![\"Some](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FXHEJGL7E53GABUDCBR7B5TFG4.JPG\")
Some key Celtics could be on their way out this summer.Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\nThe reason fans should be more at ease is because Stevens has a plan and is likely to reshape the roster using next month\u2019s NBA Draft and the team\u2019s two picks \u2014 Nos. 28 and 32 \u2014 as assets to lower payroll and boost young talent.<\/p>\n
The Celtics need to get younger and less expensive. There\u2019s not going to be an easy way to shave the estimated $20 million needed to get under the second apron and escape trade and free agent limitations, but change is necessary, especially under the current CBA where team governors who want to invest money into their teams are being discouraged by increasing luxury taxes and limitations.<\/p>\n
Get Starting Point<\/p>\n
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n
While the National Basketball Players Association secured record salaries for its players, approving this CBA virtually guaranteed they\u2019ll change teams more often, even if they don\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an amazing group of guys,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cThis is what makes it hard when you come up short. I know people say that all the time, they\u2019re the kind of guys that can go in any gym, anywhere, and win any one game. We just didn\u2019t do it enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some key Celtics could be on their way out this summer.Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
Perhaps with a healthy Tatum, the Celtics could run it back one final time because that\u2019s what Stevens planned, giving this group a three-year window to perhaps three-peat. But with Tatum recovering from a torn right Achilles\u2019<\/a>, Jaylen Brown potentially pondering surgery to repair a torn meniscus<\/a>, and Kristaps Porzingis dealing with a mysterious virus, it\u2019s time for Stevens to retool the roster, allow younger players an opportunity to play, and nab new talent in the draft.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re at 28 and 32, you\u2019re not able to exactly pinpoint how that night\u2019s going to go,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cWill there be fireworks on draft night? I can\u2019t imagine. Again, who knows? I wouldn\u2019t guess with us. One of the concerns with the new CBA is it might limit trade activity or movement and I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t think necessarily in the big picture that\u2019s the case. I have no specifics at all, but I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see movement continue to happen across the league.<\/p>\n \u201cBut as far as us and moving up to those [lottery] levels in the draft, I would guess that is probably not on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n What do you expect Stevens to say? There\u2019s going to be fireworks? Big trades? Moving up in the draft? The market may dictate such action, such as in Milwaukee, where the Bucks will have to decide whether to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo or rebuild.<\/p>\n What about in Houston, where the Rockets are one superstar away from being a major factor in the Western Conference and are littered with young players and the expiring contract of Fred VanVleet to trade for such a player? Or in Phoenix, where Kevin Durant remains a top-20 player but is the Suns\u2019 only tradeable asset as they attempt to break up their failed Big Three (Devin Booker, Bradley Beal)?<\/p>\n The NBA has become such an unpredictable league, with nearly every team feeling pressure to win, that draft-night deals, free agency, and summer trades will ensure the Celtics may have ample opportunity to reset their salary cap, acquire a less expensive rising player, and remain competitive for 2025-26.<\/p>\n Stevens is not going to dangle Brown or Derrick White, but he will have to make tough decisions on Porzingis and Holiday while also deciding whether Jordan Walsh, JD Davison, and Sam Hauser are expendable as he reshapes the roster and potentially brings on two more draft picks.<\/p>\n This is not an exciting time for the Celtics. It\u2019s a time of transition and perhaps recession, but rebuilding this roster for the 2026-27 season and beyond won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n TABLES TURNED<\/p>\n Pacers\u2019 rally put them in spotlight<\/p>\n In Game 1 of their Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers basically did to the Knicks what the Knicks did to the Celtics in the conference semifinals. The Pacers edged the Knicks, 138-135<\/a>, after recovering from a 14-point deficit in the final 2:40 of regulation to force an extra period.<\/p>\n The following 48 hours were spent dissecting that comeback and focusing on how talented and deep the Pacers are. Indiana has been an emerging power in the East the past few years, losing to the Celtics<\/a> in last year\u2019s conference finals, a deceptive sweep that had four close games.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very glad we won,\u201d Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. \u201cA lot of things had to go our way but I\u2019m glad we hung in. After an experience like that you have to be able to wipe and move on. These are all going to be epic battles. They\u2019re going to be physical and we have to be ready.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a team very reliant on one another. The Knicks are a great team. Some things happened [in Game 1] that fell in our favor.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Said forward Pascal Siakam: \u201cWe\u2019re playing against an ultra-talented team. They took out the defending champs.<\/a> They\u2019re talented and we know that. It\u2019s not going to be a smooth ride, so we\u2019ve got to be ready for that. That\u2019s the message. It really doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s recognition or not.\u201d<\/p>\n The star of Game 1 was point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who drained the tying jumper to send the game into overtime and then mimicked Reggie Miller\u2019s choke sign from 1994 with Miller calling the game courtside. Of course, Haliburton thought the shot was the game-winner \u2014 his foot was on the 3-point line \u2014 but the Pacers backed up his actions and won in OT.<\/p>\n Haliburton was a member of the 2024 United States Olympic Team but like Jayson Tatum barely played, left out of Steve Kerr\u2019s rotation. He\u2019s one of the game\u2019s rising stars, with the ability to change games with his playmaking or his unusual long-range jumper.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has embraced Indiana right from the first time I had dinner with him the night of the trade,\u201d Carlisle said, recalling Haliburton\u2019s acquisition from the Kings in February 2022. \u201cI had a conversation with him basically telling him we\u2019re giving him the ball, asked him if he was comfortable running the team, making play calls, and his eyes lit up. He was really enthusiastic about that and we had a couple of years we were building and he had the opportunity to get into some of those situations, have success, and go through some ups and downs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just continued to work the process. He\u2019s a special guy and obviously a special player.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlisle wanted no part of addressing Haliburton\u2019s choke sign.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make it hard on the Knicks to win games,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to start controversy, there\u2019s no point.\u201d<\/p>\n Another standout player in Game 1 is a familiar name in Boston. Aaron Nesmith nailed eight 3-pointers and was the key for the Pacers\u2019 late-game dramatics. The Celtics liked Nesmith, but they sought a veteran floor leader and traded him to Indiana<\/a> for Malcolm Brogdon. They then used Brogdon\u2019s contract to acquire Jrue Holiday<\/a>, a key player on last year\u2019s title team. <\/p>\n \u201c[Nesmith] is a hard worker; he\u2019s done it the hard way,\u201d Carlisle said. \u201cHe got drafted by Boston and he was in a situation where he was behind a lot of great players that were more established. He got some minutes but not a whole lot. But every day he was battling with Tatum and Jaylen Brown and he got better and better.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was traded to us in July of 2022. He flew to Vegas on his own and asked if he could play on the summer league team and he was going into his third year. He just wanted to be a part of something and have an opportunity to grow. He\u2019s worked and now an important part of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n ETC.<\/p>\n Warriors also feeling pinch<\/p>\n The Warriors were eliminated by the Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals with Stephen Curry sitting on the bench nursing a strained hamstring and coach Steve Kerr trying valiantly to pull all of the talent out of a flawed and aging roster to compete.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t work, and that series served as a wake-up call that the Warriors have to get to work to upgrade a roster that has three players age 35 or older who want to go out with at least one more title. Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy has to rebuild a championship-caliber roster around Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler, whose winning time is now.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to cut it short, but I want to see it a little more short term and see it as a one-year opportunity,\u201d Dunleavy said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens after next season and how we pivot and do things differently. But for now, we\u2019re going to focus on next year. Steph is an All-NBA player. Draymond is one of the most elite defensive players, not only ever, but still today. Then we have a very special player in Jimmy. How could we not focus on winning it all? That\u2019s got to be our focus.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, as far as how it relates to the rest of the league, the West is tough. It\u2019s a really tough conference. We can\u2019t just say, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s get through the regular season and let\u2019s hope for some favorable matchups and health in the playoffs and give it a go. We\u2019ve got to build a team that can get through the regular season. We won 48 games this year, and we\u2019re in the play-in.\u201d<\/p>\n Like the Celtics, the Warriors are in the second apron, making roster regeneration more difficult, especially with Curry, Green, and Butler earning a combined $138 million next season.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it\u2019s very tricky to navigate a whole season with some older players and still win games and be in a position you want to win the playoffs,\u201d Dunleavy said. \u201cThat will be the hardest part. It\u2019s not just show up in April, May, and June, and hope for the best. It\u2019s a long haul. We\u2019ve got to be mindful of that, and we\u2019ve got to build a team around that.<\/p>\n \u201cI do believe in the way these guys take care of their body \u2014 Draymond, Steph, Jimmy \u2014 they all had incredible health this year, and that\u2019s a tribute to our medical staff. The story is Steph missed the last four games because of a hamstring injury<\/a>. The reality is we managed them quite well and just got a little bit of a stroke of bad luck at the end. I think on the whole these guys\u2019 ages are what they are, but 37, 38, 35, that\u2019s different than it was 10 years ago. I think these guys still got it in them, and we\u2019ll manage it well and hopefully put ourselves in position to compete for a title next year.\u201d<\/p>\n The wild card is the future of swingman Jonathan Kuminga, once tabbed to be a potential cornerstone. After playing 74 games and averaging 16.1 points last season, he was limited to 47 because of injury and falling out of Kerr\u2019s rotation. Kerr called on Kuminga in the Minnesota series and he responded by averaging nearly 21 points on 54 percent shooting.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a restricted free agent, and the Warriors have the right to match any offer. Will it prove too costly?<\/p>\n \u201cLast year we had the option to extend him,\u201d Dunleavy said. \u201cThis year he\u2019s a restricted free agent if nothing happens, like there\u2019s no new contracts, so we\u2019ve got to figure something out. That\u2019s what it\u2019s going to be. We value JK. I think he had a resilient season is probably the way I\u2019d classify it. He had some ups and downs playing. Most importantly, he had this injury where he missed 31 games. He came back, it was a new team, there were some adjustments. Overall, commend him for his professionalism. I thought he was resilient.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as far as bringing him back next season, I think it\u2019s something we\u2019re very interested in doing because, when I look at the things JK does well, in terms of getting to the rim, finishing, getting fouled, these are things we greatly need. We know he can bring those to the table. It\u2019s not hypothetical. It\u2019s not a guy in the draft that we think can do it. He\u2019s shown for four years he can do that. For that reason, we\u2019ll try to bring him back, but you\u2019ve got to have those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n Dunleavy lamented the difficulty of living in the second apron, which limits trades, eliminates the mid-level exception, and could freeze draft picks.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest thing, there\u2019s a few, but it makes it hard to make trades,\u201d Dunleavy said. \u201cThere\u2019s such limitations on that. So, if you do realize during the season you\u2019ve got to get better in an area or a guy goes down \u2014 like this year, for instance, with De\u2019Anthony Melton with us, and turn around and get Dennis Schr\u00f6der \u2014 when you\u2019re in the second apron, it creates some issues. So, avoiding that is generally good, but it\u2019s not something you have to do at all costs. You can obviously work around it, but you\u2019d better feel pretty good about your roster.\u201d<\/p>\n The Celtics could sustain losses on Joe Mazzulla\u2019s coaching staff. Veteran assistant Sam Cassell has been knocking on the door of head coaching jobs for years and this could be the offseason where he gets his first opportunity. Cassell was approached about the Florida State job, but wants an NBA position, and could be a perfect fit for a team looking for a fresh voice with countless connections around the league. Cassell is one of the league\u2019s more popular assistants. As of now, the lone opening is in Phoenix but that could change as franchises figure out their long-term plans. David Adelman was promoted from interim coach<\/a> in Denver after leading the Nuggets to Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. Denver perhaps would have had a better chance to win with a healthy Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon \u2026 One team to watch before the draft is the Nets, who own four first-round picks \u2014 Nos. 8, 19, 26, and 27 \u2014 after years of moving stars (Kevin Durant, James Harden) for draft assets. The Nets were disappointed being bumped down to eighth after finishing with the sixth-worst record, but it\u2019s obvious they are not going to use all four picks \u2026 The Cavaliers are in regroup mode after being disposed of in the second round by the Pacers. Once tabbed as the primary competitor to the Celtics for the Eastern Conference crown, they lost Game 1 of the Indiana series and had three key players sit out Game 2 with injuries. Because of that, the team\u2019s toughness has been questioned. Last season, center Jarrett Allen missed the Boston series because of a mysterious rib injury while Donovan Mitchell sat out the final two games with a leg injury. The issue is the entire main core is signed to multi-year contracts, so changing the roster will mean moving a veteran player. The most disposable is swingman Isaac Okoro, who has two years left on his contract at $22 million.<\/p>\n Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Tyrese](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FBXO4Z4X75JQEMUPKUVOFD5MK4.jpg\")
Tyrese Haliburton (right) paid tribute to his Pacers predecessor in Reggie Miller (left).Paul Bereswill\/Associated Press<\/p>\n![\"What's](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ALT36MHVTZFKRBZDBIKJ4XI32Y.jpg\")
What’s next for the aging Warriors?Santiago Mejia\/Associated Press<\/p>\n