Fans of the Boston Celtics are already thinking about the future of their favorite team, and of what the ball club’s several free agents might elect to do in the wake of their East Semis loss to the New York Knicks in six games. But for some of the Celtics, not enough time has passed for them to be able to say what their future may hold. Count among them veteran Boston big man Al Horford. “For me, it’s just too soon to talk about that stuff,” said the Florida alum while speaking to the media on Saturday.

“I’m going to take some time here with my wife and my kids,” he added. “There’s still a lot for me to process, feeling everything out from last night — that was difficult.”

Sources have hinted that Horford hopes to stay with the Celtics beyond the 2024-25 season in the past, but with injury likely sidelining Boston star Jayson Tatum until at least the All-Star break of the coming season (and likely longer), the calculus could change for the Dominican forward.

Contention next season is unlikely in such a context, especially if the team decides to move on from players like Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, two of the more frequently floated targets for Boston to trade in order to address their historically large salary and tax bill next season — and the penalties that will incur for the Celtics.

Amidst uncertainty, resolve

Backup big man Luke Kornet echoed Horford’s point of view on his future, requiring more space to absorb what just happened — and what might come next for him. “Regarding going forward,” said Kornet, “we’ll figure out stuff when it comes to it. You don’t even know what everything’s going to look like because you just got done playing.”

Holiday, for his part, hopes he will be back, taking an optimistic view of the season to come. “I think we still have a really, really great opportunity and and and a great window to be successful and and win a championship again,” offered the UCLA alum.

“I think the talent that we have on this team — not only on the court, but the coaching staff all the way up to (team president) Brad (Stevens) has been amazing. The opportunity to to win is now and and I still want to be a part of that.”

Will Boston contend next season?

There had been some speculation that the Celtics might not be out of the race as long as some feared when news of the Tatum injury broke. Asked about that potentiality, Boston Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard weighed in. “We will put a good team together, a lot of competitors, and people will go out there and lay it all on the line every night,” he suggested.

“I believe people (will) elevate their games and … have bigger roles, especially with JT being out, until he comes back. They should take full advantage of it and be ready for for those opportunities, and we will compete.”

As for Horford’s looming free agency, “You can’t replace Al,” said Pritchard. “So, I definitely hope we we get that figured out because his just locker room presence alone is just crucial. And then having him on the court, for all the young guys to see how he goes about about his business, how professional he is, he’s just a leader. So, we definitely need him back.”

With or without Horford, there will be changes coming to the Celtics this coming offseason. But like much of Boston’s future at the moment, we will all need to wait and see how things play out on a number of fronts before we get a better picture of what the team will look like come next November.