Boston Celtics: 2025 Offseason Priorities and Salary Cap Dynamics

I analyze the Celtics complicated luxury tax and apron situation and how they could structure trading their veterans to minimize their penalties.

The Boston Celtics assembled a championship roster with a small shelf life. They were expected to change their starting lineup this summer to some capacity. The new luxury tax rates and the implementation of the second apron in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement made keeping this group long-term untenable.

Now, the scale of their plans may have risen due to their early playoff exit and Jayson Tatum’s injury. They should still be a competitive team in the East, but the odds are against them being a title contender next season. They could now look to make significant changes to the roster to save money and prepare for sustainable success when Tatum returns.

Dr. Justin Quinn joined the podcast last week to discuss the Celtics and their upcoming offseason. We discussed every core player, their chances of getting traded, and what would be required to move them. It’s a good companion piece for this preview, which will focus on salary cap dynamics. In particular, how they could minimize their tax penalty and accumulate draft assets to prepare themselves for a future run.