The Celtics have what it takes to reimagine their roster

With Jayson Tatum, one of the franchise’s cornerstones expected to miss most, if not all, of next season recovering from a surgically repaired rupture of his right Achilles’ tendon, the Celtics have an increased sense of urgency to retool their roster, replenish their youth through the draft, and make trades to acquire prospects who could flourish in the Boston system.

Brad Stevens spent an exorbitant amount of money to compile a roster built to win a championship and accomplished the mission. But with Tatum’s injury — and the second apron looming over the new ownership group that will result in hundreds of millions in luxury taxes — the Celtics’ president of basketball operations will have to devise a new way to compile a title contender.

The Pacers, who have a 3-1 series lead over the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, were put together through shrewd trades, including one with the Celtics, and a couple of draft picks that scored big.

The Pacers have the 22nd most expensive payroll out of 30 NBA teams. That’s because they acquired Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam through trade and signed both to lucrative extensions.

Both players make the identical amount for the next three seasons and general manager Kevin Pritchard has surrounded his two cornerstones with quality young players who are on value contracts.

Let’s take Aaron Nesmith, who was acquired in the deal for Malcolm Brogdon. In his two years with the Celtics, Nesmith was erratic and at times over his head, but he has developed into a staunch defender and premium 3-point shooter in his three seasons in Indiana. The Pacers signed him to a manageable three-year, $33 million rookie extension that makes him one of the league’s biggest bargains.

The Pacers also drafted crafty scorer Andrew Nembhard in 2022 (No. 31) and signed him to a four-year contract a month later. A few months after revealing himself to be the Pacers’ best player on the floor in last year’s Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, Indiana signed Nembhard to a three-year, $58.65 million extension.

Again, this is a bargain. As much as $20 million per season appears expensive, it no longer is in today’s NBA. It’s a tradeable contract. Longtime Pacer Myles Turner is in the final year of his contract at $19 million per year and most certainly will ask for a raise in his next negotiation.

That means he’s likely to leave the Pacers because they’ll have to absorb the $16 million bump in salary for Nembhard. Indiana also was able to draft Ben Sheppard as a late first-rounder, plus acquire prospects Jarace Walker and Johnny Furphy as development projects for the long term.

In order for the Celtics to stay under the second apron of the salary cap and avoid considerable luxury taxes, they’re going to have to add cheaper young talent on rookie contracts and less-than-max rookie extensions. The perfect example is Payton Pritchard, who signed a four-year, $30 million extension after the 2022-23 season and is one of the league’s biggest bargains coming off a Sixth Man of the Year.

With a late first-round pick and early second-rounder, the Celtics have a great opportunity to bring in two prospects on a lower-rookie contract. There are two players to watch with those two picks — Stanford center Maxime Raynaud, a 7-foot-1-inch floor-stretching center and rim protector from Paris, who is rising on the draft boards, and Cedric Coward, a former Washington State standout who was originally set to transfer to Duke but decided to remain in the draft.

Coward, a 6-6 wing who shot 38.8 percent from the 3-point line as a sophomore at Eastern Washington, has worked himself into the first round after missing most of last season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. The Celtics have been working out draft prospects for weeks and there’s a possibility they could use their two picks to move up in the first round for a desired target.

That 32nd pick, acquired in the Kristaps Porzingis deal with the Wizards, could be a valuable chip because the Celtics could sign that pick to a four-year deal that won’t count against the salary cap until after the pick’s rookie season. The Celtics will also rely on players such as Baylor Scheierman, Neemias Queta and Jordan Walsh to become contributors.

NBA teams don’t need to shatter the salary cap in order to compete, but the new collective bargaining agreement restrictions make it more difficult to sustain winning teams without some good fortune and foresight.

The Pacers and Thunder have built teams with resourceful management, landing on draft picks and strong chemistry. The Celtics are capable of constructing their roster the very same way.

Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.