Tatum is injured and the Celtics face multiple options: Maintain the status quo? Send White away? Deal with Jaylen?

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Will the Boston Celtics usher in a transitional season after Jason Tatum is injured? Or will there be a big deal happening this summer? Brad Stevens has many options.

Two days after the Boston Celtics' dying game five ended, their journey of the season came to an end in a ruthless, 38-point defeat to the New York Knicks. As the Celtics players watched the widening gap on the scoreboard, they naturally wondered how unexpected the scene was. The Celtics were an absolute favorite to defend the champions early in the season, but ended up losing in a miserable and shocking way in the second round of the playoffs.

How frustrating Jason Tatum's Achilles tendon injury is for the Celtics and the NBA as a whole, there have been countless articles reporting on this. But Tatum's injury is not just a tragic story, it is also a turning point in the history of the Celtics.

Tatum underwent repair surgery for a ruptured right Achilles tendon last week and there is no return schedule yet, but players who have experienced similar procedures usually need to be absent for a year. How the team's management and operations respond in the next 12 months will determine whether the Celtics can build a dynasty after traumatic setbacks, or whether their years of championship windows slammed and closed.

Wounded or not, the Celtics have long realized the financial burden they will face this summer. Unless the Celtics cut their wages, a historic level luxury tax bill is awaiting them, and Tatum's injury is likely to put the team out of the championship battle for the next season.

So, this is the tightrope situation facing the Celtics. While cutting wages, how should the Celtics prepare for Tatum to re-enter the competition after his return? How long will it take for them to compete for Larry O'Brien Cup again?

This is perhaps the most severe test that Celtics' president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has faced so far. Stevens once built a championship lineup, and now he has to build another one. The mission is unique, but Stevens has a lot of doors to choose from. Here are the options you can make, but each door is more risky than the previous one.

First Door: Maintain the status quo

In other words, stick to the original plan and keep the salary below the second luxury tax line.

The Celtics have prepared for ease of salary cap pressure and trade at least one of the four highest-paid players around Tatum (Jaylen Brown, Christapus Porzingis, Ju Holiday and Derek White).

The Celtics are expected to pay just 11 players next season, which will exceed the luxury tax line by $40 million and exceed the second luxury tax line by about $24 million. Trading any of the four players above, while only getting a minimum salary, can keep the Celtics below the second luxury tax line, but they will still be a team that needs to pay a luxury tax.

The Celtics can finish next season and see what Brown can perform as the number one choice and whether Payton Prichard can make a leap. Maybe the Celtics hope Tatum will make a comeback in the playoffs next season, but that hope is slim and there is a risk of a hasty comeback from a serious injury.

If the team boss approves, the Celtics can still go this way. (The ownership of the team is transitioning to Bill Chisholm, but Wyke Grosbeck is expected to remain in power until 2028.) However, for a team that fails to break through the second round of the playoffs, will lose its best player in the 2025-26 season, and needs to pay a continuous luxury tax bill, it seems irresponsible to pay even a reduced luxury tax bill.

If the Celtics' total salary exceeds the luxury tax line next season, they will have to pay the high penalty from consecutive luxury taxes. Meanwhile, keeping the total salary below the luxury tax line for two consecutive years can allow the Celtics to avoid continuous luxury tax payments by 2030, and provide management with the flexibility they need to reopen the championship window when Tatum returns.

Second door: A transitional season, Tatum's injury could make the Celtics' summer woes easier and provide the team owner with the screen needed to cut wages drastically and avoid luxury taxes altogether while retaining Tatum and Brown's core roster.

To do this, the Celtics need to cut $40 million in salary, plus any fees needed to fill roster vacancy and stay below the luxury tax line. Choosing this door means leaving Brown behind and trading two of the Porzingis Holiday White trio instead of one. (Sharpshooter Sam Hauser, who signed a four-year, $45 million contract last summer, could also fall victim to the loss.)

If the Celtics accept the fact that they can’t compete for the championship in 2026, they can use this season to tap available talents from cheap players in the G League and free agent markets, while developing potential rookies Baylor Sherman, Jordan Walsh and Nimias Kota into rotational players.

But this road is more difficult than it sounds. Porzingis, considering his age and his unstable health history, will be difficult to trade out. There is no perfect choice, but that's the case when your star player encounters one of the most devastating injuries in the sports world.

Pick a door and walk in.