Assessing the Celtics’ 2024 offseason moves after title win

You know what’s better than one championship? Two championships.

Don’t get me wrong; winning one is amazing. Seeing mountains of green and white ticker tape fluttering down to the floor immediately marked the pinnacle of my sporting life, and the days and weeks since have been an extension of that feeling.

For the players, their place in history is forever secured; for the organization, it’s another piece of inalienable achievement. It’s hard to overstate the gravity and significance of winning an NBA championship, and that’s certainly not the goal here.

Owners and General Manager Brad Stevens responded as a group that Pulp Fiction. Just over a month into the offseason, Boston brought back nearly every player from last season’s title team; they also managed to nab one of the most pro-ready prospects in the draft at pick 30.

Additionally, the Celtics have managed to secure a handful of significant extensions, including the biggest in NBA history when they gave Jayson Tatum an eye-popping five-year deal. Overall, it’s exactly what you want to see as a fan: a leadership group that is committed to giving this group a chance to do something truly special.

That said, here are the numbers for every move the Celtics have made this offseason so far. We’ll start with the big ones:

Celtics extend Jrue Holiday: 4 years, $134.4 million*

On the surface, giving nearly $135 million to a 34-year-old guard seems… questionable. Conventional thinking around the league suggests that giving a man in his late 30s a huge salary is ambitious at best and downright disastrous at worst. It’s simply too risky to invest that kind of capital in a player who will almost certainly regress over the course of the deal.

Jrue Holiday, however, is no ordinary 34-year-old guard. In just one season, the addition of Holiday’s steady, veteran presence transformed the Celtics from perennial almost-men into world champions. Throughout the playoff run, when the Celtics needed a big play, Holiday was there: whether it was a strip-drive to win a crucial game against Indiana or a 26-point, 11-rebound performance to win a thrilling Game 2 against Dallas. It’s no exaggeration to say that there’s no Banner 18 without Jrue Holiday.

What’s more, the two-time champion is (still) one of the best defenders in NBA history, shooting a career-best 43% from beyond the arc in 2023-24. His scoring stats are still solid, too (despite a diminished role alongside a litany of stars), and he’s the perfect addition to any team interested in winning a championship. To top it all off, the rising salary cap makes this a deal that’s easily tradable, should the time come.

*Contract agreed in April

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