It’s been easy to treat Paul George as Boston’s cleanest trade chip ever since Jaylen Brown was dealt to Philadelphia for George and draft picks. The thinking was simple: the Celtics got the matching salary, and when George’s deal comes off the books next summer, he becomes the kind of expiring contract a team can flip while chasing the next star.
That may still be on the table. Boston would be foolish not to think about it. But it’s not the only path here, and it might not even be the most likely one.
The Celtics clearly wanted George more than most people realized, and they believe he can slide into this roster in a real way. He’s no longer in his prime, and the injury issues are impossible to ignore, but the playoffs just reminded everyone that he still has game-changing ability. There’s enough left for him to matter, and Boston is betting it can preserve that by keeping his workload in check.
The plan seems obvious enough: reduce the wear and tear, keep his role mostly off the ball, and let him do what he does best. That means three-point shooting, defense, and some secondary creation. In Joe Mazzulla’s system, that kind of usage could unlock exactly the version of George Boston wants.
If that works, the Celtics may not feel any pressure to move him at all.
He’s not going to be Jayson Tatum’s second superstar. He’s probably not going to justify the $110+ million he’s set to make over the next two seasons, either.
But he can still be a high-level support piece for a team already built to win. That matters, and it changes the conversation.
George has already shown a willingness to make this work by waiving his trade kicker to help the Celtics save money. There’s even a path where he could decline his $56+ million player option for next season and sign a longer, cheaper deal. If not, Boston could still simply ride out the next two years with him as a veteran presence who fills a major role.
That wouldn’t be some wild outcome. It would look a lot like what Al Horford gave the Celtics in the back end of his Boston run, only on the wing. Given George’s resume, Hall of Fame future, and the fact that a title has still slipped away, there’s reason to think he may be ready for that kind of sacrifice now.
If he is, it helps everybody. It helps George.
It helps the Celtics. And it makes Brad Stevens’ life easier, too.
Boston should still go after the right star if one comes available. But if that never materializes, and George fits the way the Celtics believe he can, then he might end up being more than a placeholder. He might be the piece that finally completes the roster.
In Other News...
Celtics Fans May Not Love Brad Stevens Next Move After Brown
Jaylen Browns move to Philadelphia has already forced Boston into a familiar kind of recalibration, and Brad Stevens now has to decide what comes next for a roster that still has Jayson Tatum at the center. The talk around the league is not about replacing Brown with another headline name so much as how the Celtics can keep enough flexibility to stay competitive while avoiding the kind of cap squeeze that can trap a contender for years.
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 🡒]
Brad Stevens Still Has One Huge Celtics Question To Answer
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
The idea of the Celtics making a splash for a true franchise-changing star always turns heads, and the latest dream scenario puts Stephen Curry and Nikola Joki in the conversation. There have been no confirmed trade talks or offers, but the mere possibility of Boston chasing a player of that caliber says plenty about how the team could try to reshape the roster around Jayson Tatum if the right opening ever appeared.
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 🡒]