

Many of the faces that greeted Brown and his grandfather were ones Brown had seen countless times throughout his 9-year Celtics career.

“People here really waited in the rain for hours – a lot of really good fans and supporters that I appreciate a lot,” he told CelticsBlog. “And I know a lot of people are very highly critical of our performances, but I do appreciate the ones that support you through thick and thin.”

Brown candidly shared his aspirations for next season with the fans who greeted him, diving into frustration with how things ended, and taking the time to get to know each and every person who had waited to meet him for hours.

“This?” he said, gesturing to the sea of green seemingly growing by the minute. “It motivates me to be even better.”

Dozens of Celtics fans purchased 741 apparel on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Boston.

Today, over a week removed from the Celtics’ painful elimination, Jaylen Brown feels as connected to the city of Boston as ever ​

So, he’s thinking of spending an unprecedented amount of time in the community this summer.

Since being drafted by the team in 2016, Jaylen Brown has never actually spent an entire offseason in Boston.

His wide array of plans and interests have taken him across the world; last year, he spent much of his summer in the Middle East, performing the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca just days after the Celtics hoisted their championship trophy.

In 2019, he was part of USA Basketball’s World Cup team in China with Tatum and Derrick White.

But this year, for the very first time, Brown is leaning toward spending most of his offseason in the city he’s called home since he was 19.

“I’m in the community a lot, but I’m leaning toward being even more in the community,” Brown said. “I’m just really trying to touch this community and be around, be available for the city of Boston.”

In July, the Celtics star is once again hosting the Bridge program at MIT, a multi-day educational and leadership initiative for Black and Brown youth from 8th to 12th grade. At Bridge, Brown spends all day, every day with the students, who study a range of topics from community organizing to artificial intelligence.

Saeed Saeed, a 17-year-old from East Boston who participated in the program in 2023 — told CelticsBlog last year that the program changed him forever.

“Those five days were probably the best days of my life,” Saeed said

Brown is still figuring out the rest of his plans, still processing the reality that for the first time in years, his season has ended in mid-May. The last time the Celtics were eliminated this early in the postseason with Brown active in the lineup was in 2019, when Boston fell to Milwaukee in the second round of the playoffs.

So, simply being free this early in the spring is somewhat of a shock to the system.

“I was expecting to be playing right now,” he said, the reality seemingly still dawning on him as he spoke.

Jaylen Brown is still considering offseason knee surgery​

One of Brown’s top offseason priorities is getting healthy — he finished the season with a partially torn meniscus in his right knee, battling through pain for the second half of the year.

When Brad Stevens spoke to reporters on Monday, he expressed optimism about Brown’s prognosis.

“The knee is in a good place, structurally,” Stevens said. “So I think he felt comfortable getting out there and going after it, and, hopefully, he’ll feel better after being off of it for a couple of weeks here.”

On Saturday, Brown told CelticsBlog that surgery to repair that torn meniscus remains on the table.

“l got a lot of doctors I gotta get evaluated with — see the potential for surgery versus no surgery, wait to speak to the [Celtics] organization,” he said. “For now, it’s just rest and recovery. I’m taking a step back from a long season. Mentally, it was a lot of stuff going on.”

In the meantime, 741 Performance has served as a sort of anchor ​

Jaylen Brown officially launched the futuristic performance brand in September, guided by the prospect of showing other athletes that there’s a viable alternative to signing with a major sneaker company: there’s a pathway toward building your very own.

“This is probably one of the things I’m most proud of,” Brown said. “I’ve lectured at five universities. I’m an MIT fellow. I’ve done a lot of things in my career and off the court. I’ve been a champion. I’ve gone to Mecca. Launching my own shoe — and playing in my own shoe — is a feeling like no other.”

The CFO of 741 Performance, Brown’s close lifelong friend Donte’ “Tae” Durr, told CelticsBlog in February that after the Celtics star verbalized he wanted to launch his own sneaker years ago, the tireless work to actualize that dream began.

“We started having more conversations, trying to research and figure out what it looks like to put yourself in a position to create a performance shoe,” Durr said. “And then, luckily, we started to make introductions with people who had experience in the industry, who had creative ideas of their own.”

The biggest domino fell when Brown and his team stumbled upon a group of experts interested in debuting a new, innovative sneaker technology. But, they didn’t have a brand with which to launch that technology, and they didn’t want to simply sell it off to a larger corporation.

Thus, a fortuitous collaboration emerged.

“The next thing you know, you’re holding a prototype,” Durr said. “And it’s the most insane thing ever.”

Jaylen Brown is signing 741 merch here outside of TD Garden for fans, many of whom have been waiting to meet him since the AM pic.twitter.com/6knWm9nM4w

— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) May 24, 2025​

Today, Brown’s sneaker is for sale in three color schemes: Black Moon, Gray Nebular, and White Noise. In addition to that, 741 has an exhaustive apparel line — pants, shirts, skirts, jackets, the like. The clothing is intended to be versatile.

“It’s elevated performance loungewear,” said fashion designer Hilda Batayneh, who works with Brown and 741 Performance. “It’s not intended to be your true workout clothes, but you can wear it for that. But we’re intending it as fashion – dress it up, dress it down.”

Over the course of years, Batayneh met with Brown to conceptualize and finalize the design of the apparel. She likened the experience to Brown going to design school.

Every time the Celtics played a game in New York, Brown squeezed in a meeting with Batayneh. Whenever he had a day off in Boston, she’d make the trip to the Bay State to do the same.

“It was an amazing process with him,” Batayneh told CelticsBlog in February. “And he truly has a very detailed eye, which is very rare for someone who’s not a trained designer.”

Still in its first year, Brown considers the launch of his own company a success.

“Just to really get it out there is an accomplishment in itself,” he said. “Just to take the route of independence and starting your own brand... for a high-profile athlete, you don’t really see that too often, especially at this stage in my career. It’s a lot of risk in that, but I wanted the next generation to know it’s possible.”

One of Brown’s biggest points of pride has been that fans who purchase his sneakers get to wear he exact shoe he dons on the TD Garden parquet — nothing more, nothing less.

That’s not typically the norm in the sneaker industry, he said.

“Usually, the athlete is wearing something totally different from what’s being sold, because they want to increase the margins,” Brown said. “Kobe Bryant wasn’t wearing the same shoe that you go buy. But, you’re wearing the same exact shoe that I wear.”

Those closest to Brown aren’t surprised he’s been able to turn his longtime dream into an actual company.

“When you’re dealing with JB, I can’t even call it a miracle,” Turr said. “It’s almost an expectation.”

Brown is still tinkering with the design and aesthetics of the sneakers and apparel. The plans are endless — to incorporate geothermal, to integrate science, to build upon Year 1 and far into the future.

Ensuring a high sneaker quality was the top priority from the get-go.

“If you like it now, you’re going to love it in the future,” Brown said. “Sometimes you don’t want to make things perfect. Sometimes you just gotta do it and then let it grow and change it as you are doing it, instead of just trying to be the perfect brand out the gate. Entrepreneurs understand that. Small business owners understand that. Sometimes, the public doesn’t.”

As an athlete, Jaylen Brown has always been motivated by those who doubt him. ​

As an entrepreneur, his mindset is the same.

“People may critique you,” he said. “People may say things, but let’s see in five years where we’re gonna be.”

But not everyone is a critic; many are just thrilled to wear the futuristic apparel that is the brainchild of their favorite athlete.

So, rather than simply spending 20 minutes at the 741 pop-up, shaking a few hands, taking a few photos, and calling it a day, Brown hung out for hours, opting to get to know every single person who chose to suffer through the onslaught of rain.

741 Performance/@a_ciggs
Jaylen Brown chats with Celtics fans attending Saturday’s 741 Performance event.

A DJ urged fans to speed up their interactions to ensure that everyone got a chance to meet the four-time All-Star.

But, Brown said that since the Celtics were no longer playing, he had all the time in the world. So, rather than rush through each conversation, he chatted with fans for several minutes apiece, his time seemingly infinite.

For five hours, he sat in the rain and immersed himself in the Celtics community that still cherished him, even through the playoffs’ disappointment.

Today, Brown is looking toward the future — whatever that may hold.

“Right now, I’m decompressing emotionally,” he said. “And then in a week or so, I pick up the pieces. I see what the direction is for myself, my health, and the organization. And, whatever the outcome is, I’m excited.”

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...-celtics-knee-injury-741-performance-sneakers

 

[Boston Celtics]

Catch Pacers vs. Knicks Game 3 live on Playback

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The New York Knicks’ season is on the brink.

The Knicks vs. Pacers has been everything Celtics fans could hope for. The Knicks suffered a historic collapse, followed by a wire-to-wire loss in their own building, putting them in a 0-2 hole. The Boston Pacers have a chance to effectively end the series tonight.

Tune in for the Game 3 hate watch in the CelticsBlog Playback room.

Download the Playback app today and be part of the conversation as the action unfolds.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/25/24436831/catch-pacers-vs-knicks-game-3-live-on-playback

 

[Boston Celtics]

CelticsBlog exit interview: Derrick White is still everyone’s favorite role player

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Derrick White’s clutch shooting, shot blocking, do it all ways marched along in his fourth season in Boston, making him an untouchable piece of the organization’s future.

The Derrick White Experience is ever-expanding.

The Derrick White you see today is a far cry from the man who debuted in Celtics green on Feb. 11, 2022.

That version of Derrick White, sporting a headband and hair that popped out like a head of cauliflower, was truly a jack of all trades, and a master of none. From 2019-2021, he was a career 35% shooter from behind the 3-point line, a capable scorer and passer that averaged 11.6 points and 3.7 assists per night, and an admirably solid perimeter defender.

The Derrick White of today, the one who shed that hair and headband combo to be a bald-headed assassin, is a different kind of beast, and is without a doubt one of the league’s premier non-star players.

For a third straight season, White shot 38% or better from beyond the arc, this time on the highest volume of his career (9.1 attempts) and on the best self-created shotmaking efficiency of his career. In large part from his hot perimeter shooting, his 58% eFG percentage was also the best of his career.

That scoring touch only seemed to amplify when the game reached clutch minutes. In 29 regular season games, White was third in clutch scoring (2.1 points) behind the Jays, second behind Kristaps Porzingis in FG percentage (56.7%) and first in 3-point percentage (56%).

In the five postseason games to reach clutch time, which Boston went 1-4 in, White was the only shooter above 40%.

This season spelled the end of a two-year streak of All-Defensive Team honors for White, but he was still one of the league’s best perimeter defenders and the undisputed top shot-blocking guard in the NBA. White averaged a block per game for a third straight season, while 3-point shooters’ FG% was 3.8% worse when guarded by White and an absurd 13.4% worse on shots 6 feet or less from the basket.

White is also one of the best off-ball chasers and screen-navigators in the game, finishing in the 96th percentile in ball screen navigation according to BBall Index.

On top of all the statistical evidence aligning with our collective eye tests, White was also just a durable constant within the Boston rotation. This was the fourth consecutive year that White played 70+ regular season games, and in a postseason where four of Boston’s five starters dealt with some form of injury, ailment or illness, White was the only player not to be mentioned on the injury report.

The Celtics limped to their second round exit against the Knicks, but White had his fair share of playoff-rising performances. White recorded his third and fourth 30-point playoff games, one in each series, and averaged 19 points on 46% FG efficiency, following up last year’s title run with another helping of that reliable do-it-all impact.

Boston finds itself in a flux this offseason. Faces that played a part in Banner 18 will be out the door, while the face of the franchise recovers from injury. That leaves a lot of questions, and big decisions, for Brad Stevens to face, but there needs to be constants amid the roster reconstruction.

The Celtics are going to look a lot different next October, but Derrick White is a constant that has to remain. No trade nets another Derrick White, nor does a draft pick provide high enough odds of finding the next Derrick White.

Surrounded by chaos and uncertainty, it’s nice to know that there are certain constants to this world: the sun rises and sets, time always moves forward, Joel Embiid’s Sixers will finish short of the conference finals, and when the fourth quarter rolls around, Derrick White is hitting a big shot.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...ck-white-still-everyones-favorite-role-player

 

[Boston Celtics]

Report: Mavs will explore Jrue Holiday trade with Celtics

David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Mavericks will search for point guard depth this summer to sustain through Kyrie Irving’s (ACL) absence. But the path to a trade with the Celtics is difficult.

The Mavericks hope to acquire one of the guards who defeated them in the NBA Finals this summer. With Kyrie Irving (ACL) injured until at least January and Luka Dončić in LA, Dallas will explore a trade for Jrue Holiday this offseason, according to Marc Stein.

Boston and Dallas would unite as intriguing trade partners. The Mavericks have a surplus in their front court after adding Anthony Davis and consensus No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg will play in the front court. That allows PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford to depart in a potential deal as most of the matching money going back to the Celtics. The problems begin there in what’s a complicated trade due to Holiday’s three-year, $104 million contract.

If the team tries to dodge the second apron, Boston needs to limit the total amount of money coming back in the trade. That’ll require pulling in a third team, and likely becomes where the Celtics would need to provide some amount of draft compensation. Washington and Gafford combine for over $28 million next season, but their expiring contracts and value as starting-caliber players would make both easier to re-route. Either Dwight Powell, also expiring, Jaden Hardy, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, among others, would round out the deal for Dallas while bringing back Holiday’s $32.4 million salary.

That’s where the trouble begins for the Mavs. Since they’d aggregate multiple salaries to complete the trade, it would trigger a second apron hard cap for the team next season. They’re currently $12.7 million below that apron, so sending out as much salary as possible becomes important for them being able to construct a team. It doesn’t help that Flagg slots in at $13.8 million when the Mavs sign him to 120% of the rookie scale for a No. 1 overall pick. That’ll currently push them over the second apron. Kyrie Irving, who has until June 24 to decide on his $44 million player option, can provide more flexibility if he opts-out and takes less than that in the first season of a long-term extension.

After breaking down various constructions of a deal over at CLNS Media, a three-team trade with Brooklyn where the Nets absorb Caleb Martin’s three-year deal worth $9.6 million next season alongside Washington makes the most sense. Brooklyn could get something later for Washington, who flourished with Dallas after Charlotte dealt him there. The Nets taking on Martin would likely require some sweetener, though. Boston, if necessary, could also bring back Powell’s $4 million contract and move it somewhere later.

Despite the challenges, benefits exist for both sides: the Celtics move off Holiday without shedding significant assets, acquire a younger center should Al Horford or Luke Kornet depart and gain some flexibility with Kristaps Porziņģis’ future as he enters his contract year. The Celtics would land within striking distance of sliding under the second apron, and could do so by trading Sam Hauser into another team’s mid-level exception, then moving Porziņģis, Gafford or others and taking less money back.

If they need to dodge the luxury tax, which they’re about $40 million above, they could offload all those players and work their way down in multiple steps throughout the season.

For the Mavs: Holiday provides point guard skills, defensive versatility and a needed veteran presence in Irving’s absence before pairing nicely beside him upon his return. Holiday doesn’t dominant the ball, so Flagg and Davis could share ball-handling duties while Irving rehabs. They could also sign Chris Paul for the veteran’s minimum to add to their ball-handling depth, and transition him to a bench role when Irving returns. Stein mentioned Lonzo Ball, recently extended for two-years, $20 million by Chicago, as an option too.

The Celtics, awaiting an official ownership change, will meet in the coming weeks leading up to the draft to assess their direction following the Jayson Tatum achilles tear and subsequent second round exit for Boston. Next season’s roster projects to cost roughly $500 million between payroll and repeater tax penalties, and another season above the second apron line would freeze the Celtics’ 2033 first round pick.

They need to spend three of the next four seasons below to unfreeze 2032, while two years out of the tax resets the repeater penalty. Using Tatum’s hiatus to reset those clocks could put the team in the best position to contend when he returns. But they’ll rely on facilitators like Brooklyn to move off money, or larger trades emerging. That could lead to some painful moves.

Holiday turns 35 in June.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...trade-with-celtics-boston-dallas-kyrie-irving

 

[Boston Celtics]

Different teams, same crossroads: can Boston secure their version of the 2022 Warriors’ title run?

Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

Jayson Tatum’s injury has the Celtics at a turning point eerily similar to Golden State’s in 2019 — now it’s time for Brad Stevens to engineer Boston’s redemption arc.

The 2024-2025 Boston Celtics season ended in catastrophic fashion. The Celtics lost to the New York Knicks in the second round, a sentence that did not feel within the realm of possibilities when we began the playoffs. And as if a second round loss to the Knicks wasn’t excruciating enough, Celtics fans were treated to a poop-flavored cherry on top coming in the form of Jayson Tatum rupturing his Achilles.

As Jaylen Brown let us know after the conclusion of the Knicks series, “I was taught that there’s life after death. So we’ll get ready for whatever’s next.”

In the wake of the Celtics’ season ending, I was reminded of the 2018-2019 Golden State Warriors. The Warriors entered those playoffs chasing history, and left those same playoffs facing the potential end of an era.

The question is, can Tatum and the Celtics secure their version of Golden State’s 2022 NBA championship?

Going into the 2018-2019 season, the Golden State Warriors were chasing the elusive three-peat, something that hasn’t been done since the Kobe and Shaq Lakers. Sadly, Kevin Durant ruptured his Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and Klay Thompson tore his ACL in Game 6 (then subsequently ruptured his Achilles a year later) -- an obvious parallel to Jayson Tatum going down with his own Achilles rupture in Game 4 of the series against the Knicks. The clear difference for the Warriors was that they still had their franchise icon, Steph Curry, intact for the following season. Then they lost Steph to a broken hand just four games into the following season. This was the end of the Warriors as we knew them, and the beginning of their pursuit of another championship.

Similar to the 2025 Boston Celtics, the 2019 Golden State Warriors were faced with significant roster decisions after the painful exists in the previous playoffs. Kevin Durant departed in a sign-and-trade for D’Angelo Russell. He was then flipped for Andrew Wiggins at the next trade deadline. Andre Igoudala saw the writing on the wall and left for the Miami Heat.

I had forgotten the Celtics had the distinct pleasure of being on the wrong side of Iguodala chasing rings in two separate postseasons. I had apparently suppressed the memory of Iguodala being a key piece of the Miami Heat team that took down the Celtics in the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals. I digress.

So, of the top five minute earners for the 18-19 Warriors: Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Steph Curry, and Andre Iguodala, only Steph and Draymond were on the opening night roster. And then Steph Curry broke his hand four games into the season. This led to the Warriors winning just 15 games and securing the second overall pick in the 2020 draft. Which landed them the crown jewel of the draft, James Wiseman.

Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury has spawned the idea of a potential “stealth tank” season for the 2025-2026 Boston Celtics. It’s not hard to see a path to a top-10 pick for the Celtics. Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis get moved for 50 cents on the dollar, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White are load managed, and JD Davison runs the second unit for a season. For a Celtics team that will find it hard to acquire talent at a discount, a top-10 pick is certainly enticing. Just look at what Cason Wallace is doing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But what’s interesting and surprising about the Warriors’ path back to contention is that none of the high draft picks they made in their down years helped them win the 2022 title. James Wiseman is on his third team. Jonathan Kuminga, who they drafted with the pick they received in the D’Angelo Russell for Andrew Wiggins trade, wasn’t a big factor, and neither was Moses Moody, who they selected 14th overall. Ironically, the one young guy who helped them win the title was Jordan Poole, who the Warriors drafted 28th overall in the 2019 draft.

If the Warriors missed on their bridge year draft picks, how did they finagle their way back into contention? The obvious is that Steph Curry was still Steph Curry at age 33. For the Celtics to win another title, it will require Jayson Tatum returning to his pre-injury form. The Warriors traded for the previously mentioned Andrew Wiggins, drafted Jordan Poole, signed Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr, and Nemanja Bjelica to veteran minimum contracts, and signed Gary Payton II to a two-way contract (which they later converted to a full NBA contract). In short, the Golden State Warriors nailed the margins. Impressive work from Bob Meyers.

Brad Stevens, you’re up next.

After some incredibly shrewd manoeuvering, the Warriors formed a 10-man rotation of Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Kevon Looney, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Otto Porter Jr, Gary Payton II, Andrew Iguodala, and Nemanja Bjelica. It's a rotation that, sadly, took down the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals -- just three seasons after the apparent end of the Warriors dynasty.

Since stepping into the role of President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics, it has been home run after home run for Stevens. The Kemba Walker for Al Horford trade. Genius. The Romeo Langford, Josh Richardson, and a 2028 pick swap for Derrick White trade. A masterstroke.

Next, emulating a version of the 2022 Warriors. This will be Brad Stevens’ biggest test yet. The foundation of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White will, basketball gods willing, remain in place. Those three core pieces make up the Celtics’ version of the Steph, Draymond, Wiggins trio. I don’t think it’s outlandish to think that Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet can replicate the impact of post ACL/Achilles injury Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney. Pritchard is coming off a career year where he was the league’s most potent weapon off the bench, and Luke Kornet reinvented himself as an offensive hub that can mash you on the offensive glass.

The last couple of seasons in Washington make it easy to forget that Jordan Poole was an important piece of that Warriors team. Poole established himself as a third “splash bro”, playing 27 minutes a night and pouring in 17 points per game on 65% true shooting on their run to the title. The Warriors drafted this brash guard at 28th overall three seasons earlier. The draft was right before everything fell apart in the 2019 NBA Finals. Not dissimilar to how the Boston Celtics drafted a spunky wing out of Creighton with the 30th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft. If you squint, you can envision Baylor Scheierman hitting half-court daggers in the NBA Finals.

Sam Hauser would be our Otto Porter Jr. in this scenario. Hauser has already proven he can be a 7th man on a championship team, after he had an excellent series against the Dallas Mavericks on the way to Banner 18. I’m hopeful that Hauser is still around for the next iteration of the Celtics. If he is not a casualty of the new CBA, then he brings our rotation to seven players. I

haven’t mentioned Al Horford. Al will be approximately 104 years old by the time the Celtics are ready to contend again. I won’t be stunned if Al is still playing, because he is blessed with the best genetics a person can have, but that would just be a nice surprise.

Next, it’s time for Brad to find his Iguodala, Gary Payton II, and Nemanja Bjelicas of the world. This doesn’t have to come in the form of veteran minimum contracts, but an advantage the 2026-2027 Celtics will likely have is the offer of playing time to potential free agents. Something they could not offer in the previous few seasons. Which is why the Celtics have not brought in any of the prized veteran minimum guys like Gary Trent Jr, Derrick Jones Jr, or Malik Beasley. On top of having an advantage in the veteran’s minimum free agent market, Brad Stevens and the Celtics own all of their draft picks until 2028 (which is a swap with the Spurs), which is impressive in itself. The fact that Brad Stevens was able to build a team as talented and deep as the team over the past two seasons, while still having the draft capital he has available, is some tidy business. The Celtics’ draft pick position is in stark contrast with a team like the Milwaukee Bucks, who don’t own any of their draft picks until the 2031 draft. Hitting on some of these draft picks could be the key to unlocking Banner 19. The Celtics own the 28th and 32nd overall picks in the upcoming draft. It would be great if those picks both turned into rotation players. Realistically, getting one rotation player with those two picks would be a huge win, but why not dream a little?

Going into next season, the Celtics will have a nice collection of rotation player lottery tickets. Let’s take a second to admire those tickets, shall we? The two 2025 draft picks. We have the aforementioned Spunky Scheierman. Next up is Jordan Walsh. The 38th overall pick in the 2023 draft. Walsh is yet to show us anything that would lead us to believe he can help us on our journey towards Banner 19. However, he just turned 21, they haven’t drawn the lottery balls for him just yet.

A lot will need to go right for the Celtics to secure another title in the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era. But the path is clear. Rely on the franchise cornerstones, hit on a couple of draft picks, and entice prized low-cost free agents to join us on our quest to remain the winningest franchise in the NBA. This plan should be easy enough to execute when you have Brad Stevens running the show.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...-their-version-of-the-2022-warriors-title-run

 

[Boston Celtics]

Catch Pacers vs. Knicks Game 4 live on CelticsBlog Playback

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The Knicks have another chance to save their season.

Apparently, the New York Knicks can only win basketball games when they go down by 20 points first. Three of their last five wins have come in 20-point comebacks. It doesn’t seem like a sustainable way to win playoff games, but alas, the Knicks have another chance to save their season in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Tune in for the hate watch in the CelticsBlog Playback room.

Download the Playback app today and be part of the conversation as the action unfolds.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...vs-knicks-game-4-live-on-celticsblog-playback

 

[Boston Celtics]

Report: a new team has emerged in the Jrue Holiday sweepstakes.

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Masslive’s Brian Robb is reporting that another team could enter as a potential Holiday suitor.

A new team has emerged as a potential Jrue Holiday destination.

According to MassLives’ Brian Robb, the Los Angeles Clippers are a team that could get involved in a potential Holiday trade as the Celtics try to get under the 2nd apron.

New: The Celtics outbid several teams for Jrue Holiday before acquiring the veteran guard from the Blazers in 2023. One of those previous suitors is expected to show interest again in Holiday this summer, a league source tells MassLive. More: https://t.co/zliflayzrg

— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) May 28, 2025

Holiday is expected to be pursued by several teams on the trade market, and a league source tells MassLive that the Los Angeles Clippers are one team expected to show interest in the 34-year-old guard this offseason. The Celtics outbid several teams, including the Clippers, per sources, for Holiday back in 2023 when the Blazers made the two-time All-Star available following the Damian Lillard blockbuster deal to the Bucks. Boston ended up dealing Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams and two future first- round picks for Holiday in the deal before training camp that helped lead the Celtics to a 2024 title.

While it is unclear what the Clippers final offer ultimately was, they were in the sweepstakes of trying to land Holiday after he was traded to the Blazers for Damian Lillard.

The Clippers report comes a few days after Marc Stein reported that the Dallas Mavericks could be interested in Holiday.

Any deal that involves the Clippers would see the Celtics likely take Bogdan Bogdanovic, his $16 million salary. If Boston and Los Angeles can complete the trade before the calendar turns to July and the new league year begins the deal Robb mentioned in his story of Holiday for Bogdanovic, Drew Eubanks and one of Jordan Miller, Kobe Brown or Cam Christie, brother of Mavericks guard Max Christie, works.

However, if the deal is done after the July 6 moratorium is lifted, that deal would not work due to Holiday’s rising salary and Eubanks and Bogdanovic’s decreasing salary.

In a deal that takes place after the league year turn, it would require the Celtics to take on Kris Dunn’s $5 million contract, something the likely do not want to do. The Clippers likely also do not want to give up Dunn if they don’t have to.

If the teams decide to wait because the Clippers would rather move Dunn that one of their young guys, Boston would likely flip both Dunn and Eubanks in that trade so using the Nets’ cap space. As a result, it could look like this.

In that deal, Boston would need to move picks to get off of Eubanks and Dunn, something I am sure they would like to avoid.

For each team that wants Holiday, it lessens the likely hood that Boston would need to attach draft picks to get off of the remaining 3 years and $104 million left on his contract. Which is of course what Brad Stevens and company would like to avoid in their quest to get under the second apron.

I don't think Boston will need to attach picks to get off of Holiday, every year you hear about a team that wants a veteran player who has been through the wars of the playoffs to help lead their young talent. Who better to do that than Holiday? He has won titles in his first season on new teams as well.

Getting under the second apron is vital for the Celtics, as Celticsblog’s Bobby Manning mentioned in his Holiday to Dallas rumor story.

Next season’s roster projects to cost roughly $500 million between payroll and repeater tax penalties, and another season above the second apron line would freeze the Celtics’ 2033 first round pick. They need to spend three of the next four seasons below to unfreeze 2032, while two years out of the tax resets the repeater penalty. Using Tatum’s hiatus to reset those clocks could put the team in the best position to contend when he returns. But they’ll rely on facilitators like Brooklyn to move off money, or larger trades emerging. That could lead to some painful moves.

So expect the Celtics to do everything they can to get under the second apron this summer and to stay under the second apron over the next handful of seasons.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...eepstakes-boston-celtics-los-angeles-clippers

 

[Boston Celtics]

Deal or No Deal: Jrue Holiday

Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Should the Celtics keep Holiday?

Welcome back to the Deal or No Deal series where we break down if the Celtics should bring back a certain player for the 2025-26 NBA season. If a player is under “Deal” then the player should not be brought back. If “No Deal” then the player should be brought back.

The next player in this series is Jrue Holiday. After the 2024 season where he made an All-Defense team and shot 43% from three, the 2025 season saw a decline for Holiday. In 62 games, he averaged 11.1 PPG, 4.3 REB, and 3.9 AST on 44% shooting from the field, 35% from three and 91% from the free throw line.

Similar to Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, Holiday missed time with a couple of nagging injuries that affected his play. In December, he missed time with left knee tendinopathy and a right shoulder impingement, in February, he had right hand mallet finger that had him wear a cast on his pinky, and in the playoffs, he suffered a right hamstring strain that slowed him down.

Holiday has voiced that he wants to stay in Boston, saying in his end of season press conference, “I still want to be a part (of this team).” When asked his thoughts on potential roster moves from the Celtics, Holiday replied with, “Yeah, I think we still have a really, really great opportunity. And a great window to be successful and win a championship again...the opportunity to win is now, and I still want to be a part of that.”

Jrue Holiday on the Celtics potentially having to make roster changes and if he’s hopeful to be back next year:

“The opportunity to win is now and I still want to be apart of that.” pic.twitter.com/1cU5fhpzhQ

— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) May 17, 2025​

With the Celtics expected to shed salary this offseason with second apron penalties looming, Holiday has come up as a name that is almost guaranteed to be on the move. In the last week alone, we have heard the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, and Los Angeles Clippers are all interested in a potential deal.

According to Mark Stein of The Stein Line, the Mavericks are exploring whether there is a feasible pathway to pull off a Jrue Holiday trade even with his contract. If Dallas wanted to make a move for Holiday, they would most likely have to give up Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington, and Oliver-Maxence Prosper just to make the money work.

According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Kings are looking for a true point guard and with a new GM, they have interest in Holiday even if it's possible or not. If Sacramento was to make a trade, the deal would most likely center around Malik Monk, Jonas Valanciunas, and most likely a draft pick. Although Monk was the Sixth Man of the Year runner up in 2024, I don’t think this move is the best Brad Stevens and the Celtics can do. Another possible move is a one-for-one trade that swaps Holiday for DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan is on the final year of his contract and the trade will save the Celtics $7.7 million.

According to Brian Robb of MassLive, the Clippers were one of the teams the Celtics outbid for Holiday in the 2023 offseason and are expected to be in on him again. Robb mentions Bogdan Bogdanovic being the main salary that the Celtics would receive in return alongside center Drew Eubanks and another low-cost player like Jordan Miller or Cam Christie.

My personal idea for a Holiday to the Clippers trade also includes Bogdanovic to Boston but they could also receive Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn who both have one more deal left on their current contracts. Boston could then flip Jones Jr. to another team to gain more assets.

Hmmm https://t.co/rl8eX87R94 pic.twitter.com/Vha4RokTt7

— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) May 28, 2025​

Verdict: Deal

In a perfect world, Jrue Holiday would be a member of the Boston Celtics for the rest of his career, but with their current financial situation, it just doesn’t seem likely. Holiday still holds a lot weight when it comes to a potential trade around the league, not only for his play on the court, but also being the great teammate and veteran presence. Out of everyone on the Celtics roster, Holiday could be the one to get the biggest return this offseason.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...day-boston-celtics-nba-offseason-brad-stevens

 

[Boston Celtics]

Boston Celtics Roster, Salaries, Cap Space, Available Draft Picks and More

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The CBA was designed to break up teams like the Boston Celtics - now Brad Stevens has to figure out how to do it right

Updated May 29, 2025

As NBA teams continue to get smarter about how they build their rosters and plan for the future, fans have only gotten hungrier for information about what team-building options are available to their favorite organizations. We don’t have direct access to Mike Zarren and Keith Smith has moved on to greener spreadsheets.

With that in mind, we’re partnering with SalarySwish to use their data to attempt to answer every single question you could possibly have about the Celtics’ financial situation (and other team-building considerations).

Below is our attempt at an updating, living and breathing document answering every query you could possibly have on that front, with updates and context as the team moves forward. So bookmark this page for all the latest changes as the team moves forward!

Now, onto the info...

Celtics Roster, Salaries, Draft Picks, Cap Space and More​

Here is a table with all of the Celtics’ salary information, courtesy of our friends at SalarySwish:

Now, because that is a lot of data, let’s dive into a few key pieces of context and what it means, and try to answer any questions it may call up for you.

FAQ​

Now, let’s answer some of your most frequently asked questions about the Celtics’ salary cap and draft pick situations moving forward.

Why do the Celtics need to get under the 2nd Apron?​

This season the Celtics were over the 2nd apron by $4.4M. They will be paying roughly $53.5M in taxes as a result (Insert the “not my money” line here). Next year the Celtics salaries are increasing quite a bit, largely due to Jayson Tatum’s new deal kicking in. As the salaries increase, the taxes increase exponentially. Right now, the Celtics are projected to be over next year’s 2nd apron by $20M. That would result in a whopping tax bill of over $238M!

Why does the tax bill go up so much? Mostly because the repeater tax kicks in. The repeater tax kicks in when you are in tax three of the last four years and the Celtics have been a tax team for the last 3 straight years.

To get under the 2nd apron, they’ll need to cut about $20M in salaries. To get all the way under the luxury tax line, they’d need to cut roughly $40M in salaries.

What are the 2nd apron rules against trades?​

As a 2nd apron team, the Celtics cannot send out two or more aggregated salaries together (so they can’t stack smaller salaries to bring back a more expensive player). They also can’t send out cash in a trade (some teams use this to incentivize the other team to take on more salary).

It gets worse too. Boston can only take back 100 percent or less of the salary that they send out in a deal. Typically non-tax paying teams have some wiggle room and can take back 125% (plus $250K) of outgoing salaries. The Celtics can’t go over by one cent.

What about the draft pick restrictions?​

As if all of that wasn’t bad enough, there’s stuff with the draft as well. When a team is over the apron for 2 years, their draft pick 7 years from now gets frozen (so still own it but you can’t trade it). And it gets worse: “If a team remains in the second apron for three out of five seasons, their frozen pick will move to the end of the first round, regardless of their draft performance.”

What draft picks can the Celtics trade?​

Here’s a review of the Boston Celtics first round picks in the next several years:

• 2025 - Celtics own their own pick.
• 2026 - Celtics own their own pick.
• 2027 - Celtics own their own pick.
• 2028 - The San Antonio Spurs have the right to swap 1st round picks with the Celtics in the 2028 draft (as part of the Derrick White trade).
• 2029 - The Celtics also owe a 2029 first round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the deal that brought Jrue Holiday to Boston.
• 2030 - Celtics own their own pick.
• 2031 - Celtics own their own pick.
• 2032 - This pick is frozen at the moment so it cannot be traded for at least the next three years. To un-freeze it the Celtics will need to get and stay under the second apron in at least three of the next four seasons.

If you found this page useful, please bookmark it and/or share, and if you have any questions or information you’d like to see included, let us know in the comments below!

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/24100982/boston-celtics-roster-salaries-cap-space-draft-picks

 

[Boston Celtics]

Inside Jaylen Brown’s special day in inner-city Boston that “changed everything”

On Wednesday, Brown visited five schools in Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, and Hyde Park, leaving students speechless: “This doesn’t happen to us.”

Jaylon Mason expected Wednesday to be just another normal day at Dorchester’s Brooke High School.

Then, at a seemingly mundane school assembly, Jaylen Brown walked in through the door.

Stunned, the hundreds of high schoolers at the auditorium went berserk, screaming, jumping out of their seats, completely incapable of containing their excitement as a thrilling reality set in.

One of their favorite athletes, one of their biggest role models, was at their school.

“I saw a couple kids even cry,” Mason told CelticsBlog.

Brown’s visit to Brooke High School was one of five school visits he made on Wednesday. He spent time at Mildred Avenue K-8 in Mattapan, swung by New Mission High School and Lilla and Frederic Pilot Middle School in Dorchester, and hung out at Nathan Hale Elementary School in Roxbury.

The visits came just a few days after Brown told CelticsBlog he was leaning toward spending most of his offseason in Boston for the first time in his Celtics tenure.

“I’m in the community a lot, but I’m leaning toward being even more in the community,” Brown said. “I’m just really trying to touch this community and be around, be available for the city of Boston.”

Just four days later, Brown demonstrated the impact of just a single day of genuine community engagement.

How Jaylen Brown ended up at Brooke High School ​

In mid-April, Shantae Romain, Brooke High School’s Director of Operations, met Brown at a private evening event at the high school that centered around financial literacy, health, spirituality, and self-mastery.

Brown was one of several guest speakers at the 19Keys event, and Romain realized she had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to directly make the case for the Celtics superstar to come by and meet her students. Romain was also well-aware that her students would soon be devastated to learn that Brown visited Brooke High during a time when they weren’t present.

“When the kids saw on social media, they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, Jaylen Brown was in our building, and you didn’t tell us,’” Romain told CelticsBlog with a chuckle. “They hated me for that.”

So, without hesitation, she approached Brown at the event and shot her shot.

“I was like, ‘Hey, this is great that you’re here as a guest speaker,’” Romain said. “But, this is who we are. This is our school community. These are our kids. I would be honored if you could come back and speak to them directly in that capacity.’”

Brown and his team couldn’t make any promises, but the 2024 Finals MVP said he would try to return in the offseason while school was still in session. Romain never expected the visit to actually take place.

Then, last Sunday, when she was cleaning her house, she got an unexpected call from Brown’s team. Brown wanted to come spent time at Brooke High School, just as Romain had suggested a few weeks prior. His only request? To keep everything a surprise from both the students and the staff.

Ahead of the momentous day, Romain and Brown jumped on the phone for a prep call, and the passionate school administrator shared with the Celtics star background information about her school and students.

“The fact that they remembered their word to me, just spoke volumes about who he is a person, who his team are as people,” she said, shouting out Brown’s security guard, Russell, for his role in making the event a reality.

On Wednesday, the special day finally arrived. It’s hard for those in attendance to find the words to describe just how it felt when Brown took the stage.

“It was the most electric, energetic moment in the room,” Romain said. “Just — goosebumps.”

For over an hour, Brown immersed himself amongst the students, sitting with them in the crowd, calling many onto the stage, and spending extra time with various athletes and top academic performers.

Jaylen Brown high-fives up students at Brooke Charter High School in Dorchester.

“This brought so much joy to students lives,” Romain said. “A celebrity, an NBA champion, an NBA All-Star, a Celtics player, walking through the same halls they walk through — it just doesn’t happen. To most of the students in the room, he’s their idol.”

Romain believes her students earned such an extraordinary opportunity with their unwavering commitment and dedication.

“They’re well-behaved, they’re respectful, they are amazing, educated, talented, intelligent students,” she said. “I’m like, ‘This is why you guys deserve this.’”

After the visit, her inbox was inundated with emails of gratitude from countless students.

“They were like, ‘That just changed my life. That just changed everything. That just made us feel more motivated, and pushed us through this year... they were like, you don’t even know what this just did for us,’” Romain said. “To me, that’s everything.”

Romain, who is born and raised in Dorchester, said she couldn’t even fathom an event like this taking place when she was in school.

“This doesn’t happen to us,” she said. “This doesn’t happen in Dorchester. This doesn’t happen in inner cities.”

Shantae Romain, Brooke High School’s Director of Operations, alongside Jaylen Brown.

Before Jaylon Mason finished his interview with CelticsBlog, he gave an editorial note for the story: “Give a lot of credit to Shantae Romain. She made this happen.”

The impact of a Celtics superstar making the trip to Dorchester​

When Jaylen Brown took the stage, he delievered a unique message for each grade level. He pushed the juniors to take a leadership role ahead of their final year. And, he urged the seniors to embrace the next steps on their journeys — and always remember who they were and where they came from.

“I felt like it really did uplift the school,” Mason said.

Brown also wanted to hear from the students directly, so he brought many onto the stage to formaly introduced themselves, with a simple directive: “Tell me who you are. Tell me about your school.”

The Celtics star gifted signed game-worn sneakers to the school’s two valedictorian and salutatorian candidates, Syriana Etheart and Maryama Ali. The sneakers were from one of his best games of the 2025 playoffs, Game 5 against the Knicks, in which he tallied 26 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds en route to a blowout victory.

Shantae Romain
Jaylen Brown takes a photo with Brooke High School’s valedictorian and salutatorian Candidates (from L to R: Syriana Etheart & Maryama Ali), Class of 2025

Brown hung out with students, autographing their clothes, taking photos with them, giving them words of wisdom, and instilling them with unwaving self-belief. Mason was wearing a black shirt, so he had Brown sign his arm.

With finals season just a few days away, the motivation was particularly timely, students said.

“He just told us to keep grinding in school, honestly – we could achieve what he could achieve, as long as we put our minds to it,” Mason said. “He told us just to keep working hard and [showed] where hard work will get you.”

For Mason — who loves science, anime, and comic books — the event highlighted that he wasn’t all that different from the Celtics star. The senior said he realized that just like him, Brown was “lowkey a nerd.”

“I realized I could achieve big things too, if I just put some hard work into it,” Mason said.

Mason has his academic plans laid out for the foreseeable future: he’ll be attending Bunker Hill Community College in the fall to study communication, and then he hopes to transfer to UMass Boston, where’ll major in business with the ultimate aspiration of becoming a marketing manager.

Wednesday’s visit further reinforced the importance of sticking to his well-thought-out academic plan.

Brown was initially expected to spend 25 minutes at Brooke High as part of his busy school tour on Wednesday. But, he ended up spending more than an hour, something that’s become a point of pride for students.

“I’m not gonna lie, I feel like he really did like our school the most,” Mason said, explaining he had scrolled through Tik Toks from the various schools Brown visited and come to that conclusion.

Many of the kids have never gotten the chance to attend a Celtics game in person. So, to spend one-on-one time with a player of Brown’s stature was surreal.

Shantae Romain
Jaylen Brown poses for a photo alongside Brooke High School students from the student athlete leadership council, and robotics team.

Things didn’t return to normal the next day at school.

“People couldn’t stop talking about it, I can’t even lie,” Mason said. “It’s the equivalent of, like, sitting on your bed and eating cereal, watching TV, and like, Obama comes in.”

For Mason, the visit also made Brown feel more relatable. While he was already a massive fan of the Celtics All-Star, the visit propelled things to another level.

“Jaylen Brown is a little bit of an underdog,” Mason said. “I like an underdog type of person… he’s just straightforward. I don’t know how to describe it – he feels like someone I could be like, if I really put my mind to it.”

The reality that someone as high-profile as Brown would choose to spend time with them, at their school still didn’t feel real.

“He actually came to Dorchester,” Mason said, seemingly still incredulous. “Jaylen Brown was just showing us he loved our community. Usually, you expect NBA players to be in it for the money. But he’s really in this for the community. So, it really did make me feel really nice. And he said he was gonna come back with a couple more friends next time. I hope he comes back before I graduate, though — I’m trying to see those other couple of friends he’s about to bring.”

Brown has plenty of other plans in the Boston community this summer.

As he does nearly every year, he’s hosting the Bridge program in July, where select Black and Brown youth from the Boston area will attend a multi-day educational initiative at MIT run by Brown’s 7uice foundation.

“Our kid in the city of Boston, Mattapan, Dorchester, Hyde Park — they need this,” Romain said, urging other Celtics players and high-profile Boston figures to take time of their schedules to make these types of visits.

In the meantime, the thousands of students that met Brown on Wednesday will never forget it, his advice etched in their memory forver.

“The trajectory of lives was changed this week,” Romain said.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...ston-schools-dorchester-brooke-high-community

 

[Boston Celtics]

I am The Trade Machine Moron

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Brad Stevens is not impressed with my trade machine work, but thankfully he’ll do a better job at it for the Celtics

The following is a work of fiction and not at all what happens to me every year as the offseason begins.

Ok, the season is over, time to shift into offseason mode. There’s a lot of work to do to make this team better, so let’s get down to business. Bill Simmons calls himself the Trade Machine Maestro. Surely I can do as well as he can, right? I’ve already listened to several podcasts and their crazy ideas, I’m on social media and I see all those terrible ideas, it is time to show everyone how this is really done.

(Cracks knuckles, grabs cup of coffee, pulls up a chair to the desk where the laptop is actually plugged into a keyboard and screen - because this is serious business)

First things first, I’m deciding to use the Spotrac Trade Machine because it is the most accurate, detailed, and real-life model that’s out there. No, Keith Smith didn’t pay me to say this, but if I used anything else I’m sure I would get an email from him. “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.”

Let’s start off in the obvious place: trading Jrue Holiday. He is a great guy, everyone loves him, and he was a real difference maker for us, but he’ll be more useful for someone else next year and he’s not getting any younger (as he gets more expensive). I don’t believe people that say he has no trade value and we’ll have to attach a pick to get off his salary. Someone will talk themselves into being just a Jrue away from contending.

Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Oh, and I’m purposely not going to use the “just use Brooklyn to match salaries” crutch. That’s too easy (and in my opinion, unrealistic since they’ll have no shortage of options).

Everyone’s already done the Jrue to Dallas or Jrue to the Clippers ideas. That’s boring. How about Jrue to Orlando? (Picks Boston and Orlando and leaves it at the default 2024-25 year, ...because why not)

Jrue to Orlando is the easy part. Mental note that I’m sending out $30M in salary. I know Orlando is not a cap space team but I can’t remember all the details of their books. The machine will tell me when I’ve gone too far.

Who do I like on Orlando that is reasonably available? I like Wendell Carter Jr., even if he’s never really fulfilled his draft night comps to Al Horford. Plug that in. See the machine is already telling me that I need to send out $10.3M more salary from Orlando. Mo Wagner fits that pretty well and he’s an expiring contract. Still, I wasn’t a big fan of him the first time around in Boston and I don’t know if Orlando would want to trade Franz’s brother. Putting that aside as a deal that actually works, but I’m not sure if it is worth it for Orlando.

Moving on, how about the Pistons? They could use an adult in the room to teach them how to take the next step. They also have a lot of mid-sized contracts that could break up the Jrue salary into smaller chunks. Beef Stew would be fun and fills a need for us. Still need to add about $7M more in salary. I’d love to grab Jaden Ivey from them, but I think that’s a bit unrealistic. A lot of people seem to like Simone Fontecchio (I’ll take their word for it). That trade works and shaves $7M off the books.

See, this stuff is easy. All you have to do is ignore the voice in your ear screaming at you that you have no idea what the other team would want and how impossible it is to put yourself in the shoes of all the other GMs in the league.

Let’s go bigger. This is shaping up to be the summer of trades, so let’s get some huge mulit-team deals moving some superstars. In my best Casablanca voice “round up the usual suspects.” Bucks, Rockets, Suns, Spurs, Nets (for contracts), and of course the Celtics. Let’s start out with sending Giannis to the Rockets and Durant to the Spurs and see what happens. The trade machine is currently weeping, I think I broke its will.

You know, this is too hard to visualize in this model. I’m going to use one of the less reliable versions to be ultra creative. (Cue the 80’s movie style montage of me typing and clicking furiously while a bouncy tune plays in the background)

I wake up from a stupor and it is dark outside now, but when I look up at the screen this is what I see:

I’ve done it. I’m not exactly sure what “it” is, but this surely is ...something. I’m pretty sure someone would owe someone else draft picks, but honestly I don’t think I can go any further into this black hole to figure it out. Don’t bother me with technicalities and silly things like facts.

That’s all for me for now. I could do this all day, but I don’t think that would be terribly good for my mental health. I will have to wait for the next trade rumor to inspire me to check and see if it actually works.

We all know that we’ll spend the next month dreaming up crazy trade ideas and then Brad Stevens will somehow pull of a masterful deal that none of ever even considered would be possible.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...rade-machine-moron-boston-celtics-trade-ideas

 

[Boston Celtics]

Catch Knicks vs. Pacers Game 6 live on CelticsBlog Playback

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Can the Knicks force a Game 7?

The New York Knicks were able to save their season for at least another 46 hours after their best performance of the Eastern Conference Finals. It was not a surprising result; it’s a common NBA Playoff trope for the team that is up 3-1 or 2-0 to lose the intensity battle. Did the Knicks solve the Pacers, or was it simply the home team showing some pride? Not dissimilar to the Celtics’ Game 5 win against the Knicks. Catch the Game 6 action in the CelticsBlog Playback room.

Download the Playback app today and be part of the conversation as the action unfolds.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...vs-pacers-game-6-live-on-celticsblog-playback

 

[Boston Celtics]

A pathway for the Celtics to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo

Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images

It is complicated and unlikely, but there is a path for Boston to trade for the Greek Freak.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst made every Celtics fan turn their head when he said that Boston could enter the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes on ESPN’s Get Up today.

hmmmmm pic.twitter.com/MiedC4Rd8f

— jack (@janderson22_) May 31, 2025

“The move for Giannis if he has control is to go to the East,” Windhorst said. He later continued, “You have to look at the teams that could make a trade for Giannis that the Bucks would accept and on the other side of the trade would have a contending team. So, Boston would be on that list.”

It is tricky for the Celtics to be able to complete a move for Antetokounmpo because of where they are in the salary aprons. The only player they can trade for Giannis without being under the 2nd apron is Jayson Tatum because he is the only Celtic due to make more than Giannis is next season.

When a team is over the 2nd apron, they cannot acquire more salary in a trade than they are sending out and they also cannot put two or more salaries together in any trade.

Therefore, in order to make a Giannis trade, they would need to get under the second apron first.

That leads us to Kristaps Porzingis. If you remember in 2023, when the Celtics traded for Porzingis, the Utah Jazz had interest.

If Utah has interest again, there could be a deal where Boston could send Porzingis to the Jazz who send John Collins to the Hornets who send Grant Williams and Josh Okogie to the Celtics. That deal would save the Celtics $9 million and get them to $10 million over the 2nd apron.

Another issue could be Milwaukee wants more assets than Boston is willing to offer.

As a result, the Celtics could trade Derrick White to the Golden State Warriors for Buddy Hield, Moses Moody and first round picks in 2028, 2030 and 2032 (the 2030 pick is owed to the Wizards if it is 21-30 due to the Jordan Poole for Chris Paul trade).

That saves the Celtics $7 million, so they would be just about $3 million over the 2nd apron.

They then could take Hield and Okogie, attach the worst of their own, the Spurs and the Warriors 2028 first round pick to trade those guys to a team like the Wizards who could send a top-55 protected 2nd round pick in return — like what Boston got when they traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets.

The Wizards are able to make this trade because they have the over $14 million non-tax payer mid-level exception plus a $9 million traded player exception they got in the Jonas Valančiūnas trade they made with the Sacramento Kings.

If the Celtics and Wizards did do a trade like that, maybe they work something out to make the 2030 Golden State pick fully unprotected by Boston sending extra 2nd rounders in the deal to Washington.

That saves the Celtics $16 million and gets them well under the 2nd apron so they would be able to fill out their roster after the hypothetical Antetokoumpo trade.

Since the Celtics would remain over the first apron, they would not be able to acquire more salary in any trade than they are sending out. Thus, Jaylen Brown for Antetokoumpo would not be a legal trade because Brown makes $1 million less than Antetokoumpo.

The Celtics could just attach one of Jordan Walsh or Xavier Tillman and their $2 million salary, pending on what the Bucks think of Walsh. If the Bucks like Walsh, they could take him and if not, Tillman works just the same.

A deal could be Antetokoumpo for Brown, Walsh, the Celtics 2026 or 2027 first round pick, the Warriors 2030 first round pick (only conveys if it is 1-20), the Warriors 2032 first round pick and a 2031 pick swap via the Celtics. The 2026 or 2027 pick would be a choice of what Milwaukee wants, similar to what we saw in the Anthony Davis to the Lakers trade and the James Harden to the 76ers trade.

Is the difference between Jaylen and Giannis three first round picks and a swap? I think it is around there. I love Jaylen, but Antetokounmpo is a top-5 player in the league. Pairing him with Tatum would be incredible.

It isn’t like you’d be gutting the Celtics entirely either. Players like Jrue Holiday, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard would still be on the roster, they could re-sign Al Horford and Luke Kornet with the new found wiggle room under the 2nd apron and they added Moses Moody and Grant Williams as well.

It would be an awesome team with so much lineup flexibility.

Of course, then you have to consider the fact that Tatum is out for if not all of next season, most of next season.

Horford and Holiday aren't getting any young and Antetokounmpo has played a lot of basketball. This team would have a very small window and it would very possibly be closed by the time Tatum gets back.

For that reason, I don’t think I would go down this path if I was running the Celtics.

The window for that specific team would be so short — one, maybe two years — and without Tatum, it is very unlikely the Celtics would be able to compete for a championship next season.

I don’t think that the juice is worth the squeeze for the Celtics were to make a move like this.

Any deal for Antetokounmpo would be very confusing, very complicated and is very unlikely. That does not mean it is impossible.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/5/...po-jaylen-brown-milwaukee-bucks-derrick-white

 

[Boston Celtics]

Jazz hiring Celtics executive Austin Ainge

Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

Ainge joins Danny in Utah’s front office.

The Utah Jazz are making a significant addition to their front office, hiring longtime Boston Celtics executive Austin Ainge as their new President of Basketball Operations, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Ainge has spent the past 14 years in Boston’s front office, starting as Director of Player Personnel before being promoted to assistant general manager, a role he has held for the last six seasons.

During his tenure, Ainge was a key voice in the Celtics’ scouting and draft process, helping the team identify and develop talent in both the first and second rounds, as well as among undrafted free agents.

Before joining the Celtics’ executive ranks, Ainge served as the first head coach of the Maine Celtics (formerly known as the Maine Red Claws), Boston’s G League affiliate, beginning in 2009.

This move marks a reunion in Utah with his father, Danny Ainge, who joined the Jazz in December 2021 as CEO of Basketball Operations and alternate governor. The elder Ainge, a former Celtics player and the franchise’s longtime president of basketball operations, spent 18 years building Boston into a perennial playoff contender before stepping down following the 2020–21 season.

Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The move leaves the Celtics with a notable vacancy in their front office during a critical offseason. Boston, fresh off a strong regular season and a second round exit, faces major salary cap decisions and potential roster shake-ups in addition to dealing with Jayson Tatum who will most likely be sidelined for the entire 2025-26 season with a torn Achilles.

Ainge had played a vital role behind the scenes in constructing Boston’s depth, with recent hits in the draft and signing undrafted free agents including Payton Pritchard, Grant Williams, Robert Williams III, Aaron Nesmith and Sam Hauser.

Boston’s front office has already undergone changes in recent years, with Brad Stevens stepping into the President of Basketball Operations role in 2021. Now, Stevens and his team will need to find a replacement for Ainge, a trusted voice in the room and a key contributor to the Celtics’ sustained success.

It is not yet clear who will succeed Ainge in Boston.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/6/2/24441618/jazz-hiring-former-celtics-executive-austin-ainge

 

[Boston Celtics]

Lessons the Celtics can learn from these playoffs (Staff Roundtable)

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

The Pacers and Thunder can teach the Celtics a few lessons that they could take back to the lab for future use

What have you learned from the playoffs this year that could inform the Celtics offseason decisions?

Mark Aboyoun

One thing the NBA playoffs reminded me of is that there are no easy games — no matter the matchup. A lot of fans preferred a series against the Knicks because Boston swept them in the regular season, but the playoffs are a different beast. If the Celtics hadn’t let Game 1 and Game 2 slip away, the outcome might have been very different.

What stood out throughout the playoffs is that every team is capable of coming back from a deficit. That makes it even more important to stay aggressive when you have a lead. Looking back, I didn’t mind Boston settling for threes early in the series against New York because most of them were quality looks — they just didn’t fall. Still, a takeaway for the Celtics this offseason should be maintain offensive pressure when ahead, not just coasting or relying on threes.

One way to do that could be adding more bench scoring. Finding someone who can play alongside Payton Pritchard and bring an attacking mindset off the bench could help keep momentum going, especially in those moments when the starters are on the bench resting. It’s about making sure the offense doesn’t stall — even with a lead.

Ian Inangelo

What I learned from the playoffs this year is that building a culture with a core group of players is the most important aspect of being a championship caliber team. Look at the Pacers and Thunder. Last season both lost in the playoffs but with minor tweaks around an established young core they ran it back and won a championship.

I’m not saying trading for the super stars isn’t a good idea for a franchise but establishing chemistry and culture within an organization is an important factor in winning. Looking at a team like the Suns for example who had a young core make the finals but wanted more so they traded for KD and Beal and abandoning the chemistry they built. Now they’re in purgatory.

Patience is key and teams shouldn’t be so quick to pull the trigger on a star player that might look good on paper. Build from within and you will find success

Mike Dynon

What I hope the Celtics learned is that no lead is big enough and they need to stay aggressive and move the ball for 48 minutes. Not 36, not 42, all 48. They lost the Knicks series because they stopped doing what worked and blew 20-point leads two straight games. Both times, the Knicks were the aggressors and the Celtics failed to match that energy. In the fourth quarter of Game 1, Boston shot 4-21 (2-15 threes) and had just 2 assists for 16 points. We told ourselves that would not happen again, but Game 2 was more of the same: 5-24 (2-11) with 2 assists, 17 points.

In this three-point dominant era, you can no longer just run out the clock, yet the Celtics habitually slow themselves down, with Tatum or Brown dribbling in place and no one moving. Or they try to speed up and take a three after one pass or none at all. When the opponent has all the momentum and you have none, your threes just don’t fall, and the pressure increases. We see it all the time in the NBA, and that’s what happened here.

Contrast that to the Pacers’ fourth quarter of Game 6 versus the Knicks. They kept up the same pace that had given them the lead, attacked the paint and kicked to open shooters at the arc, or got middle-of-the-lane floaters from Haliburton. Their fourth quarter numbers: 13-20 (2-5), 7 assists, 33 points. Indiana was never in danger of losing their lead. The Celtics need to engrain that mentality into their system, and beef up the bench with players who have that mindset.

Jake Issenberg

My big takeaway from these year’s playoffs is that I think the Celtics leaned too much into variance this season. They upped their three point rate, and were one of the slowest teams in the league. There were obvious health issues with Porzingis and Jaylen that were the biggest factors in the Knicks loss. But the Celtics should still have won the series. I would implore Joe Mazzulla to focus on increasing the pace and randomness of the future Celtics offense. If they can become 11% more like the Pacers on offense it would benefit them greatly. More possessions equals less variance.

Jeff Clark

The Pacers proved that you can win with a high-paced, random offense, even in the playoffs where traditionally the pace has always slowed. The Celtics didn’t necessarily have the personnel to continually push the pace like Haliburton does, but Boston could have and should have played with more movement to bend the defense more. I know they were focused on mismatch hunting, but there are more ways to attack those mismatches than pure isolation. Jayson Tatum may always be a more deliberate player, and he’s proven he can thrive with that style, but I think as Brad Stevens reshapes his roster, he might want to target players that thrive in a more movement based offense. Likewise, I think Joe Mazzulla should focus on emphasizing those movement looks more when the offense gets stagnant. Next year will be a good time to experiment and tinker. What they were doing clearly worked last year, but the game evolves and you have to keep adapting too.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/6/...earn-from-these-nba-playoffs-staff-roundtable

 

[Boston Celtics]

Catch Game 1 of the NBA Finals live on Playback

Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

We’ll see if the Indiana Pacers can continue to defy logic in their greatest test yet

The NBA Finals are here. Sadly, the Boston Celtics will not be participating. Instead, we have a finals for people who actually like basketball. No glitz and glam. No Lebron James or Steph Curry. No Boston Celtics or LA Lakers. Just pure, unadulterated hoops action. Catch the Finals action in the CelticsBlog Playback room.

Download the Playback app today and be part of the conversation as the action unfolds.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/6/...playback-indiana-pacers-oklahoma-city-thunder