Celtics Reportedly Not 'Desperate' to Cut Salary Amid Trade Rumors on Porzingis, More
Despite having a new ownership group likely taking over this summer and the possibility of their best player missing the entire 2025-26 season, the Boston Celtics may not be in a rush to drastically cut payroll in the offseason.
Per NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Celtics are not currently operating like a team that's "desperate" to reduce salary.
This isn't to say they will hold steady with what they currently have, but it might be a slower process of trading away some notable players.
Fischer noted, for instance, that some rival teams get the sense Boston could make a sequence of trades that starts in the offseason and continue into next season before the trade deadline.
As for the players on the roster who might be available, Fischer said the Celtics are "open to listening" on anyone other than Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The Celtics' most popular trade candidates are Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday. ESPN's Shams Charania has also included Sam Hauser as a "primary focus" in trade talks for Boston.
Porziņģis would seem to be the easiest player in that group to deal because he will be playing on a $30.7 million expiring salary in 2025-26. Hauser and Holiday have multiple years remaining on their current deals, though there's a significant difference in their salaries.
Holiday is owed $67.2 million over the next two seasons plus a $37.2 million player option for 2027-28. Next season will be the first of Hauser's four-year, $45 million extension that was signed in July 2024.
The Celtics are currently projected to have $465.9 million in salary commitments next season between payroll and tax payments. They are on track to have the most expensive roster in NBA history as things stand.
Boston's ownership is in the process of changing hands after a $6.1 billion sale was agreed upon in March. It's unclear how that shift in leadership is going to impact how much the front office is allowed to spend, assuming the sale is approved at some point before the start of the season.
There's a lot of uncertainty for the Celtics on the court next season because Tatum ruptured his Achilles in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks and had surgery on May 13.
If the Celtics don't view themselves as a top-shelf contender knowing their best player will likely miss most, if not all, of next season, they could spend a lot of the 2025-26 campaign making deals to set themselves up for the future.
