According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Boston Celtics just signed Josh Minnot to a two-year contract, making their direction clear: A gap year. For the second time in the span of 24 hours, the Celtics brought in a former Minnesota Timberwolves player, as they signed Luka Garza on the first night of free agency.
Luke Kornet signed a deal with the San Antonio Spurs, and it’s looking more and more likely that Al Horford may depart in free agency as well. Combine that with Jayson Tatum’s Achilles-induced season-long absence, and next season is looking more and more treacherous for the Celtics.
Signing Minott only confirms that reality.
Next season will be a gap year for Celtics
Without Tatum, contending next season was always going to be difficult for the Celtics, even with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard on the roster. Now, it’s looking close to impossible.
If the Celtics lose Kornet and Horford in free agency, that will leave them with Garza, Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman, and rookie Amari Williams to hold down the center position. Even with the rest of the talent on the roster, that’s not a rotation equipped to make a deep playoff run.
Queta’s decision-making is extremely questionable, Tillman can’t move well enough to play big minutes, Garza has never earned significant NBA burn, and Williams is a rookie.
Garza is 26 years old, and Minott is 22. Both guys are very clearly fliers, considering they were the first two moves of Boston’s free agency cycle. Not veterans, not win-now pieces, but fliers. Guys they want to take a chance on and get a closer look at.
Boston signing Garza and Minnot has painted a crystal clear picture that the Celtics are going to be entering a gap year, planning for the future when Tatum returns from his injury.
They may not fully tank next season, as that would be hard to do in a weak Eastern Conference with Brown, White, and Pritchard on the roster, but Banner 19 will have to wait at least one year.
The Celtics were always going to have to make some moves this summer, considering a primary goal of theirs was to duck the second apron. That much would have been true regardless of Tatum’s injury.
But Tatum going down sent them down a road that few could have predicted. The Celtics are about to take a gap year, and the Minnot and Garza signings made that signal official.