Brad Stevens has spent his Celtics tenure doing what front offices in this league are forced to do: keep reshaping the roster, keep chasing the best version of the team, and keep making tough calls on players who don’t stick. Most of the guys who left Boston haven’t exactly turned into bigger stars somewhere else. But a few have found a real second life.
That includes some names Celtics fans know well, like Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III, though both were coming off solid seasons after dealing with heavy injury limitations in the two years before Boston moved on from them. There are also fringe cases like Justin Champagnie, who has improved since leaving, but if you had to pause and ask yourself whether he ever actually played for Boston, that tells you enough.
So this list keeps it to six alumni who not only have done the best after leaving the Celtics in the Brad Stevens era, but are also recognizable to most fans.
At No. 6 is Svi Mykhailiuk, whose Celtics run was short and mostly forgettable, though he was part of the stay-ready group that helped when Boston was short-handed. He answered the call when his number came up, even if those chances were limited.
The last two years have taken him to Utah, where he has bounced in and out of the starting five. More importantly, after spending much of his NBA career as a journeyman, Mykhailiuk seems to have found a home with the Jazz.
His numbers are better than they’ve ever been, and that alone puts his career at a new high.
Josh Minott checks in at No. 5.
He was in Boston for an even shorter stretch than Mykhailiuk, but before he landed in the doghouse for reasons that weren’t his fault, he flashed real breakout potential. The defense was disruptive, and the shooting wasn’t a problem.
Stevens moved him because Boston had too many wings who offered more value, and once it became clear Minott couldn’t handle stretch-five duties, he became expendable and was dealt to Brooklyn. There’s a real chance he breaks through with the Nets, especially with the team looking to win more this season, and his arrow has only been pointing up.
Dennis Schroder lands at No. 4, which says plenty about how volatile his career has been. Boston brought him in as a low-cost swing, but it didn’t work.
He’s always been a boom-or-bust player, and the fit next to Marcus Smart never clicked, so the Celtics moved him at the deadline. Since then, Schroder has been exactly what he’s always been: sometimes brilliant, sometimes a miss.
He’s been on nine teams in the last four years, including Charlotte, which just traded for him. He was a dud in Houston, Toronto, Golden State, Sacramento and Cleveland, but the reason he still makes this list is simple: he was spectacular in Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Detroit.
Luke Kornet comes in at No. 3, and he’s been one of the clearest success stories of the Joe Mazzulla era. He went from being close to out of the league to landing an eight-figure contract, and that climb started in Boston.
With the Celtics, Kornet became a reliable backup by giving up the three-point game and leaning into lob finishing and rim protection. He wasn’t a star, but he fit exactly what Mazzulla wanted.
The good news has carried over to San Antonio, where he helped the Spurs during their surprise run to the NBA Finals. His steadiness, from Boston to now, is why he edges Schroder.
Jrue Holiday is No. 2, and the Celtics may not have won Banner 18 without him. Boston went after him in 2023, extended him without hesitation, and got the kind of impact that made the move feel obvious in hindsight.
He didn’t just replace Marcus Smart - he was a clear upgrade. That made him easier to move when Stevens wanted to cut costs, even with the huge contract attached.
Portland’s offseason has been confusing, but Holiday’s play hasn’t been a problem at all. He’s kept delivering the same two-way value, and there’s no reason to think that changes now that he’s in his mid-30s.
Aaron Nesmith takes the top spot, even though he isn’t better than Holiday and probably never will be. The reason is simple: his career took off the second Boston traded him.
After a rough second season in which he was overshadowed by Josh Richardson and Payton Pritchard, Nesmith broke out in Indiana. Playing at full strength turned him into a fan favorite and a vital piece for Pacers teams that made two straight Eastern Conference Finals, where they were swept by yours truly, and then came painfully close to winning their first NBA title.
He probably wasn’t going to get that kind of runway in Boston. Ironically, he was later part of a trade that set off the chain reaction leading the Celtics to Holiday.
Even with that twist, Nesmith has been the most impressive of the group since leaving Boston.
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Los Angeles paid a far steeper price to get George, including multiple first-round picks and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the deal has aged even worse as the Clippers' broader team-building picture has unraveled. The NBAs penalties tied to salary cap violations involving Kawhi Leonard only deepened the damage, leaving the George trade as part of a larger mess that now makes the Celtics' version look far easier to live with, even if it still raises questions. [Read more 🡒]
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Derrick White Suddenly Feels Less Safe In Bostons Core
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Whites recent shooting has only added another layer to the discussion, because even a dependable role player can start to feel less secure when a team is trying to balance performance with cost. For Boston, the question is less about whether White helps them and more about whether the financial realities around the roster eventually force harder decisions than anyone wants to make right now. [Read more 🡒]