What can Celtics do at the start of NBA free agency? Here's your guide originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics can negotiate with other teams’ free agents starting Monday night. Well, at least in theory.
The cash-strapped Celtics don’t have many avenues to adding outside talent, though they did create some potential pathways with the two swallow-hard trades to move Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
The reality is that the Celtics need to do even more wheeling and dealing before they can truly ponder outside free agents at anything more than a minimum salary. The Celtics can splurge to bring back their own free agents like Luke Kornet and Al Horford, but even that’s no easy chore if Boston wishes to stay off the second apron — and especially if the team yearns to get out of the tax completely.
Before NBA free agency kicks off Monday, let’s tackle some frequently asked questions to set the table for the Celtics this offseason.
What is Boston’s current salary commitment?
After the Celtics finalize their two recent trades, Boston will have 12 players under contract with a total salary commitment of roughly $200 million. You can add $2.8 million and fill another roster spot if the team inks Hugo Gonzalez, the 28th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
How far under the second apron are the Celtics? Are they still over the luxury tax?
Boston sits roughly $4.5 million below the second apron, factoring for their trades and the Gonzalez signing.
The Celtics are $15.4 million over the luxury tax. With repeater penalties, they would be paying $3.25 for every $1 spent over that $187.9 million tax line.
Wait, what are repeater penalties?
Having paid the luxury tax in multiple recent seasons, the Celtics are subject to higher rates for money paid above the luxury tax.
The Celtics spent $193 million on their roster last season, leading to a projected $52.6 million tax bill. Before the salary-slashing trades to send out Holiday and Porzingis, the Celtics were staring at a potential $500 million total spend between next year’s payroll and the repeater penalties.
That number has been reduced by $180 million after the Holiday and Porzingis deals, but the Celtics are still well over the tax line. In order to reset those penalties, Boston must stay out of the tax in two of the next three seasons.
Should the Celtics try to get under the tax this season?
With Boston’s title chances diminished as Jayson Tatum rehabs from Achilles surgery, the Celtics do have motivation to get out of the tax and stay out for the 2026-27 season as well.
Staying out of the tax for the next two seasons would reset the repeater penalties and allow Boston to more aggressively put together a high-cost roster when Tatum is back at the peak of his powers. It would essentially create a new title window where Boston could splurge on the pieces around a Tatum/Brown/White core.
How can Boston get out of the tax?
The easiest pathway would be to relocate the $27.7 million owed to incoming trade acquisition Anfernee Simons. Moving the contracts of new trade addition Georges Niang ($8.2 million) and/or Sam Hauser ($10 million) also would help Boston lower its salary commitment.
Without a big move like shipping out Simons, the Celtics would have limited funds to fill out their roster.
Can the Celtics afford to retain Luke Kornet?
Kornet already came back to the Celtics on a team-friendly, minimum-salary contract ($2.8 million) last season. It’s tough to see him taking much of a discount to stick around this time. If other teams try to lure him away with eight-figure offers, the Celtics could be hard pressed to match that sort of splurge.
On our Draft Night special of The Off C’Season, colleague Brian Scalabrine wondered if Kornet could fetch a $12 million starting salary. Teams with access to the non-taxpayer midlevel exception have up to $14.1 million to splurge on a free-agent pursuit.
Any big offers could put Boston in a bind. For example, even if the Celtics move Simons and take back limited money, the Celtics still would be hugged up around the tax line. Any room below that line evaporates quickly if you offer even modest money to Kornet and Horford.
Can the Celtics bring back Al Horford?
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said last week that bringing Kornet and Horford back is Boston’s top offseason priority. The ability to sign either player might hinge on what their market looks like outside of Boston.
Even at 39 years old, Horford continues to stiff-arm Father Time. If Boston was a surefire contender next season, it would make total sense to re-sign him.
But because the Celtics have to navigate these financial hurdles, combined with a potentially robust market for Horford’s services, it’s tougher to see a reunion unless Horford is willing to play on a contract well below his recent pay grade. (Horford made $9.5 million last season.)
Can the Celtics sign free agents on the open market?
If Boston intends to stay off the second apron, it can utilize a bunch of new tools to sign players, including the $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception. But, again, the team must clear the necessary space to consider that option first.
The Celtics also cannot advance back into the second apron at any point during the 2025-26 season if they utilize any of the roster options available to first-apron teams. That would include using the midlevel exception, acquiring a player via sign-and-trade, aggregating contracts in a trade, sending out cash in a trade, or utilizing a traded player exception.
The C’s can acquire minimum-contract veterans on the free agent market; they simply need to figure out the rest of their roster first.
So, what should we expect on Day 1 of free agency?
All eyes are on Kornet and Horford. A year after Kornet was first in line to re-sign with Boston, there’s a chance this year’s free agency process takes a bit longer for him. Both Kornet and Horford can examine outside offers while waiting to see what sort of money the Celtics will have available.
If Kornet signs elsewhere, it’s a sign the Celtics are not confident they can move salary at this point of the offseason, or that they simply desire to carry Simons into the season to get a look at his potential fit.
The Celtics do not have to clear the second apron or the luxury tax before the start of the 2025-26 season. League calculations occur on the final day of the regular season, which means teams can still maneuver through February’s NBA trade deadline and beyond.
Boston always could tiptoe into the season having cleared the second apron, then still try to get below the tax before the trade deadline if it doesn’t look like a true title team without Tatum.
There’s flexibility for the Celtics now having moved off the contracts of Holiday and Porzingis. But there’s still a roster to fill out, too. Neemias Queta is the most experienced big on the roster, at least considering Xavier Tillman Sr. rarely touched the floor last season.
We suspect we’ll either see the Celtics, A) Move Simons for limited financial return and then re-sign at least one of their familiar bigs, or B) Package some lower salaries (Niang? Tillman?) to try to create additional space, but then be less likely to bring back Kornet and/or Horford in that instance.
Patience is necessary here. The first dominoes fell quickly for the Celtics as they started getting their books in order. The next domino could set off a chain reaction that might bring this team’s roster into focus.
What is the Celtics’ current depth chart?
- Ball-handlers: Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons, JD Davison
- Wings: Jayson Tatum*, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Georges Niang, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez
- Bigs: Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman
- Free agents: Al Horford, Luke Kornet, Torrey Craig
*Tatum is expected to miss most or all of the 2025-26 season.
