The New York Knicks may have defeated the Boston Celtics in the 2025 playoffs, but their recent roster moves have been a long time coming.
Ahead of the new NBA season, the Boston Celtics have had a lot of work to do. After Jayson Tatum’s brutal Achilles injury, Brad Stevens decided their 2024 NBA championship roster had to be pulled apart.
The big reason for this is the fact that the Celtics would have a $500 million wage bill if they kept all their players and decided to run it back.
So Stevens got on the phone and made some moves, first trading Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons.
But after the Celtics traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks, fans of the New York Knicks tried claiming they ended their roster, which Boston fans didn’t appreciate.
One New York Knicks fan account on X claimed that their team forced the Boston Celtics to dismantle their championship core after defeating them in the playoffs, much like what happened in 2013.
However, Celtics fans responded by pointing out the facts. A fan wrote, “Taking credit for the CBA and Tatum’s Achilles injury…. I guess this helps Knicks fans cope with the fact that they haven’t won a title in 53 years.”
Another Celtics fan broke the numbers down, saying, “If the Celtics kept their current roster they’d be hit with a 238 million dollar tax bill, but yeah somehow the Knicks have something to do with our tax bill.”
One Celtics fan pointed to their success, asking, “We’re really celebrating this? How many chips have they won in that time? And how many have we?”
Whereas another fan showed the Knicks some respect, noting, “Bro Tatum’s achilles broke up the Celtics. I really enjoyed watching y’all play this playoffs, but your Twitter takes are getting outta hand.”
Not every Celtics fan had the same respectful energy as the one above, with one fan simply saying, “Hang the Banner. Lots of space up there.”
Despite making two moves in the last few days, Celtics president Brad Stevens is looking for more opportunities to reduce the Celtics’ wage bill.
Even though the Celtics just traded for him, Anfernee Simons is a potential trade candidate for the Celtics, as Stevens continues to cut their salary bill to comply with the new CBA and not pay more in luxury tax.
Teams are calling the Celtics about Derrick White and Jaylen Brown, as they hope that the Celtics will blow it up and start a rebuild around Tatum.
While the Celtics don’t want to move either star, a strong offer from a team could compel them to move either guard and start fresh.
The franchise could even make a move tonight, as the Celtics are looking to trade up in the NBA Draft. The Celtics don’t have a lot of time, but Brad Stevens could pull off another big cost-cutting move on draft night.
