8 things to know about the Celtics offseason

Celtics

The Celtics won’t have much work to do if they want to bring back all the notable contributors from their winning team.

Celebrations for the Celtics’ victory in the 2024 NBA Finals are still underway, but the draft and free agency are fast approaching.

Just nine days after the Celtics won the title, Brad Stevens will choose which prospects he wants to add to the team in the 2024 NBA Draft, which begins Wednesday. The NBA Draft will be a two-day event for the first time in its history, with the first round taking place on Wednesday and the second on Thursday.

Three days after the draft, NBA free agency will officially open on June 30 at 6 p.m. While players on the open market can make deals with teams from that point on, teams have been able to make deals with their potential free agents since the end of the Finals.

So, with the unofficial start of the 2024-25 season just days away, here are eight things to know about the Celtics entering the offseason.

All regular Celtics players are under team control.

Stevens won’t have to worry about losing a key member of the title team in free agency.

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard are either under contract or under team control for the 2024-25 season. These eight players led the Celtics in minutes last season.

Hauser’s situation is the only one that remains a little unclear. The Celtics have a $2.1 million team option for him next season. They could easily get him back and worry about signing him to an extension later.

The Celtics could also decline the option, but sign Hauser to a multi-year deal that ensures the forward remains in Boston beyond the 2024-25 season. If the Celtics did this, they would increase their tax penalty for the 2024-25 season, but “reduce the impact of the repeat penalty and manage the second apron”, in the final years of the agreement, Athleticism» noted John Hollinger recently.

Regardless, the Celtics are in a good place with their rotation players entering next season, especially after Al Horford confirmed he is not retiring.

But a few notable depth players are set to hit free agency.

Even though Horford announced his return, the Celtics still have work to do at the big man position this offseason.

Reserve big men Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman Sr. will become free agents on June 30 unless the Celtics can re-sign them before then. Kornet served as the Celtics’ third center for much of the year, but still played 76 of their 101 games (regular season and playoffs) due to injuries with Porzingis and Horford’s days off. Kornet averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game during the regular season.

Tillman, meanwhile, gained some minutes off Kornet after the Celtics traded him in February. He played in 20 of the 25 games he dressed for after the trade during the regular season. Tillman usurped Kornet in the rotation during the final games of the Eastern Conference Finals. He also received minutes against Kornet in the NBA Finals after Porzingis was injured, helping to slow down Luka Doncic.

With Tillman set to become a free agent for the first time in his career, he told WBZ’s Dan Roche that he “really really” wants the opportunity to repeat. So this is a good sign for the Celtics if they hope to retain him this offseason.

Tillman averaged 4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game with the Celtics during the regular season.

A few other players can or will become free agents.

Forward Oshae Brissett can hit free agency this offseason. He has a $2.46 million player option for last season. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in 55 regular season appearances.

Reserve center Neemias Queta has a team option for the upcoming season. Guard Svi Mykhailiuk will become a free agent.

Forward Drew Peterson and guard JD Davison will also become free agents, but both are restricted.

A few big names are eligible for an extension.

The biggest signings the Celtics will make this offseason will likely be retaining guys who are already under contract.

Tatum and White can receive rich contract extensions this offseason as they enter the final year of their respective contracts. Tatum’s max extension would be the richest in NBA history as the Celtics can offer him a five-year, $315 million contract.

The maximum offer the Celtics can make to White is a bit more modest, but it still exceeds the $100 million mark. Boston can offer him a deal worth up to $127 million over four years, almost the value Holiday got in his recent extension ($135 million over four years).

Multiple reports have emerged since the NBA Finals that the Celtics are expected to reach agreements with both players on extensions this offseason.

If the Celtics pick up the team option on Hauser, he will also become eligible for an extension on July 9. Hollinger noted that it’s “very likely” that the Celtics will extend Hauser because they view Hauser “as a keeper.”

They are expected to pick in the first round of the draft in four years.

With the NBA Draft set to take place over two days for the first time this year, Celtics fans will have a reason to watch the first day.

The Celtics hold a first-round pick for the first time since the 2020 NBA Draft. However, they also held a first-round pick for the 2023 draft, acquiring Marcus Smart’s pick as part of the Porzingis trade. They ended up trading each other in the first round. They traded their 2021 and 2022 first-round picks for Horford and White, respectively.

If the Celtics hold on this year, they will have the last pick of the first round, holding the 30th overall selection. They also have the 54th overall pick.

In terms of draft picks available for trade, the Celtics have all of their first-round picks available through 2031, with the exception of their 2029 first-round pick. They gave up that selection to acquire Holiday . The Spurs also have the right to trade their first-round picks to the Celtics in 2028 following the White trade.

They will be limited in their movements.

The Celtics are expected to be well over the salary cap for the 2024-25 season, so they will already be limited in what they can do in free agency. But as they adopted the second luxury tax apron last season, they will be even more limited in their attempts at outside additions.

Boston will only be able to sign free agents at the veteran minimum. The new CBA prevents teams that entered the second apron from using the mid-tier taxpayer exception ($5.1 million). The Celtics also cannot sign a player who was bought out under a contract in which they received a salary north of the mid-level exception for non-taxpayers.

The consequences of entering the second apron also extend to the professions. The Celtics can’t package contracts to match salary in a trade. They also can’t get more money back in a transaction.

So if the Celtics want to make a splash this offseason, Stevens may need to get creative.

The Celtics should once again be a second apron team.

Boston currently has $208.9 million committed in salary for next season, which puts it in the second apron at around $3 million, according to Spotrac.

This also means the Celtics and Wyc Grousbeck’s ownership group will once again pay the luxury tax. Their luxury tax bill for last season was expected to be $43.8 million, according to Spotrac. His first projection for the Celtics’ luxury tax bill for next season is around $48 million.

Boston is the prohibitive favorite to win in 2024-25.

Even though rebuilding the team will cost a lot of money, the Celtics are the clear favorites to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy next season.

The Celtics are listed as +290 favorites to win the title next season on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Nuggets have the second-best odds at +800. The Bucks have the best odds among other Eastern Conference teams at +900.

So Boston is the team that everyone is chasing for next season. The Knicks and 76ers have been linked to stars as they hope to defeat the Celtics in the East. Meanwhile, the Thunder’s decision to get Alex Caruso has been compared to the Celtics’ trade for White in 2022.

Obviously, the offseason still has to play out. But with the Celtics being able to return next season, they might have the best chance to repeat as champions since the Warriors last did so in 2017-18.