{"id":713413,"date":"2026-06-03T21:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713413\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T21:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:49:12","slug":"should-celtics-explore-trading-jaylen-brown-or-jayson-tatum-this-offseason-nbc-sports-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713413\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Celtics explore trading Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum this offseason? \u2013 NBC Sports Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note:\u00a0As the Celtics begin an uncertain offseason, Insider Chris Forsberg is rolling out a three-part series called “The Path,” in which he breaks down three potential avenues for president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to take this summer.\u00a0You can read Part I (minor tweaks)<\/a> and Part II (the middle road)<\/a> here. Today: the series finale.<\/p>\n

Call us hopeless romantics. We love a fairy-tale ending. Maybe that\u2019s the writer in us. When we ponder the Boston Celtics\u2019 most endearing path forward, it almost always involves Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown overcoming the latest adversity together to return to the NBA mountaintop.<\/p>\n

This story has already had plenty of twists and turns. The chapters have piled up. There were early successes and frustrating setbacks. The Jays finally reached the title stage in 2022, only to get stiff-armed by the veteran Warriors. A jarring overhaul to the supporting cast around the Jays helped the duo finally deliver that elusive Banner 18 in 2024. <\/p>\n

Tatum\u2019s torn Achilles stunted dreams of a repeat, and Brown\u2019s magical 2025-26 campaign as the focal point of the team ended in bitter disappointment with a first-round playoff exit.<\/p>\n

Which delivers our protagonists to their latest crossroads. The Celtics must plot a path forward, one in which a restrictive new collective bargaining agreement makes it unclear if two max-money superstars are a viable long-term luxury for any team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Part III of our annual summer path series, we\u2019re left to ponder maybe the most unsavory option: major changes to the foundation of the Celtics franchise.<\/p>\n

Another disclaimer: Just because we are examining this pathway doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re championing it. That said, what surprised us as we\u2019ve gone about the exercise of pondering all the paths — from Small Tweaks<\/a> to Medium Tweaks<\/a> — is that, if the team feels that something more than minor changes are necessary to be a legitimate contender again, then a major overhaul might be the team\u2019s best chance to get where it wants to go.<\/p>\n

We say it often — especially after seasons end earlier than expected — but the Celtics’ brass has to examine all pathways<\/a>. It\u2019s front office malpractice not to. <\/p>\n

Maybe, at the end of the day, they decide there is no surefire upgrade available and elect to march forward with the Jays. But they have to at least ponder the alternatives. <\/p>\n

And so shall we.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mission statement<\/p>\n

With goals of 1) Maximizing money allocation under a prohibitive and apron-filled collective bargaining agreement and 2) Extending the window for the next title run, the Celtics make the swallow-hard decision to trade one of their two superstars. <\/p>\n

The ultimate goal: Create a team with one big-money centerpiece, then build a deep roster around them featuring a blend of mid-tier and minimum-salary players.<\/p>\n

The path<\/p>\n

Trade Tatum or Brown.<\/p>\n

Remain under the tax for one more season, creating freedom to build a high-level supporting cast around the remaining centerpiece long term.<\/p>\n

The Celtics had barely dispersed for the summer following their first-round demise before the Brown-for-Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors ignited<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Part of the reason we\u2019ve pushed back on the idea of that potential swap is because it doesn\u2019t solve the long-term money issue. You still have two players making max money and you are likely shortening your title window at a time when you can\u2019t freely spend to stockpile around that duo.<\/p>\n

Maybe it comes to pass that Antetokounmpo is far and away the best available player this summer, and the Celtics have to consider it if the team believes the core of this team has run its course. We simply believe this deal introduces too much unnecessary risk.<\/p>\n

In our mind, the bigger conversation is whether you can start the process of getting younger and extending your window if you elect to move on from Tatum or Brown, all while remaining competitive and not sacrificing prime years of whatever player remains.<\/p>\n

But trying to find a deal that brings back a combination of established and future talent, especially on the level of one of the Jays, is no easy task. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The wish list<\/p>\n

Some half-baked trade ideas to get the brain rolling:\u00a0<\/p>\n

1. A deal with the Clippers that brings back Kawhi Leonard and the No. 5 pick in this year’s NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

The soon-to-be 35-year-old Leonard is entering the final season of his contract that will pay him $50.3 million next season — at least $7 million less than what Tatum ($58.5 million) and Brown ($57.1 million) will earn in 2026-27. <\/p>\n

The Celtics still have pathways to remaining under the tax this season while adding a high draft pick who can infuse low-cost, high-upside talent and help extend Boston’s title window. The drama that tends to follow Leonard might be tough to embrace, but he finished one spot behind Brown in MVP voting this season while appearing in 65 games.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Clippers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tImagn IamgesImagn Iamges<\/p>\n

The Celtics actually could trim salary by including Brown or Tatum in a deal for Kawhi Leonard.<\/p>\n

2. A deal with the Pelicans for Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy III.<\/p>\n

The Celtics essentially split one of their max-money slots while bringing in a former All-Star in Murray, and a potential future All-Star in the offensive-minded Murphy III. <\/p>\n

The other wrinkle here: The Celtics could take Murphy III into the Anfernee Simons traded player exception, potentially creating a valuable new TPE that could further aid the team in roster construction during the summer of 2027 when pesky repeater penalties are eliminated.<\/p>\n

3. Deals involving Lauri Markkanen, Amen Thompson or Scottie Barnes.<\/p>\n

Nothing you can drum up feels quite right. We\u2019d call the Jazz about Markkanen, whose contract is slightly more digestible long term.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d dial up the Rockets to see if you can pry some of their young pieces, — especially Thompson — and take on salary filler.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d contact the Raptors about Barnes, if only because there are only so many players in their mid-20s making less-than-max money who can even be pried from their current team.<\/p>\n

What it looks like<\/p>\n

We suspect that, at the end of the day, none of these moves would be enough to make the Celtics break up their core. Our guess is that Boston would have to be overwhelmed by a collection of young talent and picks to even ponder moving one of the Jays.<\/p>\n

But the ability to build a deeper roster with only one max-salary player is undeniably intriguing.\u00a0Just look at the last teams playing this season. <\/p>\n

The Knicks can pay five players north of $20 million because Jalen Brunson is on a sweetheart deal and only Karl-Anthony Towns makes max money. <\/p>\n

The Thunder are steamrolling toward major financial decisions next year when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s contract rises to max money, but they can stomach at least one more season with as many as six players making $17+ million. <\/p>\n

The Spurs are in great position with so many players on rookie deals and eventually can pivot off De\u2019Aaron Fox\u2019s money if resources are needed to pay the next deals for Victor Wembanyama and Co.<\/p>\n

The new collective bargaining agreement made the math game tough. The Celtics got ahead of the curve in the summer of 2023 and were rewarded with Banner 18. Now they need to figure out if they can make the math work to give the Jays another shot at winning it all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor’s Note:\u00a0As the Celtics begin an uncertain offseason, Insider Chris Forsberg is rolling out a three-part series called…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,1664,210476,15610,7230,85],"class_list":["post-713413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-boston-celtics","tag-chris-forsberg","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}