4 players who may be playing final season with Boston Celtics in 2023-24

The Boston Celtics are in a more profound “win-now” mode than any team in the NBA. Sure, LeBron James’ career is winding down, and thus, the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship window could be as well.

But the “king” has a ring. Boston hasn’t hung a banner in more than a decade and a half. “Titletown” is beginning to seem an unfit title for Beantown since the Red Sox and Patriots don’t seem intent on helping the cause anytime soon and the Bruins are in the C’s boat of not finishing when close to the finish line.

The Celtics are once again the odds-on title favorite heading into the 2023-24 season, and typically, teams that have the best odds two years in a row that don’t finish the job tend to have wholesale changes in the offseason; or even sooner at the trade deadline.

Who could be on the chopping block in that case?

These 4 players may be playing their final season with the Boston Celtics during the 2023-24 season

Payton Pritchard

This one is straightforward. Payton Pritchard asked out of Boston ahead of the 2023 trade deadline and then reiterated his desire to have a bigger role elsewhere ahead of this past offseason.

While the guard rotation was cut down with the trade of Marcus Smart, Derrick White is now in line for the majority of the point guard minutes with Malcolm Brogdon behind him. Pritchard may still not get what he wants this season.

The key to any small-scale splash, Pritchard feels like a logical trade piece for the Celtics ahead of the deadline. If he’s still around past that, it’s hard seeing Boston extend his contract in restricted free agency.

Maybe Boston will make this blurb obsolete with a deal ahead of the extension deadline for 2024 restricted free agents this October. That doesn’t feel all that likely right now, though.