With Jayson Tatum likely to miss next season due to injury, there is more talk than ever about the Celtics potentially cutting payroll costs. If they do, Ime Udoka’s Rockets could be a trade suitor.
Marc Spears on the Celtics possibly making changes:
“The two teams I’m keeping an eye on for a couple of these guys perhaps is one is the Houston Rockets. And then another team is the San Antonio Spurs” pic.twitter.com/6x3QsAf5n6
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) May 13, 2025
Due to his recent Achilles tear, the Boston Celtics are likely to be without perennial All-Star and NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidate Jayson Tatum for most or all of next season.
Factoring in salaries and the league’s luxury tax, the Celtics are headed toward having the most expensive payroll in NBA history during the 2025-26 season. Even prior to Tatum’s injury, there was speculation that cost cuts could be coming in the 2025 offseason.
Now, in a season in which championship contention is unlikely without their superstar, is Boston ownership really willing to pay those exhorbitant figures? If not, longtime ESPN reporter Marc J. Spears lists the Houston Rockets as a leading trade suitor.
After news of Tatum’s Achilles tear was confirmed Tuesday, Spears said in a television appearance:
Two teams I’m keeping an eye on for a couple of these guys… one is the Houston Rockets. Ime Udoka is there. He knows these guys, and they probably would be attracted to the idea of returning to play for him.
And then another team is the San Antonio Spurs. They’ve got the No. 2 (draft pick), and I’m told the Spurs are quite happy with the talent available at No. 2, but they’re going to potentially explore trades, as well.
The Rockets are coming off a season with a 52-30 record and a No. 2 spot in the Western Conference standings, so they’re certainly open to making win-now trades for veteran players.
But the other factor worth noting is that Houston is coached by Ime Udoka, who previously served as head coach with many of the current Celtics. When Udoka led Boston to the 2022 NBA Finals, he coached a number of players on the current roster — including Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet, and Sam Hauser.
That could add yet another layer, and perhaps a greater sense of comfort, in the fit that some of those players could potentially have in Houston.
For now, the defending champion Celtics are still focused on the 2025 Eastern Conference playoffs, since they’ve yet to be eliminated. Game 5 of their second-round showdown versus New York is Wednesday night, with the Knicks holding a 3-1 series lead.
But should Boston lose any of its next three games and be eliminated, the focus will swiftly move to the 2025-26 roster — and whether ownership is truly willing to pay an unprecedented bill during a Tatum-less season in which a title run is extremely unlikely.
If not, teams such as Houston and San Antonio could swoop in. While the Rockets (salaries) and Spurs would have to send comparable 2025-26 money to Boston for any deal to be permissible under the NBA’s salary matching rules for trades, they can take back a bit more than they send out.
Another option is to send contracts that are shorter in length, and the Rockets could also do creative things with the non-guaranteed salary of Jock Landale ($8 million in 2025-26) — which can be amended to a partial amount to the extent necessary to match salary.