Celtics

8 things to know about the Celtics entering the offseason as they begin quest to repeat

The Celtics won't have to do much work if they want to bring back every notable contributor from their title-winning squad.

By Conor Roche

June 23, 2024

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The celebrations from the Celtics’ 2024 NBA Finals victory are still ongoing, but the draft and free agency are right around the corner.

Just nine days after the Celtics’ title-clinching win, Brad Stevens will be picking which prospects he wants to add to the squad in the 2024 NBA Draft, which begins Wednesday. The NBA Draft will be a two-day event for the first time in its history, with Round 1 taking place on Wednesday and Round 2 being held on Thursday.

Three days after the draft, NBA free agency will officially open on June 30 at 6 p.m. While players on the open market can agree to deals with teams starting at that time, teams have been able to agree to deals with their prospective free agents since the end of the Finals.

So, with the unofficial start to the 2024-25 season just days away, here are eight things to know about the Celtics entering the offseason.

All of the Celtics’ regular rotation players are under team control.

Stevens won’t have to sweat about the idea of losing a core member from the title team in free agency.

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard are either under contract or team control for the 2024-25 season. Those eight players led the Celtics in minutes this past season.

Hauser’s situation is the only one that’s a bit unclear. The Celtics have a $2.1 million team option for him next season. They could easily pick it up and worry about signing him to an extension later.

The Celtics could also decline the option, but sign Hauser to a multi-year deal that ensures the forward will remain in Boston beyond the 2024-25 season. If the Celtics did that, they would increase their tax penalty for the 2024-25 season, but “lessen the impact of the repeater penalty and manage the second apron,” in the later years of the deal, The Athletic‘s John Hollinger recently noted.

Regardless, the Celtics sit in a good spot with their rotation players entering next season, especially after Al Horford confirmed that he isn’t retiring.

But a couple of notable depth players are set to hit free agency.

Even though Horford shared he’s returning, the Celtics still have some work to do at the big man position this offseason.

Reserve big men Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman Sr. will become free agents on June 30 unless the Celtics can re-sign them prior to then. Kornet served as the Celtics’ third-string center for much of the year, but still played in 76 of their 101 games (regular season and playoffs) due to injuries with Porzingis and Horford’s rest days. Kornet averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game during the regular season.

Tillman, meanwhile, got some minutes over Kornet after the Celtics traded for him in February. He played in 20 of the 25 games he dressed for following the trade during the regular season. Tillman usurped Kornet in the rotation in the final games of the Eastern Conference finals. He also received minutes over Kornet in the NBA Finals after Porzingis went down with an injury, helping to slow down Luka Doncic.

As Tillman is set to become a free agent for the first time in his career, he told WBZ’s Dan Roche that he “very badly” wants the opportunity to repeat. So, that’s a good sign for the Celtics if they’re hoping to retain him this offseason.

Tillman averaged 4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game with the Celtics during the regular season.

A few other players can either become a free agent or will be a free agent.

Forward Oshae Brissett can hit free agency this offseason. He has a $2.46 million player option for last season. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game over 55 appearances in the regular season.

Reserve center Neemias Queta has a team option for the upcoming season. Guard Svi Mykhailiuk will become a free agent.

Power forward Drew Peterson and guard JD Davison will also become free agents, but both are restricted.

A couple of big names are eligible for an extension.

The biggest signings the Celtics will make this offseason will likely be to retain guys who are already under contract.

Both Tatum and White can receive rich contract extensions this offseason as they enter the final year of their respective contracts. Tatum’s maximum extension would be the richest in NBA history as the Celtics can offer him a five-year, $315 million deal.

The maximum offer the Celtics can make to White is a little bit more modest, but it still crosses the $100 million mark. Boston can offer him a deal worth up to $127 million over four years, which is nearly the value that Holiday got in his recent extension ($135 million over four years).

Several reports have emerged since the NBA Finals that the Celtics are expected to reach agreements with both players on extensions this offseason.

If the Celtics pick up the team option on Hauser, he’ll also become eligible for an extension on July 9. Hollinger noted that it’s “very likely” the Celtics extend Hauser as they view Hauser “as a keeper.”

They’re slated to pick in the first round of the draft in four years.

With the NBA Draft set to take place over two days for the first time ever this year, Celtics fans will have a reason to watch Day 1.

The Celtics hold a first-round pick for the first time since the 2020 NBA Draft. However, they also held a first-round pick entering the 2023 draft as well, acquiring the pick for Marcus Smart as part of the Porzingis trade. They wound up trading out of the first round. They traded their 2021 and 2022 first-round picks to get Horford and White, respectively.

If the Celtics stand pat this year, they’ll have the last pick of the first round, holding the 30th overall selection. They also have the 54th overall pick.

In terms of draft picks available to trade, the Celtics have all of their first-round picks through 2031 at their disposal except for their 2029 first-round pick. They gave up that selection to acquire Holiday. The Spurs also have the right to swap first-round picks with the Celtics in 2028 as a result of the White trade.

They’ll be restricted in making moves.

The Celtics are set to be well over the salary cap for the 2024-25 season, so they’ll already be limited with what they can do in free agency. But because they went into the second apron of the luxury tax this past season, they’ll be restricted even more in trying to make outside additions.

Boston will only be able to sign free agents to the veteran minimum. The new CBA prevents teams that went into the second apron from using the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.1 million). The Celtics also can’t sign a player who was bought out from a contract in which they were receiving a salary north of the non-taxpayers mid-level exception.

The ramifications of entering the second apron also extend to trades. The Celtics can’t aggregate contracts to match salary in a trade. They also can’t take back more money in a trade.

So, if the Celtics do want to make any splashes this offseason, Stevens might have to get creative.

The Celtics are set to be a second apron team again.

Boston currently has $208.9 million committed in salary for next season, putting it into the second apron by roughly $3 million, per Spotrac.

That also means the Celtics and Wyc Grousbeck’s ownership group will be paying the luxury tax again. Their luxury tax bill for this past season was projected to be $43.8 million, per Spotrac. Its early projection for the Celtics’ luxury tax bill for next season is roughly $48 million.

Boston is the prohibitive favorite to win in 2024-25.

Even though the team will cost a lot of money to put together again, the Celtics are the clear favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy next season.

The Celtics are listed as +290 favorites to win the title next season at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Nuggets have the next-best odds at +800. The Bucks have the best odds among the other teams in the Eastern Conference at +900.

So, Boston is the team that everyone is chasing entering next season. The Knicks and 76ers have been linked to stars as they hope to take down the Celtics in the East. Meanwhile, the Thunder’s move to get Alex Caruso received comparisons to the Celtics’ trade for White in 2022.

Obviously, the offseason still has to play out. But with the Celtics being able to run it back next season, they might have the best chance to repeat as champions since the Warriors last did so in 2017-18.