’s Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks have put a spotlight on 10 teams that could help define the 2026 offseason, and the Celtics are among the names that matter most. The timing is simple: this came as the NBA Finals were still in view and front offices were already shifting from the present to what comes next.
For Boston, the interest is not just that the Celtics were included. It is that the franchise is still expected to build around a healthy Jayson Tatum while also dealing with roster math that does not leave much room for a clean upgrade. If the Celtics want to chase top-tier talent, they may need to move Jaylen Brown or Derrick White to create the bigger contracts that make that kind of deal possible.
That is why the June 11 breakdown is drawing attention beyond Boston. The list also puts the Cavaliers, Pistons, Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Nuggets, Wolves, Heat and Thunder in the center of the offseason picture, a group large enough to influence the market from several directions at once. In that sense, the piece was less a single-team ranking than a map of where the summer’s pressure points could land.
Neemias Queta sits in the middle of one of those decisions. Boston must decide whether to decline his team option and work out a long-term deal, or pick up the option now and push the contract conversation to next summer. That choice matters because it sits alongside the larger question of how aggressive the Celtics want to be if they decide the current core needs another major piece.
The gap between Boston’s ambitions and its assets is the part that makes the story feel unfinished in a useful way. The Celtics can talk about staying near the top, but the route to a bigger move is not straightforward if the front office is not willing to part with Brown or White. A comment attached to the piece underscored that logic by saying Boston is more likely to pursue Miles Turner than Giannis, which fits the reality that not every big name is equally reachable.
Elsewhere on the board, the Cavaliers face decisions on a high-scoring backcourt, with Donovan Mitchell extension-eligible and James Harden up for a new deal at 36 years old. The Pistons are weighing whether to keep building slowly or take a swing, while the other teams named by Bontemps and Marks round out a summer that already looks like one of the most consequential in recent memory. For Boston, the first answer may come with Queta, but the bigger one is whether the Celtics are willing to pay the price to change the shape of the roster around Tatum.
