The Celtics season has come to a catastrophic end – and summer could bring big changes

Nineteen defending champions won as many games as the Boston Celtics this regular season. A dozen of them won another title. The Celtics couldn't. Not with the 3-1 hole they dug during their playoff series in the second round against the New York Knicks and not without injured Jayson Tatum.

The Celtics won the 5th game 5 at home on Wednesday as a resilient bunch after broken Achilles tendon was broken. The all-NBA striker suffered this injury at the end of game 4 when Boston fell into his 3-1 hole. On Friday they had no further rally efforts in New York in New York and dropped 6, 119-81.

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Tatum's co-star in the Celtics, Jaylen Brown, exchanged ideas in the third quarter. He was the only one for Boston who could make a basket. The rest of the Celtics shot 35%. It was as ugly as it was ugly.

It marks the end of the series and the season for these defending champions. The Celtics bordered great for a large part of the season and served among the three betting favorites at BetmGM to win this year's title. But they suffered the same fate as the five defending champions of the league and lost in the second round.

This series was catastrophic for the victorious franchise of the NBA. The Celtics blow in games 1 and 2 in the second half in a row, in the second half in the second half. They won game 3 in New York just to blow a 14-point lead in game 4 in the second half. This loss was exacerbated by Tatum's injury, which had an effect all the season throughout the season.

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In the days after these devastating news, the Celtics in game 5 gave up the remaining emotional energy. They had nothing left for game 6 and folded under the weight of the discomfort outside the season.

According to Spotrac, the Celtics owes more than 250 million US dollars of a dozen players in the next season and almost as much luxury taxes. A new team owner, Bill Chisholm, is on the hook at this price. There were some thoughts that Chisholm might take the bill if it meant chasing a three-goal. It is no longer a possibility. Tatum's injury probably means that a championship will not be in the table next season.

Would you like to lose money for a squad that cannot win a title? Not if you don't have to. Chisholm probably bought the team to collect banners and earn money, and if he cannot do the former, he will probably do the latter.

In order to go under the projected luxury tax line ($ 187.9 million)-and therefore to avoid the tax of the repeater-a massive overhaul would mean if you consider that Tatum and Brown will be owed together next season. Even the first (195.9 million US dollars) or second apron (207.8 million dollars) will require work.

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It could mean that large men, Al Horford and Luke Kornet, are no longer Celtics. It could mean that Sam Hauser's four-year extension of $ 45 million is traded. Or it could mean that some of their larger offers are on the move. Each dollar from the door could be up to five times as far as in savings. This is how the tax works.

Jrue Holiday will be $ 104 million in the next three seasons. He will be 37 years old at the end of this contract. In the Wings is Payton Pritchard, the incumbent sixth man of the year, who has just concluded his first season with a four-year contract for $ 30 million. It is one of the best values ​​in the NBA. It wouldn't need much to convince Chisholm that the Celtics can replace most of the holiday production to a fraction of the costs.

Kristapaps Porziis is also scheduled to begin with a drain contract of $ 30.7 million next season. Injuries and illnesses have largely prevented him from contributing to the last two post -season runs from Boston, including the championship. The further risk of a team that cannot win everything feels like a fool. Act Porzi against a better bargain or a non-guaranteed contract that can be completely wiped out of the books.

These are not moves that make the Celtics a better team next season, and the fan base won't hear that. These transactions should increase Boston's financial flexibility to reconstruct a candidate to Tatum 2026-27. Tatum's injury is an excuse for what would probably happen anyway, as long as the Celtics did not repeat: the costs were reduced.

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In the meantime, the Celtics from Brown, a four-time all-star, are managed. You have Derrick White, whose four-year extension of $ 118 million, or not, is another bargain. And pritchard. They seem to stay the most likely candidates to bridge the contracts, age groups and the ability to bridge this one -year gap by Tatum. Anyone who joins them on the other side is everyone's assumption. Anyone who joins them in the meantime is also a mystery.

A team with Brown at the top, with white and pritchard at the waxations, and with whom you always get back in return for vacation and/or porzi (or who on the move), is expected to make some noise in a diluted East Conference. Not a championship noise, but some noise. This will lead to speculation about Tatum's status for playoffs of next year, which will most likely be noise.

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Which of the Celtics will be in the absence of Tatum, the resilient group that we saw in game 5 or The Lost Bunch from game 6 next season? The answer is probably a bit of both. Inconsistency is the brand of a team without a superstar that the Celtics are for the foreseeable future. Apart from a miracle, it is about closing the gap into the 2026-27 season, reducing the costs and reconstructing a candidate as soon as possible.

Who knows if Brad Stevens can do it? Who knows what Tatum's game will look like when and when? If all of this sounds cold, it is because it is. The NBA collective agreement was interpreted for some reason to reduce the dynasties of the stick. The title windows are shorter than ever – still shorter if a team lives one of the four best basketball players alive for an indefinite period.