Boston Celtics
“I’m just going to tell you that I haven’t heard any material true discussions.”
Jaylen Brown during the Celtics’ playoff series against Joel Embiid and the 76ers. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
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As the Celtics mull potential personnel changes during the offseason, there has been no shortage of rumors about moves they could make.
The Celtics have been no stranger to big moves during Brad Stevens’s time as president of basketball operations. Boston traded Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday last off-season. They dealt Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon in separate deals before that.
After blowing a 3-1 first round playoff series lead to Philadelphia, could the Celtics be in for more drastic personnel changes?
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said he hasn’t heard anything about the Celtics’ stars being made available on the trade market.
“I know there has been speculation as to whether they could make a change to their big three and certainly that’s been a topic of conversation and something that you can debate if you’ll consider,” Windhorst said during an appearance CLNS Media’s “The Garden Report.” “But, I’m just going to tell you that I haven’t heard any material true discussions.”
“Maybe someone has called on Jaylen Brown, but I haven’t heard one iota about Jaylen Brown being truly available or Derrick White being available.”
The loss to Philadelphia makes it three of the last four years that the Celtics have been eliminated by a lower-seeded team.
The exits have gotten slightly earlier each time, with the Celtics losing to the No. 8 seeded Heat in the 2023 Eastern conference Finals, the No. 3-seeded Knicks in the 2025 conference semifinals, and the No. 7-seeded 76ers in the first round of these playoffs. Jayson Tatum ended all three of those series with injuries.
The exception, of course, was 2024 when Tatum stayed healthy and the Celtics beat Dallas in the NBA Finals.
“I would say that it is a proven commodity that Jayson and Jaylen and Derrick White are a championship trio. They are under contract, big contracts absolutely, it’s a lot of money and their flexibility is impacted by that. But, Brad Stevens has shown very good player personnel. They have the [Anfernee] Simons trade exception that they can use.”
“He has repeatedly made very good player personnel moves and I’m sure there’s a list of things that they’re looking at, but when they emerge from this summer they need to have more players in the rotation that they can trust, especially at the big man position.”
Stevens said during his end-of-the-year media availability that the Celtics need to add a player who can make an impact at the rim. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the league in points in the paint per game last season while shooting better than 60 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, the Bucks will probably want more than just draft picks, and the Celtics have players that could be intriguing for Milwaukee.
“I can see why that’s something that people go to because Milwaukee doesn’t control their draft pick for the next few years, and so that means a teardown with a trade that is all based on draft picks doesn’t make sense for them because they don’t control their own picks.
“Not only that, but the anti-tanking rules make sinking to the bottom not feasible. So, when you’re looking to make a trade, you’re going to want a quality player who is under contract. Because the thing about Giannis that’s a big factor here is that this isn’t just about a player who maybe doesn’t fit there anymore, it’s about a player with a contract issue. Giannis has one year left on his contract.”
While it happened in a completely different sport, the Rams’ trade for Myles Garrett offers some insight into what the Bucks may be looking for in a possible Antetokounmpo deal because Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam is also a principal owner of the Cleveland Browns, Windhorst said.
The Browns received two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse, along with a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 3rd round pick in exchange for Garrett.
“That’s their franchise player who had been there for nine years. Very comparable to Giannis,” Windhorst said. “One of the greatest players in the history of the franchise, first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. They traded him for draft picks and a player who can help them right now who is under control.”
The Celtics could offer an enticing package based on players and picks, but it depends on how far they’re willing to go and whether or not Antetokunmpo would be willing to sign a contract extension.
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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