Celtics’ Top Needs in 2024 NBA Offseason

Life is good for the Boston Celtics.

Maybe as good as it’s ever been.

Granted, the Celtics still need to punctuate this dominant run with their first NBA title since 2008, but they followed posting this season’s best record by blitzing through the Eastern Conference side of the bracket with a 12-2 performance. It hasn’t been a picture-perfect effort, but it’s hard to nitpick three convincing series wins.

What does all of this praise have to do with Boston’s offseason needs? Well, take a look at everything this club has done to this point, and it becomes pretty obvious that very little is actually needed. Still, there are a few items on the wish list, so let’s break them down.

Boston’s payroll is about to get pricey.

And that’s a worry, because it’s plenty expensive already.

Remember when Jaylen Brown inked his historic contract extension last offseason? Well, Jayson Tatum should set the new high mark at any time. Jrue Holiday will rake in a $30 million salary, per Spotrac, and Kristaps Porziņģis will nearly do the same. Derrick White has $19.6 million coming his way, while Al Horford is on the books for another $9.5 million.

That’s an enormous amount of money, and even if all of these players are worth it, that still makes this a tricky time for the front office to navigate given the punitive restrictions placed on basketball’s biggest spenders. Any path the Celtics can pave toward cost-controlled contributors who could outperform their pay rate is one worth exploring.

The 2023-24 campaign could be remembered as a true breakout season for both Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser.

That didn’t change the fact that Celtics’ subs still ranked 26th in bench scoring. And that’s with Al Horford making half of his appearances as a second-teamer.

Granted, when a team’s first five is this good, the backups don’t always get a great chance to impress. A quick scan of the roster, though, suggests this reserve unit wouldn’t pop for major points regardless who was in the opening lineup. Pritchard and Hauser are net-shredders, Horford is a scoring threat when he looks at the basket and that’s kind of it.

Adding one more puzzle piece capable of heating up in a hurry might help lighten the load on Boston’s starters moving forward.

When Porziņģis turned heads last season by suiting up 65 times—i.e., “only” missing 17 outings—that said all folks needed to know about his lengthy injury history. And honestly, Boston’s brass probably felt pretty good about the big fella making another 57 appearances this season. He isn’t always guaranteed to hit that number.

And yet, Porziņģis still feels like an injury waiting to happen. Or, at the moment, an injury that’s already happened, as he’s been sidelined by a calf strain since the opening round.

Horford has been far more durable, but how much longer can that be the case? He’ll turn 38 years old in the Finals. That’s ancient for the Association. And just because he hasn’t looked his age to this point doesn’t mean he can keep defying Father Time.

As things stand, that’s it in terms of Boston’s interior rotation for next season, as Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman are both ticketed for free agency. Given how fragile this frontcourt looks on paper, the Celtics would be wise to have multiple bigs behind Porziņģis and Horford, whether that includes Kornet and/or Tillman or not.