The Boston Celtics will face the New York Knicks, a team they defeated four times in four games during the regular season, in the second round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs starting on Monday. While the series is being promoted as a renewal of the Boston-New York rivalry the reality remains that the Celtics are heavily favored, having beaten the New York by a combined 65 points over those four games.
The online gambling site BetMGM favors the Celtics with money line odds of -800, meaning that an $800 bet on the Celtics pays $900, a profit of $100. But the Knicks have odds of +550. In other words, New York is such an underdog that a $100 bet would earn a $550 profit if the Knicks should pull off an upset.
But even as the Celtics continue to roll through the playoffs seemingly on course to win the 19th NBA championship in franchise history, a dark cloud hangs over the franchise.
With the Boston payroll further over the salary cap “second apron” than all but two other teams (the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves), the franchise faces an urgent need to cut payroll to get under that threshold, which for this year stands at $188,931,000.
‘Second Apron’ Means Big Celtics Changes This Summer
If they fail to do so, not only will the Celtics face stiff financial penalties, they will also see their ability to develop their roster essentially frozen. Exceeding the second apron comes with severe restrictions on how teams may make trades and sign free agents.
As a result, the Celtics under venture capitalist Bill Chisolm — leader of the team’s incoming new ownership group — appear certain to make some dramatic personnel decisions once the playoffs have ended.
According to a report by ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, “the Celtics will be exploring trade options in the offseason. This iteration is just not going to be sustainable for this team and no one around the organization from players to staffers would be surprised if there are changes coming to this roster.”
A prime candidate to be moved out would be seven-foot-two center Kristaps Porzingis, who would be owed $30.7 million on the final year of his contract next season.
Replacing Porzingis, who will turn 30 years old in August, with a cheaper, younger big man could (depending on other player moves) bring the Celtics under the second apron.
But who would that replacement be? The Celtics hold the 28th pick in June 25 NBA Draft, and according to multiple mock drafts they will use that pick on a new center.
Celtics Tabbed to Find Porzingis Replacement in Big East
An NBA.com mock draft predicts that the Celtics will select 22-year-old Auburn center Johni Broome, but at six-foot-10, Broome would serve a different role than the versatile Porzingis, and also lacks the taller veteran’s mobility.
However, a new mock draft compiled by the artificial intelligence model ChatGPT, which aggregates massive amounts of existing information to come up with an ideal mock draft for each team, offered a different name — fifth-year Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner.
“There’s an idea that the “modern big man” shoots 3s and protects the paint. Think Kristaps Porzingis,” wrote Jay King, who covers the Celtics for The Athletic. “(Kalkbrenner) has shot a respectable 33.3 percent on nearly two 3-point attempts per game this season, showing progress since last season, when he first started increasing his 3-point volume. He won’t need to become a knockdown shooter to impact a team.”
Defensively, like Porzingis, the seven-foot Kalkbrenner is a rim protector, King wrote, adding, “There’s a lot to like about Kalkbrenner. And little to dislike, outside of his age.”
As a fifth-year senior at Creighton, Kalbrenner is now 23 years old. If the Celtics were to select him, it would mark the second year in a row that they have taken a player from the Big East school in the first round. In 2024, the Celtics drafted Creighton’s Baylor Scheierman.
