NBA Exec Says Celtics 'Have A Lot of Thinking to Do' After Jayson Tatum Injury

This summer was already one of great uncertainty for the Boston Celtics, then Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles against the New York Knicks on Monday night to raise even more questions about the direction of the franchise.

As one NBA executive told ESPN's Tim Bontemps, the Celtics "have a lot of thinking to do" in the wake of Tatum's injury.

"Your mind starts running through scenarios you never could've thought would happen," the executive said. "They have a lot of thinking to do."

The Celtics announced on Tuesday that Tatum had surgery to repair the injury and there's currently no timetable for his return. Just given the timing and the typical recovery timeframe, it would be a surprise if he played at all next season.

There had already been an assumption the Celtics were going to make some changes to their roster this offseason. The new ownership will presumably be approved in the summer after a group led by Bill Chisholm agreed to purchase the franchise for a $6.1 billion valuation in March.

The sale comes as the Celtics are looking at having the most expensive roster in NBA history between payroll and tax payments next season.

This isn't to suggest the Celtics will completely blow up the roster and start from scratch because Tatum, even if he misses all of 2025-26, will only be entering his age-28 season in 2026-27. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White are both under contract for at least the next two seasons.

Everyone else on the roster could become expendable to help build for the long-terem. Kristaps Porziņģis, who has a $30.7 million expiring contract next season, and Jrue Holiday have already been talked about as potential trade pieces this summer.

The Celtics have already put a lot of money into this core group, and it's paid off. They won a championship last season and reached the Eastern Conference Finals in three consecutive years from 2022 to '24.

When the NBA implemented the apron rules in the new collective bargaining agreement, one of the effects was it would make it harder for teams to keep expensive cores together for an extended period of time due to the penalties that increase each year the thresholds are exceeded.

While this certainly wasn't the way Celtics management wanted to think harder about their future, Tatum's injury may force them to reassess their short- and long-term approach starting this offseason.