One member of the NBA champion Celtics is choosing to test the market this offseason.
Reserve forward Oshae Brissett declined his $2.5 million player option for the 2024-25 season, according to a report from Spotrac’s Keith Smith. Brissett now will become an unrestricted free agent and will be free to sign with any team when the free agency signing period begins July 6.
“Brissett may still return to Boston,” Smith wrote on X, “but will now have the opportunity to explore free agency starting next week.”
Brissett, 26, signed with Boston last July after three seasons with the Indiana Pacers. He appeared in 55 games during the regular season, coming off the bench in 54 of them and averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per appearance.
The 26-year-old fell out of head coach Joe Mazzulla’s rotation during the playoffs, however. Despite injuries to Kristaps Porzingis that strained the Celtics’ frontcourt depth, Brissett logged just 55 total minutes over the team’s 19 postseason games, with most of those coming in garbage time.
Brissett made his biggest contributions in Game 2 against Indiana, when he grabbed three rebounds and was a plus-18 in 12 minutes off the bench. Mazzulla said after that game that Brissett “plays with such a high level of intensity and energy.”
“It’s big for us,” the Celtics head coach said.
All five Celtics starters (Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Porzingis) and two of their top three reserves (Al Horford and Payton Pritchard) are under contract through at least next season.
Their final core rotation player, Sam Hauser, has a team option in his contract for 2024-25, which Boston could either exercise or decline in favor of a longer-term contract.
Neemias Queta also has a team option. Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman — who both helped fill the postseason Porzingis void behind Horford — will be unrestricted free agents, as will reserve guard Svi Mykhailiuk.
White, Horford and Pritchard visited Gillette World Shaving Headquarters in South Boston on Monday. The trio received ceremonial “championship shaves” while answering questions about Boston’s title run, then were presented with $25,000 donations to charities of their choice.
White chose Special Olympics of Massachusetts, Horford picked Best Buddies and Pritchard’s went to the Boys & Girls Club of South Boston.
Asked to name their favorite memories from the whirlwind week that followed last Monday’s NBA Finals clincher, all three said nothing matched the thrill of last Friday’s duck boat parade.
“The after-the-game celebration was fun, but I’ve never seen anything like the parade,” Pritchard said. “Over a million fans. We were on the duck boats and beers were flying, you’re dodging. It was definitely a one-of-a-kind experience, so hopefully we can experience it again.”
White added: “I didn’t really know what to expect going in, but it was just mind-blowing. To see the city embrace us the way they have all year, but just in that moment, it was special.”
The next stop on the Celtics’ victory tour: a trip to Fenway Park on Monday night to be honored ahead of Red Sox-Blue Jays.
While nearly every key Celtics contributor is locked up for the 2024-25 campaign, two starters are up for big-money extensions: Tatum and White, who both are set to hit free agency next offseason.
Speaking with the Herald at the Gillette event, White reiterated that he loves playing for the Celtics.
“I’ve always said I love it here, and that has never changed,” the versatile guard said. “So I’m sure we’re going to talk here soon, but I’m just going to enjoy this right now. I love it here, so we’ll see.”
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who traded for White in 2022, has stated multiple times that he wants to keep the two-time All-Defensive selection in Boston long-term. He’s eligible to sign a four-year extension worth up to $127 million.
White is coming off a career year and a productive playoff run, and his value has never been higher. His max potential contract value would be higher after next season, however, so the soon-to-be 30-year-old will need to choose between long-term stability with a franchise he’s embraced and a possibly larger payday a year from now.
Even if White and the Celtics do reach an agreement in the coming weeks, fans could see him suit up in a different uniform this offseason. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported White is a candidate to join Team USA for the 2024 Summer Olympics if Kawhi Leonard is unable to play due to injury.
“Any chance you can play for your country and just try to win a gold medal, I think that would definitely be something that, if Kawhi or whatever goes on and they ask me, I’ll definitely be looking forward to,” White told the Herald.
Boston will be well-represented in Paris regardless, as Tatum and Holiday both made the initial Olympic roster.
Those long-range buzzer-beaters that became Pritchard’s calling card during this Celtics playoff run? Those came naturally, according to the backup guard.
“Actually, I’ve never practiced those in my life,” Pritchard said. “… I just feel like at deep range, I find a spot where I can get it there and I just believe, I guess — will it in.”
But even if Pritchard didn’t practice those kinds of low-percentage shots, he did prepare for them. Horford, whose rebound and pass off a missed Luka Doncic free throw set up Pritchard’s halftime buzzer-beater from beyond halfcourt in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, said they talked strategy earlier that day.
“It was funny because before the game, we were talking about how many dribbles he could take,” Horford said. “How many seconds to how many dribbles he could potentially take. We were talking about it, and I was like, ‘Just to be safe, don’t overdribble.’ Obviously he did his thing. … And it was contested, too. If you look at it, Luka was flying in and contesting. He timed it right, and it was pretty cool that it worked out for him.”
Pritchard played just one minute in the championship closeout game, with Mazzulla inserting him specifically to take that instantly iconic shot.