Celtics Rumors: NBA Insider Reveals Boston’s Offseason Plans

The Boston Celtics are staring down the barrel at an extremely important offseason. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Celtics already have their plan set in place for how they will attack the next few months.

Boston followed up their 2024 NBA Finals victory by crashing out of the 2025 playoffs. Making matters worse, their superstar forward, Jayson Tatum, suffered a ruptured Achilles in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

With Tatum expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2025-26 campaign, the C’s are in a tough spot. They have to decide whether they want to try to contend without Tatum, or if they should rebuild their roster and get under the salary cap threshold in his absence.

There are a lot of different options for Brad Stevens and the front office to consider, but it sounds like they already have a plan in place. Per Charania, the team will be looking to “retool” their roster this offseason in an effort to avoid the second apron of the salary cap.

“How the Celtics are operating in this space right now is that they’re looking at next year as a retooling year,” Charania said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “That doesn’t mean you don’t want to stay competitive, that doesn’t mean you don’t want to continue, but realistically, without Jayson Tatum, it’s gonna be tough.”

Several Celtics players have seen their names pop up in trade rumors early this offseason. As a result, guys like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Sam Hauser could be on the move in the coming weeks.

Boston could try to contend in a weak Eastern Conference again next season, but without Tatum, it’s tough to justify trying to make that sort of run. And even with him, this team appeared to be on their way to coming up short against the Knicks.

Shedding some cap space could be the best option forward for the Celtics so that once Tatum returns, they have the best possible shot at contending for a title. While they haven’t made any moves just yet, it sounds like that’s the path they plan on taking.