The Boston Celtics’ offseason has already gone off the rails, and now the trade machine is spinning out even farther. After the shocking Jaylen Brown deal sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and draft picks, some writers have started sketching out a path that would land Stephen Curry in Boston.
John Karalis of Sports Illustrated was the first to float the idea of a blockbuster swap. In his version, the Celtics would send George, the picks they got from Philadelphia, and Sam Hauser to Golden State for Curry.
“My trade package is going to be George, the picks acquired from Philadelphia, and Sam Hauser for Curry,” wrote Karalis.
He also laid out the hurdles that would make the deal possible. “Two things have to happen for this trade to work.
They’d have to wait until September 6 to make the trade because Paul George’s salary can’t be aggregated with anyone else's for 60 days. And they’d have to be pretty confident that Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, or Jordan Walsh … and most likely two of the three … would be ready to fill a major role on the wing.”
That last part matters because Boston’s wing depth would be tested hard in that scenario. Scheierman, Gonzalez and Walsh each logged only spot minutes last season during Boston’s surprising 2025-26 regular season, so counting on them for a bigger workload would be a leap.
Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report put forward a similar concept, one that would also bring Curry to the Celtics in exchange for George and future assets.
For now, though, there’s no sign Golden State is actually interested in moving Curry. The Warriors are still carrying the exact same roster that won 37 games last year, and they’re headed into another season that looks like it could land in the same neighborhood of mediocrity.
Even so, this is the part of the offseason where the wild ideas come out.
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For fans hoping the front office would swing big again, that softer approach may be a tough sell. The current thinking points more toward adding useful players on value contracts and staying aggressive in the trade market without chasing another supermax star, which leaves plenty of room for debate about the direction Stevens chooses and which targets actually fit the path Boston wants to take. [Read more 🡒]
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Brad Stevens has spent the summer making the kind of hard choices that come with living under the NBAs second apron, and the Celtics reshaped roster shows just how serious Boston is about threading that needle. Moving Jaylen Brown for Paul George and draft assets was not a decision made for comfort, but for flexibility, with the front office trying to stay competitive around Jayson Tatum while also keeping enough room to adjust later.
The next test is whether those moves actually buy Boston the kind of control it wants over the rosters future. The Celtics have also brought in young players and are managing contracts with an eye toward keeping options open, but the path forward still depends on how Stevens handles the timeline around George and the rest of the cap picture. Even after the biggest transaction, the broader question in Boston is still unsettled: how far can this group go now, and how much can it pivot later? [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Dream Target Would Change Everything Around Jayson Tatum
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Joki stands out as the more natural fit in that kind of hypothetical, especially because of the way he changes an offense and eases the burden on everyone around him. He has also signaled a desire to stay in Denver, just as Curry has with Golden State, which keeps this squarely in the realm of speculation for now and makes the next offseason worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]