The Boston Celtics are nearing the start of training camp, but things will look quite different for the team when they return to action. Perhaps the most shocking absence will be superstar forward Jayson Tatum, who is working his way back from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered in the playoffs last season.
With Tatum set to miss most, if not all, of the 2025-26 campaign, the Celtics front office was hard at work this offseason. For the most part, the moves the team made involved shedding salary in an effort to duck under the second apron of the NBA’s new salary cap.
That goal led to Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis getting traded, while Luke Kornet (and likely Al Horford) have departed in free agency. When Tatum returns, he’s going to be joining a completely new squad, and he recently lamented the fact that his time playing alongside Holiday, Porzingis and Horford is over.
“It’s just unfortunate,” Tatum said in an interview with Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just like, man, I only got to play with KP for two years. I only got to play with Jrue for two and Al, who I thought I would be his teammate until he retired, was moving on.”
It’s certainly been tough to see the C’s 2024 Finals team broken up so soon after their legendary postseason run, but the NBA moves fast, and if you wait too long, you’ll find yourself in a bad situation. That’s the sort of scenario Boston is looking to avoid.
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By getting under the second apron, the Celtics are giving themselves their best shot to build around Tatum once he returns from his injury. Losing several core pieces hurts, but if Boston can put together another title run with Tatum and Jaylen Brown, it will all have been worth it.