Getty Forward Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets.
The Boston Celtics aren’t concerned with anything over the next few weeks other than capturing an NBA title, but summer is coming regardless of how the Finals play out, and with it the opportunity for the team to deepen an already talented roster.
Jayson Tatum becomes extension-eligible this offseason and locking him down on a five-year super-max deal worth $315 million figures to be Boston’s first order of business. Attempting to extend Derrick White is likely also high on the list, though the star two-way guard can hold off a year and potentially make much more money by entering free agency, which adds cloudiness to the proceedings.
What’s left after that is a limited list of scenarios to improve, considering how the Celtics have spent money in recent years and where their salary cap is likely to be once it comes time to make roster additions. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report on Monday, June 3, named forward Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets as Boston’s “dream” trade target based on the organization’s limited maneuverability.
The Celtics are going to be a second-apron luxury team next season, which puts a lot of restrictions on who they can trade for.
Eason is a player who Boston should be very interested in. The 23-year-old still has two years remaining on his rookie contract (at $3.7 million and $5.7 million) and could grow into a really nice rotation piece for the Celtics over the next few years.
Unless the Celtics are willing to trade one of their high-priced vets, Boston will need to settle for players making far less money. Eason would be a tremendous value on his current deal.
Tari Eason Has Desire to Defend, Shoots Well From Deep
GettyForward Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets.
Eason, a former first-round pick out of LSU (No. 17 overall in 2022) averaged 9.8 points, 7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 steals during his second professional season. He made 36% of his 3-point attempts across 21.8 minutes per night, according to Basketball Reference.
At 6-feet-8 and 216 pounds, Eason is a power forward who can adequately space the floor and has at least some defensive chops that the Celtics could try and develop. His size is likely to prevent him from ever becoming the same sort of rim-protecting interior defender that Kristaps Porzingis has proven himself capable of being as an anchor for Boston this season.
However, Eason is hungry to become a high-quality defender and brings the elements of energy and work ethic required to have a chance to accomplish such a goal.
“I want to be the best defender in the NBA at some point,” Eason said in October 2023, per Jeremy Brener of Sports Illustrated’s Fan Nation. “I truly believe I can be, I will be — I just got to work, and the rest will fall into place. As far as effort and taking pride on that end of the floor, that’s kind of my calling card. I want to be the best defender I can be.”
Kristaps Porzingis’ Injury History Argues for Celtics Adding Front Court Depth
GettyKristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics.
A quality defender with good size and the ability to knock down shots from behind the 3-point line would be at least something of an insurance policy for the Celtics if Porzingis suffers any more injury issues, which is likely given his history of health problems since joining the league in 2015.
Porzingis has played in 60 regular season games just once in the past seven years (2022-23 with the Washington Wizards) and missed the entirety of the 2018-19 campaign with an ACL injury. A calf strain he suffered in Game 4 of the Celtics’ opening playoff series against the Miami Heat has kept the 7-feet-2 Porzingis sidelined for the rest of the postseason to this point.
Houston has a lot of young talent that needs experience to develop, and Swartz noted that guys like Cam Whitmore and Amen Thompson could steal minutes from Eason next season. The Rockets have already picked up the third-year team option on Eason’s $16.3 million rookie contract, leaving a $5.7 million team option for the 2025-26 campaign before free agency.
If the Celtics want to acquire some front court insurance, with an often questionable Porzingis and a 38-year-old Al Horford as their top two big men, Eason makes sense as a value option.