NBA insider expects Celtics to have a ‘much different’ roster following ‘craziest’ offseason

Celtics

“I think this offseason might be the craziest ever.”

With Jayson Tatum potentially out for the entire 2025-26 season and Boston already looking to shed payroll, Brad Stevens and the Celtics are bracing for a summer of change.

According to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, the writing is on the wall that the Celtics team that takes to the parquet in October is going to look very different from the one that raised a banner at TD Garden in October 2024. 

“They’re going to make trades. The Boston Celtics will have a much different roster next season, potentially,” Charania said during his appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday. “They’ll definitely have a different roster. The question is just how severe … the movement is going to be for them.”

Charania acknowledged that the Celtics “can’t really trade” an injured player like Tatum — nor would they opt to move their best player, especially with his value currently at an all-time low.

But, with Boston desperately needing to cutting payroll to get out from the second apron of the NBA’s reworked salary-cap structure, other stars on Boston’s roster like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, and even Jaylen Brown may not be safe this summer if Stevens opts for a multi-year retool while awaiting Tatum’s return.

“The Celtics are going to have to identify, ‘what value can we get for each of these players? Which player does it make sense to trade?’” Charania said of players like Brown, Porzingis, and Holiday.

Even with the official start of the NBA offseason still weeks away, the Celtics have already found themselves in the middle of several trade rumors.

Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein reported this week that the Dallas Mavericks have expressed interest in trading for Holiday, while former Warriors beat writer Logan Murdock noted last week that Golden State would covet a sharpshooting guard with shutdown defensive skills like White. 

Brown would conceivably be a fellow franchise pillar alongside Tatum if the Celtics opt to augment their roster over the new few years.

But Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin O’Connor acknowledged last week that the Celtics could jumpstart their retool by dealing away an NBA-talent in his prime like Brown. 

“I think it’s massive. I do,” O’Connor said of Brown’s trade value on Wednesday’s “Early Edition.” “Think about Houston, for example. If they wanted to reunite Ime Udoka with Jaylen Brown and they don’t get Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

“If the Houston Rockets on draft night come calling with the No. 10 pick, Fred VanVleet’s contract, which will only have one year left after his team option kicks in, and a bunch of other high-value future picks — they have Suns future first-rounders among other teams as well — if you’re the Celtics, I would think you at least have to listen to that offer if Houston comes calling with that.”

While Stevens and the Celtics are bracing for a flurry of transactions this summer, Antetokounmpo’s uncertain future in Milwaukee, trade rumors involving Kevin Durant, and other brewing storylines should make this a wild NBA offseason. 

“I think this offseason might be the craziest ever,” Charania said.

Conor Ryan

Sports Writer

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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