Kristaps Porzingis injury labeled biggest storyline of Celtics season

The Boston Celtics will be heading into their 2024-25 campaign in hopes of bringing home a second straight NBA Championship to TD Garden. Brad Stevens brought back nearly an identical roster, minus a couple of depth pieces. However, Boston’s biggest loss will be a guy who is still on the roster: Kristaps Porzingis.

The Latvian big man suffered an injury in Game 2 of the NBA Finals this past season and underwent offseason surgery to repair it. The ailment is slated to hold him out for most of 2024, meaning a return by around Christmas time is likely.

For the Celtics, this is a major issue to follow, as their big-man depth is a bit shaky. Al Horford will hold down the center spot, but he’s already 38 years old. Outside of him, they have three rotation bigs—Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, and Neemias Queta—all of whom are relatively unproven.

Kristaps Porzingis injury recovery will be biggest Celtics storyline to follow

So, when Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report was identifying the biggest storyline to follow for every team around the league, he pegged Porzingis’ health as the choice for Boston.

“He'll be shelved to start this season following summer surgery, though, and while he could return in November or December, who knows how he'll look when he returns to action?’ Buckley wrote. “If his lateral mobility is limited, he could be a liability on defense and a drain on Boston's supersized payroll. You'd love to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that's impossible to do with his injury history.”

Porzingis has dealt with injuries throughout the entire course of his career, so when the Celtics traded for him last summer, they knew what they were getting into.

That said, the payoff was worth it, as he played a crucial part in delivering Banner 18 to the City of Boston. Even after he went down in Game 2, he managed to come back for Game 5, helping the Celtics clinch the series when he wasn’t at his healthiest.

Now, as the Celtics get set to attempt a back-to-back, they’ll have to start the challenge without the help of Porzingis, hoping that he’ll be back in time to help finish the job.