Have they finished yet?
After a hectic week in which they chose three players in the 2025 NBA Draft, acquired two NBA veterans in exchange, and traded away starters Kristaps Porzingis and Julius Holiday, that is the key question facing the Celtics.
As president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and his staff restructure a roster that already looks very different from the one that won an NBA championship last summer, more moves are probably in the works. The Holiday and Porzingis trades moved Boston below the second apron of the luxury tax, an offseason priority for the team.
Here is a current look at that roster, which now has 16 players overall after accounting for the three fresh draft picks. Up to 15 players can be on the Celtics’ roster at the start of the season, plus three more on two-way contracts. Inbold are off-season signings.
Max Shulga, JD Davison, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Anfernee Simons
Over the past two seasons, White and Holiday have constituted one of the NBA’s top defensive backcourts. This group’s identity is drastically altered with the transfer to Simons.
Holiday is a far better defender than the 26-year-old former Trailblazer. He does, however, have far more offensive potential; during his three seasons as a Portland full-time starter, he averaged 20.7 points per game and made one of the NBA’s most 3-pointers. During that time, Simons made 37.4% of his three-point attempts, more than any other player except Stephen Curry, LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and Klay Thompson. Joe Mazzulla, the head coach, will use that in his offense.
If Simons stays through the offseason, which is not a given, that is. He has an expiring deal for $27.7 million, which Boston may try to move in a later trade.
Simons is most likely to replace Holiday in the starting lineup if he remains, but Pritchard may also play more following an impressive season in which he was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Despite Holiday missing 20 games due to various ailments, Pritchard only received three late-season starts because Mazzulla wanted to play him off the bench. In spite of this, Pritchard broke the Celtics franchise record for the most three-pointers made in a season, placing fifth in the league, and he broke his previous season high for minutes played (28.4 per game).
The 2024–25 G League MVP Davison’s spot on the roster is in jeopardy because he has a non-guaranteed team option for 2025–26. Mike Zarren, the vice president of basketball operations for the Celtics, stated that Shulga, a second-round draft pick (57th overall), is anticipated to sign a two-way contract. He won Player of the Year in the Atlantic 10 and was a prolific 3-point shooter at VCU, shooting 40.2% over the previous two seasons.
According to Zarren, there hasn’t been any serious discussion about moving White and Jaylen Brown, despite the Celtics supposedly receiving pre-draft bids for them.
Sam Hauser, Georges Niang, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Miles Norris (two-way), Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Hugo Gonzalez
Put a huge asterisk next to Tatum’s name because he is anticipated to miss a large amount of the forthcoming season as he heals from Achilles surgery. Although he would not provide a predicted comeback date, Stevens stated that Boston’s All-NBA center is making excellent progress in his rehabilitation. Depending on his recuperation and how well the Celtics perform without him, Tatum won’t be able to play again until sometime in 2026 and might miss the entire upcoming campaign.
If Brown isn’t traded in the upcoming months, he will have the long-awaited chance to be the Celtics’ go-to player for the first time since he joined the team in 2016. Although he is recuperating from minor knee surgery, he should be fully recovered when training camp starts in September.
As the Celtics continue to look for ways to improve their financial flexibility, Hauser is a name to keep an eye on. He is on a fair contract for the next four seasons ($10 million salary in 2025–26), and his 3-point shooting would make him a valuable addition to any team’s bench. Scheierman, a 2024 first-round pick who showed promise late in his rookie season, is another possible in-house alternative for Boston.
Gonzalez, a young Spanish player who saw little action this season on a powerhouse Real Madrid team, was acquired by the Celtics with their 25th overall pick (28th overall). Although Stevens appreciates Gonzalez’s drive, enthusiasm, and team-first mentality, given his age (he won’t turn 20 until January) and relative inexperience, he likely needs more time to develop before he’s ready for actual NBA play.
Having played in 544 games for five different teams over his nine-year NBA career, Niang, the other newbie here who was acquired in the Porzingis deal, has a wealth of expertise. The 32-year-old, who was born in Lawrence and grew up in Methuen, is another excellent 3-point shooter (his career 3-point percentage is 39.9%), but he won’t do much on defense. If Niang isn’t traded this summer, he projects as a rotation player. In 2024–25, he set a career best in points per 36 minutes (16.6).
Amari Williams, Xavier Tillman, and Neemias Queta
Oh, I see. Boston needs to make strengthening this group its main priority, and it intends to do so by re-signing free agents Luke Kornet and Al Horford, who were the Celtics’ second and third big men this season behind the departing Porzingis.
In Year 18, Horford, who was 38 at the time, was still a valuable member of the locker room and an efficient player on the court. Kornet, who will shortly turn 30, just finished his finest season to date. This offseason, both will have other suitors.
Without a doubt, bringing Al and Luke back would be our first priority, Stevens stated. These men have a significant role in this organization. I believe that would be a top priority, but they will undoubtedly have many options everywhere, which is well-deserved. I don’t want to put them under any strain, though. In the end, it’s their decision. However, it would be wonderful to have those folks back.
By the middle of the season, Queta was far behind Kornet on the depth chart and was left out of Mazzulla’s rotation for the playoffs. After the first week of the season, Tillman seldom played outside of garbage time and finished 13th on the roster in terms of minutes played, more than 600 fewer than Queta.
Williams, a 7-foot player from Kentucky who was selected 46th overall, is anticipated to sign a two-way contract. During the pre-draft process, he was compared to Queta and is said to be a fantastic passer for his size. When the Celtics traded down from No. 32, they passed on two centers who were thought to be marginal first-round prospects: Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton and Maxime Raynaud of Stanford. If either player performs well, there may be reason to second-guess their selection.
