During the regular season, the Boston Celtics often resembled a championship contender, much like the team that won the NBA Finals in 2024. After all, the Celtics won 61 games, three shy of last year’s total, which was good enough to earn the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Like last year, the Celtics won their first-round playoff series in just five games, this time defeating the Orlando Magic instead of the Miami Heat, Florida’s other team. Yet, now that the Eastern Conference Semifinals have tipped off, the Celtics have stumbled, losing the first two games of their series against the New York Knicks in embarrassing fashion.
With how badly the Celtics have played, some, like ESPN’s NBA insider Brian Windhorst, believe a quick series elimination by the Knicks could be what finally tears Boston’s core apart after years of rumors suggesting a possible move was coming.
“What’s on the line is what’s going to happen to this team after this year. This is a conversation I did not think I was going to be having on May 8th. I thought this was going to be a conversation for July. Next year, their payroll is $460 million when you compute for taxes. If they keep their draft pick, I don’t even know if they’ll be able to bring Al Horford back, it’s going to top $500 million. There’s a possibility this team’s not gonna come back. No matter what they may not be able to come back because they’re the most expensive sports team in the history of the game. But if they don’t get out of this series, I don’t know how you can justify spending $500 million on the roster again..”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the Boston Celtics
While Windhorst didn’t have to mention Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown’s names specifically, ESPN’s graphic on FirstTake directly alluded to the All-NBA duo. Yet, no matter what happens, it seems hard to believe the Celtics would be so eager to move on from either of their franchise cornerstones just one year after proving they were the best team in the NBA.
Yet, Boston’s budget could lead to some other structural changes, possibly even including other players featured in the Celtics’ starting lineup.
Related: NBA bracing for Boston Celtics roster changes after Playoff run
