The easy reaction to Boston trading Jaylen Brown for Paul George is to call it a talent loss, because that part is obvious. Brown is coming off a legitimate MVP campaign, while George is no longer producing at the level he once was. That’s a big reason Celtics fans are split on what this team looks like now.
But Boston has been here before, and that history should matter.
Most people remember the wreckage of the 2018-19 Celtics, the Kyrie Irving season that went off the rails almost from the jump. There’s no need to relive all of it. The more useful memory is what happened after that nightmare ended.
Irving was gone, and fans were not exactly crushed to see it happen. Al Horford left too, and that one stung.
Boston then replaced Irving and Horford with Kemba Walker and Enes Freedom. On paper, that looked like a downgrade.
It should have led to more pain after an already miserable year.
Instead, the Celtics got better.
Losing that extra layer of talent forced the roster to sort itself out. Roles became clearer.
Fit mattered more. The result was a much stronger playoff run than people expected.
That was the lesson then, and it still applies now: talent matters, but too much talent can get in the way if the pieces don’t line up.
That’s why the Brown move doesn’t automatically sink Boston’s outlook, even if it does raise real questions about the ceiling. Brown is a perennial All-Star entering his prime, and taking him out of the equation changes the conversation. Skepticism is fair.
Still, the Celtics earned some benefit of the doubt from what they pulled off after Irving and Horford left.
There is, of course, one major difference between that team and this one. The 2019-20 Celtics were still loaded when healthy.
Walker, Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart gave them an exceptional top five, and maybe the best one in the league. If Horford had stayed, who knows how far that group might have gone.
But that strength came with a flaw. Boston was top heavy, and when one or more of those guys got hurt, everything cracked. That’s what happened in the bubble.
This year’s Celtics don’t have that same kind of star power at the top. What they do have is depth, and that depth is supposed to cover holes before they become problems. They’re so deep, in fact, that people are already talking up a training camp invite like Devin Carter and how he could fit into Mazzulla Ball.
In Other News...
Brad Stevens Nearly Changed The Celtics In A Way Fans Can Now Appreciate
Five years into his run as Celtics president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens has already earned plenty of credit for the way he has reshaped the roster, but one of the more intriguing what-ifs in that stretch almost sent Boston in a very different direction. Stevens reportedly explored a sign-and-trade that would have brought Lonzo Ball to the Celtics, and the framework would have required Marcus Smart going the other way, a swap that would have dramatically altered the teams identity at the time.
It never got across the finish line, and the timing of it matters now in a way it probably did not then. Balls time with the Bulls was later derailed by significant knee injuries, which makes the Celtics restraint look a lot different in hindsight, especially for a front office that has had its share of close calls before. Former executive Danny Ainge nearly took similar swings on Robert Swift and Justise Winslow, reminders that big personnel decisions often look much smarter, or much worse, only after the fact. [Read more 🡒]
Devin Carter's Celtics Chance May Have Started With One Lost Opportunity
Devin Carters path to Boston appears to have been shaped by a trade conversation that never quite got over the finish line. Reports say the Hawks and Hornets discussed a deal built around Buddy Hield and Dorian Finney-Smith, with Carter potentially in the mix, before Atlanta chose to waive him rather than fold him into the transaction. It leaves the impression of a player briefly caught in the machinery of bigger roster plans, then left to find his next opening elsewhere.
For the Celtics, that kind of opening can matter. Carter has since landed in Boston on a non-guaranteed deal, giving him a chance to prove he belongs in camp and beyond without any firm security attached. The unanswered part is the one that still lingers around the whole sequence: whether Charlotte ever truly wanted him in the first place, or whether being waived was something Carter preferred as he searched for a better landing spot. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Found One Real Reason For Optimism After That Playoff Exit
The Celtics playoff exit landed hard, but there was at least one encouraging sign buried in the disappointment: when Boston put the ball on the floor, it found efficient offense from two of its most important creators. Jayson Tatum was at the top of the league in field goal percentage on drives among players with at least 50 attempts in the 2026 playoffs, and Payton Pritchard was right there among the top five as well, giving the Celtics a pair of reliable downhill options even as the broader postseason picture soured.
For a team trying to sort out what still travels when the games get tighter, that matters. Tatums ability to score and make plays going to the rim, paired with Pritchards efficiency in the same area, suggests Boston still has a foundation worth building on despite the early end to its run. The challenge now is turning that individual shot-making into something more complete the next time the Celtics get back into playoff pressure. [Read more 🡒]