Opinion: How the Boston Celtics can avoid the second apron this offseason

As things stand, the Boston Celtics are set to pay $261.9 million in salary and $238 million in luxury tax in the 2025/26 NBA season.

That would make Boston the most expensive NBA team of all time, and it all stems from luxury tax and second apron penalties that were added to the latest collective bargaining agreement, which was ratified in 2023.

The Celtics face extra financial hardships as a result of being a taxpaying team in three of the last four seasons, and because they're set to spend nearly $40 million over the tax threshold if they keep their current roster intact.

As has been the case since the team's NBA Championship-winning 2023/24 season, the starting five of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Derrick White are set to take up the bulk of the team's payroll. Each player will make at least $28 million, with Tatum and Brown leading the way at $54 million and $53 million, respectively.

The team will explore trade options for some of those players this summer, according to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania.

So, what can Boston do to ease its luxury tax burden?

Porzingis makes $30 million, will be 30 years old next season, and has the shortest contract, which could make him the easiest player to move. That’s assuming the franchise views Tatum and Brown as untouchable.

But getting Porzingis' salary off the books still puts Boston in the luxury tax, which will cost more than usual given the team's repeat offender status. And even that is assuming he departs in a pure salary dump where the Celtics bring in $0 in salary in return. Sam Hauser, the 6-foot-8 sharpshooter, could be a makeshift in-house replacement for the seven-footer, but he's not an ideal fit for that role defensively.

So, after dealing Porzingis, would Boston also trade one of its starting guards, knowing that the team has Payton Pritchard waiting in the wings? Or, could the team trade both starting guards, which would see it fall under the luxury tax threshold while holding onto Porzingis?

The best answer appears to be splitting those two possibilities by trading Porzingis and Holiday. Porzingis is injury-prone and Holiday will be 35 next season. With Pritchard coming off a campaign where he won Sixth Man of the Year while posting career-highs across the board, it's time to look to the future.

Pritchard isn’t nearly the defender that Holiday is, but in this scenario, White stays on the team and takes the most difficult assignments on a nightly basis.

Plus, Holiday could get Boston a nice return on the open market. Several playoff teams from the 2024/25 season — such as the Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, and Sacramento Kings — are set to enter the offseason well below the tax line. Holiday would be a good fit with the Pistons or Kings, and his two-way play could spark a bidding war.

In terms of how the team could replace Porzingis, Brook Lopez will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and he'd be a perfect fit in Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla's three-point-heavy, space-focused offense. If not him, then Clint Capela or Steven Adams could be a strong veteran addition, despite neither being able to stretch the floor.

Boston should enter 2025/26 with four of its starting five set in stone: White, Pritchard, Tatum, and Brown. But we haven’t even mentioned Tatum’s Achilles injury, which will keep him out until the start of 2026 at least.

It's a possibility that 2024 first-round pick Baylor Scheierman is the answer to that problem. Boston doesn’t need to be the best team in the league in Tatum’s absence — they just have to go around .500 to start the year in the weaker Eastern Conference before their star comes back for the playoff push.

Scheierman, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, only played 384 minutes in the NBA in 2024/25. But, he shot 39.0 percent from three in college and 41.1 percent in 14 G-League games last season. As Pritchard has proven over the last three seasons, just practicing with this Celtics team will help a young player improve.

But if Scheierman isn’t ready for big minutes, then Khris Middleton, Tim Hardaway Jr., Luke Kennard, Malik Beasley, or former Celtic Malcolm Brogdon could all be free agency possibilities if the price is right.

There are plenty of options for the Celtics this summer that will help ease the team’s financial commitments. They just have to make a few painful moves in order to get that flexibility.

Rusty Gorelick

• Boston Celtics
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