ESPN’s latest trade prediction put Kevin Durant near the top of the board for the next star to ask out, but that doesn’t mean the Celtics should even think about getting involved.
In a recent panel of NBA analysts, ESPN asked who would be next to request a trade. The choices were Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Zion Williamson, James Harden and Jaylen Brown.
Brown finished with just two points, tied with Harden for the fewest. Davis led the way with 10.
Irving collected four. Durant landed at three, tied with Williamson.
Brown’s name hardly carries the same urgency anyway. He’s already being empowered to lead the Philadelphia 76ers, so it’s difficult to picture him pushing for another exit any time soon, if at all.
Durant is the bigger name, but Boston has already lived through this chase enough times to know when to walk away. The Celtics missed out on him at the start of his career because of lottery luck.
They tried hard to land him in free agency in the summer of 2016, even bringing Tom Brady - one of Durant’s favorite athletes - into the Hamptons pitch. It still looked like Durant was headed for the Golden State Warriors.
Boston went after him again after reaching the NBA Finals in 2022, and the Celtics were willing to include Brown in a Durant deal. That pursuit came up short, but it’s hard to say the franchise suffered for it.
Two years later, Brown helped lead the team to Banner 18 and picked up both Conference and NBA Finals MVP honors. Missing on Durant wound up looking like the right outcome.
That’s part of why a future run at Durant makes little sense now. He’ll turn 38 in September, and the Celtics would be buying at a point when the downside is growing louder.
The cost would be steep, too. If Boston made a Durant deal, Derrick White or Paul George would have to be involved.
George is the easier name to move, but he’d mostly be there to make the money work. The real price to Houston would come from young talent and draft capital, unless the Rockets were in such a bad spot that picks alone did the trick.
Even then, the logic doesn’t really hold. George’s salary could be used on a younger star instead, and the idea of Durant being the answer feels shaky when the alternatives are better fits for the long haul.
Nikola Jokic is expected to stay with the Denver Nuggets, and Stephen Curry probably isn’t leaving the Golden State Warriors. That kind of uncertainty is not a reason to rush into a 38-year-old Durant.
White makes the calculus even tougher. If he were the outgoing piece instead of George, Boston would likely be paying less in the rest of the package, but that still wouldn’t make it worthwhile. White just posted 16.5 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals per game, earned All-Defensive First Team honors and has a strong chance to rebound as a shooter.
There’s also the health issue. Durant missed all but one of Houston’s first-round playoff games against the Los Angeles Lakers. He was initially sidelined by a bruised right knee, then sprained his left ankle in his series debut and sat out the rest of the Rockets’ opening-round exit.
Durant has been durable over the last three years, but the injury history is still there, and the closer he gets to 40, the harder it is to ignore. What he can still do on the floor is not the question. Whether he can hold up is.
Then there’s the other recurring problem: the teams around him have often looked like they were dealing with more than basketball. The source of the issue may vary from stop to stop, but the pattern keeps showing up.
The Suns looked miserable late in his Phoenix run. In Houston, the Rockets had to deal with a burner account allegedly tied to him making comments about teammates, and the matter never truly got cleaned up.
Before that, he wanted out of both Golden State and Brooklyn.
For a Celtics organization that values its culture, that history should be enough. Kevin Durant is not the swing Boston should make.
In Other News...
Kyrie Irving Is Back In A Celtics Trade Debate Fans Wont Ignore
Kyrie Irving is back in the middle of a familiar kind of NBA conversation, this time because of what the Mavericks might do as they map out the roster around Cooper Flagg. Irvings recent injury and his age are part of the discussion, and the idea of reshaping Dallas with an eye toward future assets has reopened a trade framework that pulls Boston and Golden State into the mix. For Celtics fans, it is the kind of proposal that instantly gets attention because it touches both the present and the long view.
The speculative deal would send pieces and draft capital in different directions, with Dallas looking to stockpile flexibility while Boston and the Warriors would be trying to address specific roster needs. It is the sort of three-team concept that rarely stays hypothetical for long once it starts circulating, especially with Irving involved, because his name still carries both the history of his Celtics stint and the practical question of what kind of value he could return in a broader swap. [Read more 🡒]
Payton Pritchard Now Faces A Celtics Role That Changes Everything
The Celtics backcourt has taken on a different shape with the addition of veteran guard Mike Conley, a move that gives Boston another steady hand behind the point while also nudging Payton Pritchard into a far larger spotlight. Conley is expected to handle backup point guard duties in limited minutes, and that reshuffle leaves Pritchard positioned to step out of his familiar sixth man role and into the starting five.
For Pritchard, the change is more than a lineup tweak. His minutes should rise, and so should the offensive burden that comes with playing alongside the first unit, where Boston will lean on him differently than it did off the bench. The Celtics have seen him work in both roles before, but this is the sort of assignment that changes how the rest of the rotation flows around him, and it will be one of the more interesting subplots as the roster settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Stephen Curry Just Gave Celtics Fans A Reason To Keep Dreaming
Stephen Currys contract situation just added another layer to the long-running daydreams that tend to follow a superstar of his stature. Beginning Aug. 29, he becomes eligible to sign an extension with the Warriors, and under the NBAs Over-38 rule the most he can get is a two-year deal. His current contract already runs through the 2026-27 season, so there is no immediate urgency, but the calendar now opens a new window for Golden State to decide how it wants to handle the final stretch of Currys career.
For Celtics fans, the appeal is obvious even if the reality remains a lot murkier. Rumors about a possible trade to Boston have floated around, but there has been no credible reporting to give them real weight, and Curry would still be headed toward unrestricted free agency after his current deal expires. Still, once a player of his magnitude is eligible for a new extension, every team with a championship-sized imagination has reason to pay attention, even if the path to actually landing him remains distant. [Read more 🡒]