Celtics current Roster

[tazzmaniac]

With this BOS team above, I'd say we are looking at a pick in the 8-12 range.

2025 Draft

#8 - Egor Demin
#9 - Collin Murray-Boyles
#10 - Khaman Maluach
#11 - Cedric Coward
#12 - Noa Essengue


(1) You punt a whole season for that? For that talent?

(2) Or for the miserable odds in the draft lottery of moving up from #8-#12 to a top 3 pick?

(3) How different is that from having a pick in the #13-17 range?

#13 - Derrick Quinn
#14 - Carter Bryant
#15 - Thomas Sorber
#16 - Hansen Yang
#17 - Joan Beringer


Is the opportunity to add talent that much better that is worth putting up with a miserable season of tanking?

13 and 14 are lottery picks so I think that throws off the comparison.  I'd certainly rather be 10-14 than 15-19.  Of course, it is better to be even higher up in the lottery.  There are 4 picks in the lottery up for grabs not 3 and I think the odds are that 2 of the bottom 4 teams get jumped in the lottery.  Dallas just jumped to #1 and the Spurs to #2. 

I am hoping that Stevens drafts well which apparently is a big ask.  Having the 10th pick means you should at least have the opportunity to get the 10th best player versus the 15th pick getting the 15th best player.  Of course teams screw up their picks so you maybe could end up with the 6th or 7th best player versus the 9th or 10th best.  Considering the value of quality, young players on good contracts, I think tanking 1 season with Tatum out is the best play. 

[celticinorlando]

Roster as constructed today is maybe a 30 win team.

Lottery withtout a doubt.

[Boss_D]

Hope BS bring back Jaden Springer, His defense is something celtics needed now that Jrue is gone.

[Phantom255x]

My biggest concern still remains PF/C, even if they bring back both Kornet/Horford

[Who]

Hope BS bring back Jaden Springer, His defense is something celtics needed now that Jrue is gone.

Yeah, Springer would be a good fit. We got 2 scoring guards in A Simons and Pritchard. A defensive guard would be a good alternative. Something different to throw at the opponent.

I'd like to bring Springer back.

[Roy H.]

My biggest concern still remains PF/C, even if they bring back both Kornet/Horford

Yeah.  Even bringing them both back, we're still down KP and Tatum at C/PF.

[perks-a-beast]

Roster as constructed today is maybe a 30 win team.

Lottery withtout a doubt.

Agree. Hopefully the 26 Draft is as good as people are saying it is.

[tonydelk]

Roster as constructed today is maybe a 30 win team.

Lottery withtout a doubt.

Agree. Hopefully the 26 Draft is as good as people are saying it is.

There were a lot of talented players that went back to school this year so the draft should be a lot deeper going into the 2nd round next year.  They were talking about that during the draft. 

[Roy H.]

Roster as constructed today is maybe a 30 win team.

Lottery withtout a doubt.

Agree. Hopefully the 26 Draft is as good as people are saying it is.

There were a lot of talented players that went back to school this year so the draft should be a lot deeper going into the 2nd round next year.  They were talking about that during the draft.

I wonder how many future second rounders we'd get from that potential lottery pick.  12? 

[Vermont Green]

Current Status of Roster and Cap:

Jayson Tatum         $54,126,450
Jaylen Brown          $53,142,264
Derrick White          $28,100,000
Anfernee Simons     $27,678,571
Sam Hauser            $10,044,644
Georges Niang          $8,200,000
Payton Pritchard        $7,232,143
Hugo Gonzalez          $2,783,880  (This is an estimate)
Baylor Scheierman    $2,619,000
Xavier Tillman           $2,546,675
Luka Garza               $2,461,463
Neemias Queta         $2,349,578
JD Davison               $2,270,735
Jordan Walsh            $2,221,677
Josh Minott               $2,378,870

Total                     $208,155,950

2nd Apron             $207,825,000
2nd Apron Space          $330,950

Tax Threshold         $187,900,000
Tax Space               -$20,255,950

A common question is can we sign Horford.  Yes, we can sign him for whatever the team deems the right price.  We can go higher than any other team likely.  But Horford may retire, he may play just one more season, or maybe he plays 2 seasons.  If BOS were to sign him now for say $5M, we would be over the 2nd Apron but that could likely be fixed by the end of the season.  I can say with a high level of confidence that BOS will be under the 2nd apron by the end of the season, no matter what.  I don't think they sign Horford.  Expect a nice tribute night when he comes to town with another team.

What I am less sure about is how aggressively BOS will work to get under the tax.  They have nearly $36M in expendable, expiring contracts (Simons and Niang).  Plus some other incidental expiring and/or non-guaranteed contracts.  So if in aggregate, BOS sends out Simons and Niang and takes back two players in the $7M-$8M range, we would be under the tax and able to reset for at least one season.  That may not accomplish all that much if we go right back over in 2026-27.  As I understand it, you have to be under for 2 seasons in a row or 2 of 3 or something in order to fully reset.

Assuming that the 2nd apron is being treated by the team as a hard red line but not the tax, there is no rush to do anything with Simons or Niang.  Either player could be packaged with some picks and traded for players that could be part of the mix for 2026-27 and beyond.  So long as BOS stays below the 2nd apron, BOS can combine players and get 1 more expensive player, but I don't see that.  BOS could also determine that Simons has a role for 2026 and beyond and extend or sign him.  I think a trade is more likely but who knows.

[celticinorlando]

Roster as is would be 30-32 wins. Worst collection of bigs in the league and the worst bench in the league.

[Goldstar88]

2026 draft lottery, here we come! 

[Phantom255x]

Yeah when we play teams with Giannis, Embiid, Wemby, etc. we're gonna get throttled.

Remember those days with Olynyk/Zeller/Mickey/Sullinger, etc.? It'll be like that. Getting outrebounded and bullied inside all game long

[PAOBoston]

Hard to really say right now. Think we all agree there seems to be another shoe to drop at some point as the Cs have zero quality bigs right now. I?d assume some combo of Simons/Niang/Hauser gets that accomplished. Also have to see what ends up happening with the potential buyout guys like Lilliard and Beal. I have a very hard time believing the Cs will just punt an entire season. There will definitely be more moves to come.

[Roy H.]

I have a very hard time believing the Cs will just punt an entire season. There will definitely be more moves to come.

There will 100% be more moves, but I don't think they'll be aimed at making us better this season.

I think the strategy will be to get us below the luxury tax, with a solid draft pick and a decent trade exception to enter next season.