The five biggest off-season issues facing the Boston Celtics

We reached the darkest time for the Boston Celtics in the third quarter of Wednesday's loss to Milwaukee Bucks 5:

It's sad … but not totally unreasonable. Although active, the Celtics have built a team that, just seven months ago, was widely considered the best challenger of the Golden State dynasty. But everything has fallen into ruin this season in a hail of scoffers and enigmatic comments. The bowels of the team that won a victory at last year's NBA finals are still there, behind all this black mass, but the front office is tackling the decision of the off season at the crossroads with virtually all the important players in the training, starting with Kyrie Irving. Here are the five most important questions facing Boston after losing 4-1 in the second round of the playoffs:

Will Kyrie Irving come back?

Irving has aggressively tried to cancel the conversation about his future at different times of the season, but there's a reason he was so hot at first: his choice as an independent agency this summer has the potential to shape only the Eastern Conference. for years to come, but all the NBA. Say what you want about his dull defense or his second U-turn. After claiming that he was above the regular season "BS" and ready for the "highest level", Irving is still a player who changes the franchise and who, at age 27, comes off the hook. to enter its climax.

Of course, no team will feel the impact of Irving's decision more than the Celtics. If it remains, Danny Ainge will be the next day at David Griffin's door in New Orleans, with check cards, ready to confront Anthony Davis and turn his competitor's training wheels into tires. monsters. If Irving goes away, Ainge and Co. will return to the drawing board with the guts of a good young team – and probably a lot less stressed – but without a clear answer as to how to move to the favorite of the title without sacrificing the future (more on this below).

For what it's worth, the Celtics can outbid any other Irving team, though he should actually withdraw from the last year of his contract: Boston can offer five years, $ 190 million dollars, while the other 29 NBA franchises can offer a maximum of four years. $ 141 million. But if a player with a history of injuries to Irving will have to consider an extra year of safety, recent history – including Irving's – suggests that the place and the people a star wants to play with is much more than the duration of their contract.

Is Jayson Tatum a bait for the trade or the future of the franchise?

Irving can stay, Irving can leave, but the referendum on Tatum's career is imminent. A year ago, the rookie then looked like a future candidate for MVP position, but a season of floating to the attack, to settle for mid-range riders and to have under -paid IRL sent a lot of Tatum stan to retire in the bushes. It should be noted that Tatum has really improved during his second season: almost all his gross totals are on the rise, and although his efficiency in scoring is down, expect Steph Curry to reach again level 3, even at low volume, was a little ambitious. Punctuate any comment Tatum, good or bad, with his age has become the favorite gag on the Internet for two consecutive years, but here's the bottom line: He is only 21 years old-and was only 20 for most of this season. Only five players aged 20 and under average 15 points or more this season, and Tatum has the highest effective ground scoring rating for anyone who has not always shot hard. Tatum was not great, but remember, it took Brandon Ingram just two games this spring to regain strength before a blood clot problem flies over the rest of the season.

The most important question is whether the Celtics consider Irving as the root cause of Tatum's beautiful second season. If Irving stays, Tatum should start tasting the pudding as soon as possible. Boston can be a satisfactory set of elements for Davis without launching Tatum in an exchange, but Tatum is the trump card if the auction ends in an arms race. And if Irving goes away, Boston will have to decide whether a season-long bet against Davis, as in Toronto with Kawhi Leonard, is worthwhile to part with two low-cost seasons – as well as the control of Team on its next contract – with a duration of 21 years. old man who recently helped lead the franchise to the Eastern Final. Keeping all the young players and leaning on spinning, changing teams that have experienced a breakthrough in the playoffs of last year has its merits, especially for a fan base that has had to undergo treaty deals post-match on What It's About for six months. But Ainge fills his war chest to run to Davis for years; Will anything or anything prevent Ainge from getting his man?

Will Al Horford come back?

Irving is not the only Celtics key player to leave this summer. Horford, who signed a contract with up to four years in 2016, holds a $ 30.1 million option for next season, while he'll be 33 years old. One would think that a player of his age, his experience and his recent history of injury would find it hard to find that kind of annual value elsewhere, but a team lacking in defense and direction – for example , Atlanta, the favorite place of Horford? "could replicate what the Sixers did with JJ Redick in 2017 and overpay to speed up their rebuilding process." or Horford could prioritize the security of a long-term contract with a lower capitalization number instead of A final year at its maximum.

Sincerely for Horford this season would not be prudent for a Boston team entering a new era one way or another, but it will need it next season regardless of what is going on. Iteration that will result. If the Pelicans take a long-term view and do not try to match Horford and Jrue Holiday – who, for the sake of sharing an agent – Horford would be an ideal partner on the field with Davis, a center that prefers to leave bruises and beatings from the position to others. And if the Celtics become young, Horford can simply resume his defensive anchor role and help keep the team competitive as moving trucks come and go. This is not yet the time of the Lord of Time.

Re-sign Terry Rozier?

Rozier has appeared marked for the fur trade since he's posted his civic pride in recent seasons. (That certainly did not work for the last small leader.) But whether it was because the Celtics needed insurance after Irving surgery or that a market had never materialized for a guard on guard with the firm hand of a baby wielding a jackhammer, Rozier spent his last year under contract in Boston and will head to a restricted free agency. The question about Rozier is the same one that the Celtics are going to ask about virtually all the young players in this squad: can it go back to the playoff form of the last playoff in the absence of Irving? Assume no, and if Boston officials agree, their decision tree becomes quite simple: match or accept any reasonable offer to keep the asset, as they did for Marcus Smart last year ; otherwise, let the 25-year-old find his ironic t-shirt business in the market of his choice.

Spread Jaylen Brown?

As if there was not enough agenda in Ainge's agenda, Brown, no. 3 choices in the 2016 draft, is eligible for a rookie contract extension before the start of next season. If you watched the Celtics in the playoffs, that would seem like an easy task: while Tatum came and went, Brown was returning to the fearless offensive style that had motivated his appearance last year and reaffirmed his station as a fundamental prospect Jay teammate . If Boston is not sold on the set of Brown long-term (35% in 3 playoff seasons, 34.4% in the regular season), they could turn him in the auction for Davis. If Boston is sold, it would be wise to lock Brown before he proves the extent of his offensive play, either by playing against Davis, or on offense with many more shots to avoid.