Al Horford to the KNICKS? Trade Jaylen Brown? Jrue Holiday’s future? Boston Celtics mailbag!
Celtics’ roster shakeup looms as CBA impact hits hard. Will Al Horford join the Knicks?
John Karalis tackles burning mailbag questions about the Boston Celtics’ future. From Al Horford’s potential departure to Jaylen Brown’s uncertain status, Karalis breaks down the team’s options. The new NBA collective bargaining agreement forces tough decisions, with Jrue Holiday’s situation highlighting the challenges ahead. Karalis explores creative salary cap strategies and potential trades that could reshape the Celtics’ roster.
Tune in for expert analysis on how the Celtics can navigate these crucial roster decisions and maintain their championship aspirations. Submit questions at JohnKaralis.com/mailbag
1:30 Al Horford’s future with Celtics or retirement
7:00 Trading Jaylen?
14:00 Tatum’s playmaking
20:29 Tactfully trading Jrue Holiday and CBA workarounds
27:41 Creative trade ideas to get under salary cap
34:24 Asking players questions in other language
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34 Comments
☘☘☘☘☘☘HORFORD AINT GOIN NO WHERE!!!!!☘☘☘☘☘☘☘☘
I can see Horford signing with another team but he is definitely not going to the Knicks.
Al unfortunately will be disappointed in free agency by the Celtics. They have bigger priorities than Al like Kornet, trading Brown and Hauser and then seeing if there is still money for Holiday and then they'll see what they have left for Al. By that time his feelings will be hurt unless it all happens quick. The plan for the team should be to trade Brown, Hauser and probably Holiday and find a really good young power forward. If they do that they can give Tatum more minutes at the 3 which will lessen the impact of Brown leaving and be contenders as soon as Tatum comes back which could be the last month of the regular season or first round of the playoffs next year. I don't think they are counting him out for next season but I also think they are smart enough not to rush him with them still owing him about another 260 million after next season. They'll see how he feels. Next year is not lost. Maybe they end up with Giannis for Brown and some young talent which would probably be Pritchard, Scheiermann and picks. I expect they'll be a top 6 team in the Eastern conference if they do this right.
Horford just like any player has to do what is best for him. The Celtics are going to do what is best for them as an organization.
Here's a 3 team trade that works:(Fanspo and Spotrac trade machine)
Celtics Receive:
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Bucks Receive:
Jaylen Brown
Kristaps Porzingis (Expiring contract)
FRP’s
Nets Receive:
Kyle Kuzma
SRP’s
This works since the Celtics can aggregate salaries in a trade that gets them under the 2nd apron. (which this does) and since the Nets have a +23 mil TPE and cap space to take on Kuzma's contract. (Both TPE’s expire July 7th)
Tatum is out for the season and they want to trade the whole team
Boston got lucky last year, hit the ceiling this year. Disaster next year. Time for OKC, PAcers, Cavs to be the next possible champions.
Keep Holiday and trade KP.
As long as the Celtics keep Joe Mazzulla they're gonna stay in messy situations. Mazzulla Ball is blowing up the lead
lol no thanks Celts
Can't believe celtics not playing now
Tatum is a different beast. Tatum will come back 100% normal. A lot of money and resources.
Big Al Horford will never go to the Knicks again this show is for clicks and money on YouTube this show will be better 2 times a week every day nah unwatchable 😂😂😂😂
Thanks 🙏🏿 for the off season work. Can’t be that much fun this year.
Love JB but he had to go for the cap reasons. If he could have improved a bit more he’d be a keeper but he’s bad for a super max player. Maybe this is his ceiling no shame in being the 25th best player on earth. 😅Sad but true. He’s not replaceable but more so than other salary options.
I will love to see Rick the Pacers coach to coach the Celtics next year the way Mazulla way just shooting 3's and blowing 20 pts leads a lot of times and not calling time outs during the game's that's my opinion what do you guy's think
Good luck to Aaron Nesmith
Nobody knows how Tatum will look, or his game. If he makes a return having changed some things, then the Celtics might find themselves having a team that doesn't work around him at all.
He is too old waste of a time 👎
Keep him on the bucks with his brother
Horford is staying here, he ain't going no where!!☘️☘️☘️☘️
The more I think about it, the more I think a complete rebuild is the way to go. Jaylen has a cartilage injury, Tatum an achilles. Use Brown to get rid of Holiday and Porzingas. White is 30 now and has good value. Keep Pritchard and Kornet. Queta. Hauser. Reload and tank next year. Its probably a three year rebuild with Stevens wheeling and dealing. I don’t want to get old with diminished Tatum and Brown and middle of the road finishes. I’d rather take the other road and rely on Stevens to build it again. Flagg could be a Celtic someday. Alot of players in the league would play defense to play in Boston and Brad Stevens. These guys are well paid. Nobody should be melancholy for these guys. This tear down is on the NBA for their diabolical control of the parity of this league. The Celtics overused Tatum and Brown. Entirely too many minutes no doubt contributed and caused those injuries. Holiday looked shot last year. He put alot of his body on the line in 2024. By the end of 2025 he had quit lifting weights and looked rounded shoulders to me. 82+ games a season is ridiculous. Its why basketball is a young mans sport.
Click bait headlines lately. We know it's the offseason and content is short, no need to sensationalize unsubstantiated rumors.
Personally I could care less about Tatum off the court, hell even on the court he frustrates me he's not invested in the Boston Communities like Jaylen is…!!! Jaylen Genuinely cares & actively contributes to supporting the City in a way Tatum just doesn't…!!!
Pritchard now becomes #1
Keep JB, JT, DW, PP, and Hauser no matter what.
We're the 3rd oldest team in the NBA and it's the perfect season for a FULL reset. I've put together that works while getting rid of jaylen, d white, hauser, jrue, and KP and staying contenders possibly for years I came up with this (youth is behind a lot of my choices) and this is not some super far fetched stuff ppl are throwing out, its based on teams that want these players:
PG dylan harper (trade from spurs)
SG devin vassell (trade from spurs)
SF jonathan kuminga (trade from warriors)
PF PJ Washington (trade with dallas)
C dereck lively (trade with dallas)
reserves:
moses moody (trade with warriors)
jeremy sochan (trade with spurs)
caleb martin (trade with dallas)
payton pritchard
luke kornet
Al Horford (if he returns)
I know it means literally everyone's gone but honestly young team and not star centered fast paced ball is the new era beyond the 3 era and we'll get left behind. Third oldest team in the league and not many 1st rounders for a few years, its our only real chance at some younger guys to build our future.
In essence without explaining much:
-spurs take jaylen and a 1st for the 2nd pick, sochan, and vassell
-warriors take d white and hauser for a kuminga sign and trade and moody
-dallas takes jrue, schiermann, queta and this year's 1st for washington, lively, and martin
-KP is still with us at this point, salary dump for a couple role players or something although I built a good bench already…so save on cap somehow with him or grab up a center for a strong backup for lively thats cheaper.
They were out of contention for next year the second they got eliminated vs the Knicks, they have zero chance of winning a championship next year considering the roster. Smartest thing they could do would be to trade everyone
All these Celtic podcasters wanna nominate everyone except the one person Boston should get rid of, Mazzulla.
Bad teams are bad for a reason, wealth distribution only works for very few it won't change that. Home grown players should have different rules. Teams are going to stop giving the huge contracts and more and more "I can't believe they traded him" decisions will be made to not have to make such payouts. The players will figure this out and will force change.
Sorry just homegrown only, reward good management, if it has webbed feet and quacks it's a duck. Let the Draft team pay for a quarter of the supermax for giving up on a player, that should weed out the unsuccessful management pretty quick.
Horford will take the money and have better chance with knicks, bucks be good fit – kuzma for horford
Losing Tatum don’t change much, he’s worth 5 more wins max, not a jabber where you go from 60 wins to 30, Celtics still go 50 plus win team without the ball hog
Team comes back in tact or it will bite us in the ass. Point blank. Horford ain't going anywhere, just ESPN starting dumb rumors smh 🤦♂️
Fake! Al Horford (Star/Role player) had his peak (ATL) and the chance to join the New York Knicks, but he rejected them and opted to alter the NBA dynamics by collaborating with the Philadelphia 76ers (Really?!) and Boston Celtics as an defensive anchor ultimately leading to failure and redemption with the infamous championship run he had with Celtics.
Dude you are becoming "click bait". Get back to being real.