Source: If the Celtics are eliminated by the Knicks, the three main players will be traded

The Boston Celtics are well aware of the challenges ahead.

In both home games, head coach Joe Mazula's team was 20 points ahead but was reversed. They are currently facing a 0-2-departure series against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. If the Celtics want to reverse and advance to the fourth Western Conference Finals (not to mention moving the series back to Boston next week for a possible fifth game), they almost certainly have to win the third Saturday afternoon game.

Although the Boston Red Sox is the only MLB team to reverse and win when they fell 0-3 in the playoff series, this feat is the first time in NBA history. NBA history has seen a 3-0 lead of 159 wins and 0 losses, so it can be said that Saturday’s game at Madison Square Garden is crucial to the Celtics.

Boston's chance to defend the champion and the possibility of upsetting in the hands of old rivals are not their only targets.

As ESPN's Brian Windhorst said, the Celtics' loss to the Knicks in the series could have a "huge impact" on this summer.

Bleacher Report's Bryan Toporek also recently explored in a Forbes. article about what fate would the Celtics face if they lose on Saturday.

The third loss to the Knicks is likely to leave the Celtics "core" player farewell to the summer

Toporek said Friday that if the Celtics were eliminated by the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, it would "had a huge impact on this offseason", adding that "regardless of the progress of the playoffs this year, this could mark the end of an era of defending champions."

"Currently, the Celtics are focused only on winning the third game Saturday night and returning to the series against the Knicks. If that doesn't happen, their current core players will likely bid farewell to the offseason," he wrote.

As superstars such as Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown have signed long-term contracts, the Boston Celtics are expected to be the first team to earn more than $500 million next season.

Toporek noted that with the NBA "new duplicate tax rates to take effect this offseason", the team's tax bill could be close to "about $280 million," said ESPN's Bobby Marks.

"Plus with the estimated total salary of $233 million, the Celtics will have the most expensive roster in NBA history," Toporek wrote. "If the Celtics aim to win three straight next season, they might be willing to bear huge tax bills to consolidate their dynasty. But if they lose a crushing defeat in the second round this year, their new bosses may not be so willing to throw out so much money."

With that in mind, the insider mentioned three key members of the team, who may be the "three major trade candidates" for the offseason.

Who is the most likely to be traded?

Toporek first mentioned Brown and Tatum and said that although the pair did not perform well in the first two games against New York, "trading any of them could be the last choice for the Celtics."

The Forbes contributor listed Boston's starting backcourt (Derick White and Ju Holiday) and marksman Cristaps Porzingis as three names to watch in the trading market.

"Porzingis is the obvious choice in terms of playing time. He has never played more than 65 games in a season since the 2026-17 NBA sophomore season. The 7-foot player missed 25 regular season games last year, 40 this year, and because of the illness that has plagued him over the past few months, he left the game after only 13 minutes in his first game of the Celtics' loss to the Knicks," wrote Topolek. "However, Porzingis's size and long-range shooting ability are key to such a deadly attack in the Boston Celtics' five-field offense. He averaged six 3-pointers this year and shot a career-high 41.2%, which is a big problem for teams whose inside players have difficulty making up for defense on the outside." The possibility of Boston trading the former All-Star player is further limited, as another core player on the team (Al Horford) is the only player in the team's core roster (according to Windhorst) to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. If the Celtics lose this former Tanhua Show, they definitely want to keep Porzingis.

Meanwhile, Holiday's contract will last until next season, remains one of the best outside defenders in the league, and recently won his second NBA Sports Ethics Award, becoming the first player in Celtics history to win this honor. However, he will turn 35 in June and is gradually becoming a burden on the offensive end, with 11.1 points and 3.9 assists per game in the regular season, his lowest since his rookie season in 2009-2010.

The rest is White, Topolec wrote, "He may be the most traded value of the three."

"He is about to start executing a four-year, $118 million contract extension signed last offseason, including a $34.8 million player option for the 2028-29 season. Over the next three seasons, his salary space is expected to account for only 17%-18% of the salary cap, and he has been outstanding since joining the Celtics in 2022 trading deadline," he wrote.

If the Celtics allow White to trade in the offseason, they will likely find a trading target without hesitation. The question is what kind of reward they want and how to find the right replacement. Since they are over the age of second-tier contracts, they cannot merge contracts in transactions, nor can they recover more salary than paid in transactions, so they can only trade White, Holiday or Porzingis through independent transactions.

White averaged scores (16.4 points) and rebounds (4.5) in the regular season, and averaged 33.9 minutes per game and sent 4.8 assists. He has been selected to the second team of All-Defensive Team for the past two seasons, and this year he is expected to win this honor again.

Celtics and Knicks will start Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals at 3:30 pm EST on Saturday.