3 Boston Celtics Who Won't Be Back in 2026-27

It was a monumental collapse of epic proportions for the Boston Celtics. Blowing a 3-1 series lead (and Doc Rivers isn't even their coach) to the Philadelphia 76ers has the Celtics heading home after the first round. Joel Embiid & the Sixers put Boston to bed Saturday night with a 109-100 win in Game 7.

The Celtics are only the 14th team in NBA history to lose a series in which they held a 3 games to 1 lead. It's also their earliest exit from the playoffs since the 2020-21 season.

Needless to say, there will be changes to the Boston roster this summer, and likely plenty of them.

Here, we look at three Celtics who are not expected to be back for the 2026-27 season.

Nikola Vucevic

The Celtics traded away their title-winning center, Kristaps Porzingis, last summer. It was part of an offseason payroll-slashing effort to get under the second apron. After all, they were heading into a season where Jayson Tatum was thought to be out all year recovering from a torn Achilles.

But when it became apparent that Tatum would be back before the end of the season, they Celts needed to fill the huge void in the middle to give them a fighting chance in the playoffs. They traded for Vucevic, but his time in Boston was a big flop. Normally a double-double machine, Vooch was a single-single center for the Celts, averaging 9.7 points, 6.6 boards, and no rim protection under the basket.

He's an unrestricted free agent and will undoubtedly not be back.

Sam Hauser

The long-distance bomber had another decent season for the Celtics in his role as a floor spacer and underrated defender. He just started a four-year, $45 million deal. His $10.8 million stipend for next season is seen as an ideal salary-filler to add to draft assets to make a trade.

Dalano Banton

The journeyman big guard didn't provide anything for the Celtics in his brief time there, getting just two minutes of floor time in the seven-game series against Philly, and averaging just 1.5 points in his four regular-season contests. There are too many other backcourt players that Banton is behind on the depth chart, and the Celtics will almost certainly not pick up their $2.8 million club option.