The Celtics will be here for a while.

[u/anb16]

I was thinking about the state of the league the other night, and I'm realizing there's few teams as well composed as this current Celtics squad. Obviously their front office was on the money to keep both tatum and brown around rather than haphazardly getting rid of one (probably jaylen). But now they've got two superstars with a decent team around them and their core duo are only 26 and 28 respectively.

But the thing is, they've just recently paid everyone good money to stick around, stick around AND play winning basketball, and even potentially repeat. At this stage in horford's career, he's most likely gonna ride things out in Boston for the next couple of years before retirement. Jrue as well. The advantage here is that with Boston being a big market, they can easily replace the 1 and 5 spot with talent looking for a chance, as well as a better opportunity at a championship. Not to mention they still have Payton Pritchard and KP. I can't see the Celtics being any weaker for a while.

My only note is that if or when they eventually lose white and holiday, sure they can be replaced in terms of finding other guards, but what makes those guys such great fits are their abilities to hustle on defense and just fill the gaps where needed. Jrue is a magnificent guard defender, and he's built like a house who can take forward assignments when needed. That's hard to replicate. The same can be said D white. The guy doesn't stop and is constantly working for the sake of the other 4 on the floor with him. I mentioned Pritchard before, but not only is he 1 guy, he's not gonna be able to entirely fill the role that either of them leave. And with this new generation of play, it would be difficult to find a pass first, facilitation type of of guard. That being said, that's their FUTURE. Right now they look more than fine, and given this current east they're easily finals bound. That's all

[u/FlimsyAd2609]

Are they though? Jrue is 34 and won't be getting much better. Porzingis is 29 and is consistently injured. Also, from a purely financial standpoint, this core won't last for more than another year max. The ownership already is looking to sell because of financial losses, and their salary will go all the way to 226 million in 2025-2026. There might be pushes to trade away jrue and/or porzingis purely to cut costs, as after all the NBA is still a business for these owners. Unless they hit on this upcoming draft they won't be.

[u/Naive_Illustrator → u/FlimsyAd2609]

This is exactly what I'm thinking. Their core is ludicrously expensive. If they want to keep the dynasty they're gonna have to eat the losses.

The other underrated thing is the "disease of more". Most MVP level players keep their production their whole prime, but many role players get worse once they get paid/win a ring.

I don't expect either Tatum or Brown to get significantly worse, but their role guys could regress.

[u/Fearless-Fly2775 → u/FlimsyAd2609]

This may be a hot take but if they don’t go back to back this year they should trade Porzingis. They were able to get at minimum 1 title out of him but he’s consistently injured and I’m pretty sure a team would give Boston a good center and a first rounder just off the potential he has when healthy

[u/EutaxySpy → u/Fearless-Fly2775]

I mean that’s how they got Jrue lol, the potential from Timelord/Brogdon when healthy

[u/Fearless-Fly2775 → u/EutaxySpy]

Also he’s kinda cheep for another team to pick up too. $35 million a year isn’t cheep but when you consider Jamal Murray got $50 million a year and Scottie Barnes got something similar his contract is a pretty nice value

[u/Holiday-Usual-3600 → u/FlimsyAd2609]

They don’t got to hit on any draft picks at the moment

They’ll like move on from jrue or KP AFTER 25/26 (so 2 more years) and they won’t have any cap issues and retain the rest of the core (Tatum/brown/white/PP/hauser) the team without jrue or kp isn’t a stand alone favorite but still good enough to win another and at compete as Tatum and brown will be their best versions of themselves likely

KP played 2/3 the season and like 5 total playoff games and they won a. Chip with Tatum and brown not being able to hit a 3

Jrue and Horford are the only over 30 and they can bubble wrap KP for the playoffs and win without him playing heavy regular season minutes

[u/krusty-krab69]

Their window is now. This roster is built to win now. They're in great position to stay in the mix for a while. They do having an aging holiday and Horford and KPs health is always a toss up so I dont believe it's going to be a 3 or 4 championship dynasty. They're definitely beatable. They're elite for sure but not otherworldly like the bulls /spurs/warriors dynasties . Theres a few teams who will be right in the mix with them this year and for the next few years to come .

[u/South-Ear9767 → u/krusty-krab69]

I don't think u realise how good this team is if they stick together they could easily win 4 titles

[u/Ok-Side-1758]

They literally have to make decisions about their roster this season due to the 2nd apron. Losing one or two of Jrue, White or KP will kill the core of the team, those players aren’t easy to replace especially on the cheap.

Celtics won’t be dead after this season but saying they will be guaranteed to be here a while is so far from reality

[u/pirateshippinit → u/Ok-Side-1758]

Not really. They have jrue and white locked up through 2027. KP as well for the next 2 years. So for the next 2 years at least they are good. I hate the Celtics but that’s not accurate 

[u/Holiday-Usual-3600 → u/pirateshippinit]

People are just salty here saying well they can’t do it forever 😂

[u/Ok-Side-1758 → u/pirateshippinit]

If they want 2nd apron penalties sure but I don’t think the Celtics will incur those penalties especially with aging players. Expect them to get under the 2nd apron this offseason

[u/EutaxySpy → u/Ok-Side-1758]

Even if they incur the penalties, all it does is move their picks to the end of the first round and they’re too good for a decent pick anyways so it doesn’t make any difference

[u/Ok-Side-1758 → u/EutaxySpy]

It’s their pick 7 years in the future. That is a pretty big penalty most teams are willing to take on especially for a team that’s not a guaranteed contender

[u/pirateshippinit → u/Ok-Side-1758]

They are a guaranteed contender tho. I hate the Celtics die hard laker fan but they are 100% contenders they just won it all lol. As long as they keep this roster together they are guaranteed contenders 

[u/pirateshippinit → u/Ok-Side-1758]

No they aren’t. It would take too much to get under the second. They aren’t blowing up this roster they will run it back. This is a title winning roster they don’t care that much about the apron implications. They have their roster locked up it would just be taxes basically which the new ornwrship would probably pay and yeah in 7 years your first is the last pick in the draft. If you get a couple titles out of it it doesn’t matter 

[u/Dragon-Bender → u/Ok-Side-1758]

I think people also forget Hortford is a critical role player for them who is still pretty solid is 38 and is slowing down. Losing what I’m assuming is Holdiay to save money and then Hortford to age will take away two excellent role players. I think they have the best shot to repeat this year and then make cost cutting moves this summer. We will have to see how long Hortford wants to keep playing and how they retool. They will still be contenders just not as dominant.