2026-27 Celtics Off Season Discussion

[Roy H.]

Back to digging into the tax and aprons.  I have been assuming all along that the Celtics would for sure stay under the tax for 2026-27.  But I wonder if that is true.  The repeater tax penalties are killer if you have a high tax bill, but that are not as bad if you have a low tax bill.

The issue is that this is the last year we'll presumably be able to dodge the tax without losing current players.  Going forward there will be extensions, etc.

In the next 2 to 4 years, we presumably *will* be paying those high-end tax bills.  Reducing them as much as possible is in the team's best interest. 

Brad should be able to put together a quality team and still stay under the tax, particularly if he trades Hauser and/or our #1.

Won't the tax line continue to increase by 8% to 10% per year?  So $201M in 2026-27, $219M in 2027-28, $239M in 2028-29, and so on.  The aprons go up accordingly as well.  I don't see why BOS wouldn't be able to live between the tax in the first apron going forward, even with contract extensions.  And even if you do get out of the repeater, it would only last for 2 seasons and you would be right back in it by the 3rd season.

They may well be able to pull it off and stay under the tax and not have it make that much difference to the quality of the roster.

8% jumps don't accountt for guys due big raises, like Queta and Pritchard.

And, it gets us out of the repeater tax for several years, as teams only pay it after the 4th out of five seasons over the tax line.

[Birdman]

They need a center who can score & post up down low.

[Roy H.]

They need a center who can score & post up down low.

We had one but used him as a spot-up shooter.

I don't think Joe has any interest in running any inside-out offense.  Even with KP, the large majority of his time was on the perimeter.  We utilized his post skills some, but not as much as his efficiency there suggested we should have.

[Vermont Green]

What does the team need?  Start with what they don't need.  Tatum, Brown, and White have swing (SF/PF hybrid), wing, and guard covered.  Pretty much everything else could be considered a need to some extent.  If the bench was Pritchard, Hauser, and Queta, plus some mix of Walsh, Scheierman, Gonzalez, and so on, I would say the bench is solid also.  I could see Vucevic as a very solid bench player also.  But who are the other two starters?

I see the ideal 4th and 5th starters as a ball handling guard and a center (fairly obvious, most everyone is saying the same thing to some extent).  Pritchard could be the starting guard, but he seems best suited as 6th man.  Queta could start (again) but you would ideally like a little more offense out of your starting center.  Problem I see is that I don't think both of these holes can be filled and stay under the tax.

That is why I see the path as sign a good solid starting guard via FA. There are some options out there.  I like CJ McCollum but others have said he is likely staying in ATL.  We are talking about a 4th starter level guard (McCollum is probably better than a 4th starter).  If you do that, there is probably not enough money left for a starting center and there aren't any great options at center anyway.