Celtics 2026-2027 Discussion

Since1960 · Jul 1, 2026

Ice_Ice_Brady said:
Nothing to do with being cheap, they’re going to spend to the ceiling of the 1st apron. They’re taking on George’s bloated contract. This is a strategic move, even if you don’t like it (does anyone like it?)

The Philly GM is positively “ecstatic” over this trade! It’s like getting to drive a “Bentley” for five years before the balloon payment is due!

BTTA · Jul 1, 2026

I'm in the camp that the roster as made up wasn't going to win a title, ever. So if that's the standard, and just "being competitive" and winning 56 games and exiting in the second or third round isn't good enough, then you've got to do something to start a reconstruction. I've no idea what the options were but wow this was a gutsy decision to make. They knew they were going to get trashed for it, especially to the 76ers. For Stevens et al to not care what media and fans think short term is actually a disciplined position. But wow did the talent on this roster just take a nose dive. Middle tier Eastern Conference now.

ViperGTS · Jul 1, 2026

Ice_Ice_Brady said:
Only thing that can rationalize this trade is that the Celtics do not think they can win a championship with this team and plan to continue developing players for the next two years at which point they’ll have extra first round pick and cap space for another max contract, and our lining it up still within Tatum’s prime.

I don’t really see any other way to interpret this trade unless they’re planning to have some kind of flip here, but I doubt any other team is taking on Paul George.

That and also their urgency to trade Brown was much higher than they stated, and the trade market for Brown was as low as reported by Marc Stein. Teams do not see him as a franchise player to build around. It’s his style of play and the analytics.

That '31 Sixers pick could be a gold mine. Embiid will be done well before then, Maxxey is just meh and Brown will start having a knee that barks at him.

On the surface this is a horrific trade but I have to think Brad and the gang know more than we do. He has earned that credit, correct?

jboston19 · Jul 1, 2026

ViperGTS said:
That '31 Sixers pick could be a gold mine. Embiid will be done well before then, Maxxey is just meh and Brown will start having a knee that barks at him.

On the surface this is a horrific trade but I have to think Brad and the gang know more than we do. He has earned that credit, correct?

The pick is still half a decade away and the NBA is redoing how the lottery works, so who knows how it’ll be? There’s no good way to spin this trade in the short or long term.

I can’t even be mad at the new owner, because it’s not even saving any money really.

Brad had done well in his time here, but the past year has been a little shaky with the Simmons handling and the Vuc trade. This move has used up all of his remaining trust and more. It’s a historically bad trade that doesn’t seem salvageable unless he works some absolute miracle.

ViperGTS · Jul 1, 2026

jboston19 said:
The pick is still half a decade away and the NBA is redoing how the lottery works, so who knows how it’ll be? There’s no good way to spin this trade in the short or long term.

I can’t even be mad at the new owner, because it’s not even saving any money really.

Brad had done well in his time here, but the past year has been a little shaky with the Simmons handling and the Vuc trade. This move has used up all of his remaining trust and more. It’s a historically bad trade that doesn’t seem salvageable unless he works some absolute miracle.

I guess Brown has to go. They know more than we know about these things. Maybe his knee is shaky as all hell. I guess a lot of people got their Brown for George trade after all.

jboston19 · Jul 1, 2026

ViperGTS said:
I guess Brown has to go. They know more than we know about these things. Maybe his knee is shaky as all hell. I guess a lot of people got their Brown for George trade after all.

Brown being a behind-the-scenes liability, the 76ers GM holding BS’ family hostage, or Brad having some secret devotion to Craig Breslow that he’d make this abomination of a trade to make the Sox look competent are the only three explanations. Haha.

To be fair, I was very disappointed when they weren’t able to trade that Brown pick for Butler at the time and fumed, so the office definitely knows much more than do we. 100% agreed. But it’s really hard to find any positive aspect to this trade either immediately or long term… the nba draft is such an uncertain crapshoot the two first rounds don’t seem like a worthwhile gamble.

jimnance · Jul 1, 2026

Ice_Ice_Brady said:
Just following up on my wNBA take

I can't answer that question. I have no idea who Aja Wilson is

borisman · Jul 1, 2026

This looks like how the picks line up

rochrist · Jul 1, 2026

Ice_Ice_Brady said:
Nothing to do with being cheap, they’re going to spend to the ceiling of the 1st apron. They’re taking on George’s bloated contract. This is a strategic move, even if you don’t like it (does anyone like it?)

What's the 'straregy'?

One-If-By-Sea · Jul 1, 2026

Ice_Ice_Brady said:
Only thing that can rationalize this trade is that the Celtics do not think they can win a championship with this team and plan to continue developing players for the next two years at which point they’ll have extra first round pick and cap space for another max contract, and our lining it up still within Tatum’s prime.

I don’t really see any other way to interpret this trade unless they’re planning to have some kind of flip here, but I doubt any other team is taking on Paul George.

That and also their urgency to trade Brown was much higher than they stated, and the trade market for Brown was as low as reported by Marc Stein. Teams do not see him as a franchise player to build around. It’s his style of play and the analytics.

This is a great post. I agree that one good guess is that Brad does not think he can win with this group. Maybe he thinks Gonzalez and Scheierman are going to develop and he needs to wait? Both George and Robinson are 3 year deals (left) so he wants to wait 3 years and then sign someone to go on a run?

Some of it might be the 3 point shooting. George is nearly 40% from 3 - Brown is not consistent from 3. With Hauser and Pritchard and Tatum, George will be wide open so maybe they think George's 3 point shot will only get better?

Finally the league's GMs must not think as highly of Brown as some expect. Brad might think that the 76ers might lose Embiid to injury in the next two years and Brown can't carry the team so the 2028 1st might be more valuable than expected. OR the Clippers will be bad. I have no idea.

rochrist · Jul 1, 2026

One-If-By-Sea said:
This is a great post. I agree that one good guess is that Brad does not think he can win with this group. Maybe he thinks Gonzalez and Scheierman are going to develop and he needs to wait? Both George and Robinson are 3 year deals (left) so he wants to wait 3 years and then sign someone to go on a run?

Some of it might be the 3 point shooting. George is nearly 40% from 3 - Brown is not consistent from 3. With Hauser and Pritchard and Tatum, George will be wide open so maybe they think George's 3 point shot will only get better?

Finally the league's GMs must not think as highly of Brown as some expect. Brad might think that the 76ers might lose Embiid to injury in the next two years and Brown can't carry the team so the 2028 1st might be more valuable than expected.

Cant win with this group despite having won with this group.

I'm sure PG will be an adequate 3 poiint shooter. For all 20 games he manages to play.

ausbacker · Jul 2, 2026

BTTA said:
I'm in the camp that the roster as made up wasn't going to win a title, ever. So if that's the standard, and just "being competitive" and winning 56 games and exiting in the second or third round isn't good enough, then you've got to do something to start a reconstruction. I've no idea what the options were but wow this was a gutsy decision to make. They knew they were going to get trashed for it, especially to the 76ers. For Stevens et al to not care what media and fans think short term is actually a disciplined position. But wow did the talent on this roster just take a nose dive. Middle tier Eastern Conference now.

Stevens isn't dumb and by and large, he's done a great job as GM. My initial reaction is it feels like a pennies on the dollar trade but, I'm going to let it play out.

aluminum seats · Jul 2, 2026

I’m not sure why they didn’t put more on the table for Giannis if this was plan B

aluminum seats · Jul 2, 2026

How’s Tatum gonna feel about this?

Another shoe to drop, or is that just the denial stage

Ice_Ice_Brady · Jul 2, 2026

rochrist said:
Cant win with this group despite having won with this group.

No, Tatum and Brown likely aren’t enough. That 2023 team was loaded with all star level supporting cast and great chemistry. That’s kind of the point.

rochrist said:
I'm sure PG will be an adequate 3 poiint shooter. For all 20 games he manages to play.

No argument here. He’s 37 now too. I have no expectations he’ll add anything.

LightSkinSmurf · Jul 2, 2026

I knew Brown was gone. They were never going to extend him and I agree with that decision. Brown isn't the guy to be paying that kind of money to. Tatum and Brown can't take up 70% of the cap. They aren't good enough without a team like 2024 to go all the way and we can't build a team like 2024 anymore with these new stupid rules. So I support moving on from brown. Good allstar player but all the analytics are clear. He doesn't impact winning enough to accept that contract and extension.

That being said...I was hoping for a better return. Some of these picks could be gold though to be fair and PG is a solid player when on the court still. I'm excited to see how Tatum looks without having to share the load with brown.

Clonamery · Jul 2, 2026

jimnance said:
I can't answer that question. I have no idea who Aja Wilson is

Best player in professional women's basketball. She would disagree vehemently with the post. She ain't stupid.

DarrylS · Jul 2, 2026

This trade makes little sense to me, it appears they got about $.40 on the dollar for JB.

JoeSixPat · Jul 2, 2026

Not many fans are fans of this trade - and while JB never actually publicly asked to be traded one has to think that he wasn't pleased to be trade bait and the relationship had maybe soured.

That's the only explanation I can come up with because swapping him for Paul George, as old and injured as he has been, doesn't strike me as an upgrade, although I guess they landed the center they think they need in free agency.

The two first rounders and swaps make it a little better for the future - I'd say maybe they trade one of the 1st rounders for a better C but even there I don't think they have the cap space for that this year.

Overall I'm in the "meh" camp on this one - maybe they are a little stronger but they gave up a guy who scores 28 ppg for one who might only PLAY 28 games a season.

Patriot Missile · Jul 2, 2026

I still don’t understand it? Why take Paul George off their books? Were we forced too? Didn’t realize he has two years left on a supermax. Holy dumbasses batman.

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