The Celtics may have already made their biggest move of the summer, and the real payoff might not show up until next year.
Boston has settled on its plan after trading Jaylen Brown for Paul George and draft picks, and the front office has kept moving from there. By signing Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley, then waiving Dalano Banton, the Celtics are now below the luxury tax line with 14 rostered players. There could still be small adjustments or deadline activity, but for now this looks like the shape of the 2026-27 roster.
That’s why the reaction around the deal has been so split. On the surface, it can look like Boston turned Brown into George and called it a day.
But the bigger idea is a lot less immediate and a lot more strategic. This was the first step in a longer plan, one that Brad Stevens and the Celtics have been talking about through the lens of optionality.
The bet is that the new NBA CBA will create openings for teams willing to move first. Boston already started adjusting to that reality this offseason, getting ahead of a major contract before it turned into a problem, resetting its books, and preserving the ability to strike later.
And later could arrive fast. As this season unfolds, more teams are expected to run into the hard edges of the new apron system. By next summer, some of them could be looking for a way out, desperate to trim salary and clean up their cap situations.
That is where Boston wants to be sitting.
The Celtics are positioning themselves to have financial flexibility when other teams don’t. They’ll be waiting with room to operate, assets to use, and the willingness to absorb contracts that other clubs no longer want. In that kind of market, leverage shifts quickly.
There should be plenty of players available, and some of them will be good ones. But teams trying to dump salary won’t have much bargaining power if the rest of the league is hesitant to take money back. Boston’s advantage is that it won’t be one of those hesitant teams.
The Celtics will have reset the repeater tax, a massive expiring Paul George contract, and a stockpile of draft picks. That gives Stevens the ability to chase whatever fits, while other clubs are forced to sell. It’s a calculated gamble, but Boston is clearly banking on being a year ahead of the curve - and on that head start paying off in a big way.
In Other News...
Celtics May Already Be Zeroing In On Their Next Post-Brown Piece
After the Jaylen Brown trade chatter sent plenty of teams sniffing around Boston's future, the Celtics appear to be thinking less about another headline-grabbing swing and more about the kind of player who fits cleanly next to Jayson Tatum. San Antonio has been part of that conversation, but the Spurs have already shown they are willing to take a patient approach, and Keldon Johnson has emerged as the sort of useful, in-prime piece that can matter in a roster build even if he is not the loudest name on the board.
The Spurs have made a series of solid decisions lately, which is part of why they may be inclined to hold Johnson unless an offer truly changes the equation. For Boston, the appeal is obvious: if the goal is to keep shaping the roster around Tatum rather than chase another star for the sake of it, a player like Johnson becomes the kind of name worth monitoring closely as the market settles. [Read more 🡒]
Jayson Tatum Had To Admit What The Knicks Title Meant
Jayson Tatums reaction to the Knicks title was the kind of honest, conflicted answer that makes sense for a player with Bostons competitive edge. He did not hide the fact that seeing New York celebrate stung from a basketball standpoint, but he also made clear there was a personal side to it, too, with friends on the other side of the trophy chase and a level of respect that goes beyond the standings.
For the Celtics, it is another reminder of how much the league has shifted around Tatum while he has been working through injuries over the past two seasons. Boston is also adjusting to the reality of Jaylen Brown no longer being in green after the blockbuster move to Philadelphia, and Tatums own focus now is on getting back fully healthy for the 2026-27 season, when the Celtics will be hoping he can again anchor everything that comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Make Another Quiet Move In Their High Stakes Money Game
Boston kept trimming around the edges of its books by waiving Dalano Banton, a move that clears a non-guaranteed $2.8 million salary and leaves the roster at 14 players. It is the kind of quiet transaction that barely registers on the floor but matters plenty in the front office, where every small cut can shape how much room the Celtics have to maneuver later.
The bigger significance is tied to the tax math, with Boston now positioned below the 2026-27 luxury tax threshold and in line to potentially reset repeater penalties down the road. There was a path where the Celtics might have had to consider a more meaningful salary move to preserve that flexibility, which is why this latest cleanup step fits into a much larger money game still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]