Celtics have an uncertain future with Jayson Tatum's injury, huge payroll to confront

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics entered this season with hopes of ending the NBA’s six-season drought without a repeat champion.

With a mostly unaltered roster led by All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they looked like a team poised to do it after romping through the regular season and posting their second straight 60-win season while earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

But it all thudded to the surface in the postseason, cemented by Boston’s 4-2 conference semifinals loss to a New York Knicks team that it had previously dominated this season. The Celtics are now the sixth consecutive NBA champion to fail to make it out of the second round the following season.

Just as painful as getting dethroned at NBA champions was the devastating ruptured Achilles tendon injury to Tatum late in Game 4, which sidelined him for the final two games of the series. The 27-year-old is now staring at a rehabilitation process that will knock him out for most, if not all, of next season.

It casted a pall not only over the remainder of the New York series but has thrust the Celtics’ future into uncertainty heading into the offseason. That sentiment was clearly on Brown’s mind in the aftermath of their elimination as he tried to offer Boston’s fans some hope.

“This journey is not the end. It’s not the end for me. I look forward to coming back stronger. You just take this with the chin up,” Brown said. “I know, Boston, it looks gloomy right now obviously with JT being out, and us ending the year, but there’s a lot to look forward to. I want the city to feel excited about that. This is not the end.”

But it may not be that simple.

Boston’s payroll this season put it over the salary cap and will make them a luxury-tax team for the third consecutive season. It means they will be hit with a “repeater tax” penalty for being over the cap threshold in three out of four seasons.

With payroll for next season on track to come in around $225 million, next year’s tax bill would be at almost $280 million. The combined potential $500 million total price tag would be a league record.

It is unclear whether the team’s incoming ownership will want to keep paying those hefty penalties to maintain the current roster after agreeing to a purchase in March that is expected to have a final price of a minimum of $6.1 billion.

It could mean belt tightening in some fashion this offseason with 11 players currently under contract.

Tatum signed an NBA-record five-year, $314 million contract last July that will begin next season and pay him $54 million. Brown is playing under a five-year, $304 million deal that kicked in this season. He will make $53 million next season. That is followed by Jrue Holiday ($32 million), Kristaps Porzingis ($30 million), Derrick White ($28 million) and Sam Hauser ($10 million).

Of the top nine rotation players this season, only veteran Al Horford and Luke Kornet are free agents.

But there are concerns beyond the financial ones.

Porzingis’s health will also be in the spotlight after he was hampered throughout the latter part of the regular season and playoffs with a lingering viral illness that sapped him of strength and rendered him a virtual nonfactor against the Knicks.

Though he said he doesn’t think it will be a long-term thing.

“The best thing I need right now is just to rest. Just get somewhere in the sun and just let the rest of my system even itself out,” he said.

One positive sign is that he said he plans to still play for home country Latvia in EuroBasket this summer.

Then there’s Brown, who entered this postseason dealing with a right knee issue but was able to play through it. He has said he's unsure whether it will require surgery this offseason.

Even with that uncertainty, Brown's optimism remains high, although he acknowledged tough times may be ahead.

“Losing to the Knicks feels like death,” he said. “But I was always taught there’s life after death.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Trainers check on Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum after he was injured during the second half of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks Monday, May 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7) defends New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson as Kristaps Porzingis watches during the first half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown, third from left, watches with teammates during the second half of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks Friday, May 16, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Four years after showing up late for the Beijing Olympics and missing one of his races because of a case of COVID-19, U.S. long track speedskater Casey Dawson is enjoying what he jokingly terms his “villain arc,” peaking at the right time ahead of the Milan Cortina Games.

Dawson secured a spot for next month in the men's 5,000 meters — an event he was forced to skip in 2022 while sick — by winning at that distance at the U.S. Olympic trials in 6 minutes, 12.857 seconds on Friday night.

“I actually got COVID two or three weeks before going to the competition. Tested positive for 50 straight tests,” said Dawson, a 25-year-old from Park City, Utah. “Couldn’t go over to the Games. I missed the opening ceremonies. Missed the 5,000 meters. Showed up 12 hours before my 1,500 meters. So I kind of got a little screwed over from that point of view. But this time around, I’m just looking forward to getting there smoothly and just getting a little bit of redemption.”

And then, with a chuckle, Dawson added: “It’s kind of fun to have, like, my villain arc, I would call it. Just coming back and having some fun.”

Ethan Cepuran was about 6 1/2 seconds back Friday, finishing next in 6:19.335.

The last American man to medal in the 5,000 at an Olympics was Chad Hedrick at the 2006 Turin Games.

Dawson already had secured the lone U.S. place for Milan in the men’s 10,000 — a race not being contested at these trials — and also will be part of the trio for men’s team pursuit at the Olympics.

Dawson, Cepuran and Emery Lehman took the bronze in that event in Beijing four years ago, set the world record in 2024 and claimed gold in the team pursuit at the world championships in March.

In the other race Friday, the women's 3,000, Greta Myers won in 4:06.799. As of now, the United States does not have a berth in Milan for that distance, but one of its athletes could end up in the field if another country relinquishes an opening.

“It's hard to wait,” said Myers, a 21-year-old from Lino Lakes, Minnesota. “But I'm very hopeful. I think it's at least a 50-50 chance that it'll happen.”

The U.S. Olympic roster for long track won't become official until the four-day trials at the Pettit National Ice Center wrap up on Monday. One element that could come into play is that the Americans are allowed to bring a maximum of eight men and six women to these Winter Games.

The biggest star of the team — and the sport — is scheduled to make his trials debut Saturday in the men's 1,000 meters: Jordan Stolz. The 21-year-old from Kewaskum, a town about 40 miles north of Milwaukee, is not just competing at home this week; he's racing at the same rink where he first began taking lessons as a kid.

He made his Olympic debut at age 17 in Beijing four years ago, finishing 13th in the 500 and 14th in the 1,000.

At both the 2023 and 2024 world championships, Stolz earned titles in each of the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters.

He's already pre-qualified for the Olympics based on performances at those three distances. All he really needs to do to lock down berths on the squad for the Feb. 6-22 Milan Cortina Games is show up at the starting line this week.

The 500 and 1,500 are slated for Sunday, and the mass start is Monday.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Casey Dawson, of Park City, Utah, right, and Ethan Cepuran, of Glen Ellyn, lllinois, left, compete in the men's 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speed skating at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Howard Fendrich)

The Pettit National Ice Center is seen in Milwaukee on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, the first day of the U.S. Olympic trials for long track speedskating. (AP Photo/Howard Fendrich)