Boston Celtics 2024-2025 fantasy basketball season recap: Jayson Tatum injury throws franchise into flux

After missing Game 2 of Boston’s first-round series with Orlando due to a right wrist injury, Tatum would score 35 points or more in each of the final three games. And his Game 4 performance against the Knicks was one of the best of his postseason career before suffering the Achilles tendon tear that ended his season. Due to that injury, Tatum will likely miss most of the 2025-26 season, if not all. He can’t be selected in drafts as high as he would if healthy. Whether or not Tatum will be worth stashing depends on the Celtics’ next update on his status. If there’s a chance that he’ll be back in time for the fantasy playoffs, some managers will be willing to take the risk and draft Tatum with a late-round pick.

Fantasy Revelation: Payton Pritchard

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After a solid run in his fourth NBA season, Pritchard emerged as one of the top reserves in the NBA in 2024-25. The eventual NBA Sixth Man of the Year appeared in 80 games, starting just three, recording averages of 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.9 steals, and 3.2 three-pointers in 28.4 minutes per game. Pritchard, who shot 47.2 percent from the field and 84.5 percent from the foul line, established new career-high averages in points, rebounds, assists, steals, three-pointers and field-goal percentage.

The production was good for top-50 value in nine-cat formats and top-60 value in eight-cat formats. While Pritchard ended the regular season rostered in about 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he played well enough to justify a higher percentage, especially when the Celtics were forced to play without a starter (or more). He’s one of the players impacted by Tatum’s availability next season. Despite being a reserve, Pritchard is good enough to be considered a potential top-100 pick, especially with him averaging high-20s in minutes per game.

Fantasy Disappointment: Jrue Holiday

While some may argue that Jaylen Brown should be the choice, at least he finished the season as a top-100 player. For the first time since his rookie season, Holiday failed to provide top-100 per-game value according to Basketball Monster. In 62 games, he averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 three-pointers in 30.6 minutes, shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 90.9 percent from the foul line. Averaging just 1.2 turnovers per game, Holiday was slightly more valuable in nine-cat formats than eight-cat formats.

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While he did not miss more than four consecutive games at any point during the regular season, Holiday endured a month-long stretch in which he missed nine of 12 games due to a right shoulder impingement and a mallet finger on his right hand in early February. And he would miss the final three games of Boston’s first-round series with a strained right hamstring. Given Boston’s expected luxury tax bill (they’re a repeater, too) and Tatum’s injury, Holiday may be a name to watch this offseason, as he turns 35 in June and has three seasons remaining on his current contract.

Fantasy Recaps/Look-Aheads

Jaylen Brown

After appearing in 70 games and earning his third All-Star Game appearance in 2023-24, injuries limited Brown to 63 appearances in 2024-25. He averaged 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.8 three-pointers in 34.3 minutes, shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 76.4 percent from the foul line. While Brown’s scoring average decreased by nearly a whole point, his rebounds and assists increased, averaging a career-high in the latter. Another positive was the improved foul shooting, with Brown’s percentage rising by over six points after a subpar 70.3 percent mark in Boston’s championship season.

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However, while no stretch was longer than four games missed due to injury (a hip injury in early November), his production tailed off late in the regular season. The issue, as it would be learned shortly after the Celtics’ season ended, was a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. For fantasy managers who may have been disappointed by Brown’s production during the playoff weeks, the knee issue had much to do with that. At the time of publishing, no decision was made regarding whether Brown must undergo surgery this offseason.

The combination of him getting healthy and Tatum’s Achilles tendon rupture will likely boost Brown’s value heading into drafts next fall, especially with lead executive Brad Stevens expressing his confidence in Brown leading the way. Despite only having two top-50 fantasy seasons to his credit, the Celtics star continues to have an ADP within that threshold, but the circumstances make Brown worth the risk.

Derrick White

After proving more valuable than many fantasy managers expected him to be in 2023-24, White had another excellent fantasy season in 2024-25. Appearing in 76 regular-season games, he averaged 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.1 blocks and 3.5 three-pointers in 33.9 minutes. White, who shot 44.2 percent from the field and 83.9 percent from the foul line, finished as a top-50 player in eight- and nine-cat formats regarding per-game value, and the availability made him a top-25 player in total value.

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White finished the season with four double-doubles, and in a March 5 win over the Trail Blazers, he went off for a career-high 41 points. Not only was that his first 40-point game, but it was the first in which he surpassed 35. Regarding availability and production, White has been a reliable member of the Celtics’ rotation since he arrived in Boston during the 2021-22 season. While some continue to discuss the possibility of the Celtics making significant changes following Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury, White is a player the team and fantasy managers can count on if Boston keeps the group together for another season.