NBA Notebook: Celtics know offseason breakup is inevitable after loss to Knicks

Al Horford's face appeared flushed. Only he could address a loss as staggering as Jayson Tatum, and even he struggled to do so. 

"It's very concerning," he said. "Just from the care that I have for him and what he means to us, what he means to Boston. It's very tough for us, and more importantly, it's just really tough for him right now." 

Horford and Jaylen Brown rallied the Celtics for one last win this season without Tatum, a needed therapy session for a fan base in mourning. One week ago, a championship repeat still appeared within reach. Boston responded to their two collapses that opened the second round with a road win where they led by as many as 30 points. But after Tatum fell in the final minutes of a loss that put the Celtics behind 3-1 in the series, Boston stood in a near-impossible position to recover from. After a loss that might go down as the most demoralizing of this era on Friday, where they never scratched the surface of competing, a battered group returned to Boston with several players saying they let the city and franchise down. 

All acknowledged the same thing. This group will not return in full. 

"You just never know if you’re ever gonna play with a certain guy ever again after a season ends," Sam Hauser said. "Even after you come off a championship. That’s what hurts. We have a lot of good guys in that locker room, and the thought of not having someone on the team next year, it’s hard to wrap your head around it. There is a lot of uncertainty now, especially with Jayson’s injury." 

Derrick White sounded the most demoralized on Friday, almost resigned to the fact that he'd lose teammates. He called wearing the Celtics jersey alongside these teammates his greatest honor, striking an ominous tone as his answers grew shorter. Yet Horford delivered the most striking revelation one day later. Normally leaving no doubt about his intention to continue playing, he said multiple times that he's not ready to discuss his future as he enters free agency. He did not share his hopes to remain with the Celtics.

The equation changed when Tatum went down with an injury that'll cost him most of next season, if not all. That provides an opportunity for Boston to dive below the second apron and perhaps even the luxury tax line to reset repeater thresholds that increase penalties for living above each line. Reducing spending now could allow the team to pay players less painfully down the line, while maintaining increasingly important long-term draft capital. It'll still hurt to do so. The Celtics are currently $20 million over the second apron line and $40 million over the tax between the current roster commitments. Shedding Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday without taking a cent back shaves $63.1 million, but that's not practical without a larger trade emerging and cap space teams cooperating. 

"We still have a really, really great opportunity and a great window to be successful and win a championship again," Holiday said. "I think the talent that we have on this team, not only on the court but on the coaching staff, all the way up to Brad has been amazing. So the opportunity to win is now and I still want to be part of it." 

Holiday, among others, received questions about the team's ownership change in September when training camp began. The Celtics just signed various lucrative extensions, including his, Tatum and White's. Money and the championship window felt limitless, and so when the conversation emerged about the red flags the Grousbeck family's sale of the team signaled, few on the team felt it. They just won a championship. They had a great opportunity to do so. As much as players might've noticed the last dance element of this season before it began, they didn't need that to motivate them, and if they won again, it increased the chances that much of this roster would return. 

Instead, the opposite is true, and players found themselves coming to terms with that over this weekend, far earlier than anyone expected to stop playing. Porziņģis, heavily hindered by a bizarre, long-lasting illness symptoms this postseason, enters the last season of an expiring contract. Holiday turns 35 in June. Horford is 39 soon. And as safe as Brown feels, this collective bargaining agreement made it difficult for teams to retain multiple super max players and still build a competitive team around them. Brown and Tatum would lose much of the complementary talent around them that powered their 2024 title run if they stay together. There are maddening decisions ahead for Celtics president Brad Stevens, long considered perfect in his job and now likely required to make difficult moves. The front office has long mapped out a read-and-react strategy to impending second-apron penalties, and this season's result sent a clear message about what's likely required. But hope remains. Payton Pritchard showed promise again when offered greater opportunities. 

"We will put a good team together, a lot of competitors and people who will go out there and lay it all on the line every night," Pritchard said, sounding more confident than anyone about the team's future on Saturday. "I believe people will elevate their games and to have bigger roles, especially with JT being out, until he comes back and they should take full advantage of it and be ready for those opportunities. We will compete.” 

Luke Kornet, also a free agent, became a starter by the end of the second round following a breakout season. His role could become more pronounced if the Celtics can beat out higher annual, shorter-term offers by rivals with their Bird Rights that allow them to offer longer-term deals at lower average annual value. But even he sounded non-committal on Saturday at exit interviews. He would discuss his future with his family after more time to think about the season that just ended. Kornet returned on a veteran's minimum contract in the first place despite larger offers to join the 13 out of 15 starters from the previous year's championship team who returned. The oddity seemed like a guarantee that the Celtics would have a strong chance to repeat. And it did, until it didn't. 

Physical challenges led in large part to the disappointing finish. ESPN revealed a partial meniscus tear for Brown on Saturday. Holiday battled injuries. Hauser began the year with back pain, and Porziņģis ended it by contracting a mysterious virus. Despite all those valid excuses, players admitted they fell short of what it took to repeat as champions. They anticipated, and even studied the past, noticing that no team that won the championship advanced past the second round since the dynasty Warriors in 2019. Pritchard brought up his own history, that the Spurs created their own without winning back-to-back titles during their run. Brown also forecasted hope for the season ahead despite some dark projections. There's life after death, he said, and while it looks gloomy with Tatum out, there's a lot to look forward to. That, unfortunately, won't involve a team that the city fell in love with. Between Jruuuue and Luuuuke chants and the massive ovations Porziņģis and Horford received for their physically-exerting efforts against Orlando less than one month ago.

They're all champions, Joe Mazzulla said.

"It sucks," White said. "We're never gonna get this season back. Never gonna have the exact same team again." 

Here's what else happened around the NBA this week...

Boston (lost 2-4 vs. NYK): Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles on Monday after the Celtics squandered another double-digit lead in the second half of Game 4. Boston fell behind 3-1 to the Knicks, briefly rallying for Game 5 without Tatum before falling behind by 41 points in a devastating Game 6 loss. Blown 20-point leads in the opening games of the series stand as major regrets, while Tatum will miss most of next season, though doctors CLNS Media spoke with suspect Tatum underwent the SpeedBridge procedure, which shortens recovery times from Achilles tears. Tatum's father, Justin, told ESPN that Jayson expects to miss 8-9 months. Kristaps Porziņģis revealed no specifics about the illness that left him unable to play regular minutes in the Knicks series. He reported weird symptoms and that his system effectively shut down, leading to exhaustion, while noting that doctors cleared him to play and that he doesn't think the illness is a long-term concern. Jaylen Brown played through a partial meniscus tear late in the season, and surgery is under consideration to address it, according to ESPN. 

Cleveland (lost 1-4 vs. IND): Faded immediately in Game 4 against the Pacers, trailing by as many as 44 points while Donovan Mitchell fell with a left ankle injury. Mitchell returned for Game 5, but scored only 12 points in another blowout loss that ended the once-promising Cavs' season. A Celtics-Cavs East Finals felt inevitable for much of this year, both teams ailing from bruises accumulated late in the season. The collapse late in the series went beyond health, though, as Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De'Andre Hunter returned from their ailments. Tempers flared between Cleveland and Indiana early in Game 4, Bennedict Mathurin getting ejected for a dust-up with Hunter. The incident early appeared to spark the Pacers, who quickly pulled away in their series-closing wins. The Cavs can bring back most of their roster this summer, but become increasingly expensive as Mobley's max extension begins. Sixth Man of the Year finalist Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill are the Cavs' significant free agents. 

Dallas: Won the NBA Draft lottery despite having only a 1.8% chance to secure the No. 1 pick. The miracle, which will allow the team to draft heralded prospect Cooper Flagg from Duke, could potentially save a franchise devastated by the February Luka Dončić trade. The result shocked Flagg, who said the Mavericks have pieces and would provide a cool opportunity. Flagg and Anthony Davis will need to hold down the offense until Kyrie Irving returns from ACL surgery. Irving will almost certainly pick up his $44 million player option unless he and Dallas come to terms on a long-term contract. They had three starting-caliber centers, which provides some roster flexibility for Nico Harrison if he wants to supplement the team's backcourt depth. 

“I didn’t really think about where I was gonna land beforehand at all,” Flagg said. “I knew it was out of my control. I went into the whole process with an open mind and knowing that I couldn’t control it, so just went into it with a happy face and I’m just excited for this opportunity.”

Portland: The latest team on the market, with the Paul Allen estate making the long-awaited decision to sell the Trail Blazers. All proceeds will go to philanthropy, the team announced, though the estate will maintain its holdings in the NFL Seattle Seahawks.