As the Boston Celtics fumbled away a 3-1 series lead to become a first-round playoff exit for the first time since 2020-21, there has been much speculation on what the direction of the franchise is and what the future looks like in the short-term.

This offseason once again featured superstar Jaylen Brown being in potential trade negotiations after he led the Celtics to the two-seed in the playoffs in what was originally tagged as a “gap year” due to Jayson Tatum missing just about all the regular season recovering from a torn Achillies tendon.

Brown just completed the best season of his career and the team still elected to include him in potential trade scenarios. He averaged career-highs across the board at 28.7 points, 5.1 assists, and 6.9 rebounds per game. He finished with 48/35/79 shooting splits and led the league with 16.0 2-point shot attempts, making 52.3% of them.

There has been enough history to know that Brown is included in annual trade talks, and although it’s never gone through, this time around could be the straw that broke the camel’s back as Boston tried to trade Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Even after Antetokounmpo was traded to the Miami Heat, it was reported by ESPN’s NBA Insider Shams Charania, that the Celtics are still shopping Brown to see if they can make a move to reshape their roster and future.

It’s unfortunate that it’s Brown who is rumored to be traded after finishing sixth in MVP voting last season and All-NBA Second Team. But it leads me to ponder if there is a bigger issue brewing that is forcing GM Brad Stevens to retool the roster. 

The issue that I think is brewed is Stevens wanting to have a specific style of play that includes a big man and being more active near the basket. I believe that Stevens wants to accommodate his head coach’s play style, while also wanting to restructure the roster to better suit the style of play that he envisions as the team President of Basketball Operations.

This is where I believe the allure of acquiring Giannis came into the picture. Stevens hasn’t hesitated to improve the team, and he isn’t scared to make the hard decision to move on from players like we saw with Marcus Smart.

I believe that adding Giannis would have given the Celtics the opportunity to play the way that Stevens wants while also appeasing the way Mazzulla wants to play. That said, I don’t think Stevens is against the 3-point shooting spree, but he would like to see an adjustment when the shots aren’t falling to attack more inside near the basket.

By having a dominant inside presence, it would also have a positive impact on the 3-point shooting with more possible drive-and-kickout opportunities. It’s also worth mentioning that the Celtics finished last in the league last season in free throw attempts per game with only 18.7.

This offseason, Stevens wanted to add both size and speed along the perimeter, and he also wants to see more interior scoring, which contradicts the way that Mazzulla wants to play with a heavy 3-point shooting scheme.

As I mentioned earlier, Stevens isn’t against the 3-point shooting scheme, but he’d like to see better generation of those attempts on the first shot, but he wants more of an interior and rim presence, which he explained during his end of the season press conference.

 “My general feeling watching us play in really each of the last two playoffs… was we had a hard time generating really good looks on that first shot. So, we’ve got to figure out a way to do better in that.”

“One of the things that we’ve got to figure out is how to have more of an impact at the rim, and I think we do need to add to our team to do that. Everybody plays a role in that.”

“I think the biggest thing is, can we generate looks at the rim? Yeah, everybody wants to do that, and every one of us would prefer a dunk over a 3. Every single one of us. Those are hard to get, and we struggle to generate them.”

At one point in time, the Celtics were able to create rim opportunities with ease. Over the last nine years, Boston has been a top dunking team when they have an elite center on the floor, and they’ve been able to do it with the three different coaches that they’ve had in that time span.

The center that really elevated the Celtics as a dunking team was the emergence of Robert Williams. In back-to-back season from 2020-22, Williams finished as the No. 13 and No. 7 dunker in the NBA. Without Williams, the top dunker on the Celtics has been inconsistent and differs annually:

• 2022-23: Jayson Tatum, 91 dunks (24th)
• 2023-24: Kristaps Porzingis, 89 dunks (24th)
• 2024-25: Luke Kornet, 86 dunks (29th)
• 2025-26: Neemias Queta, 119 dunks (17th)

In more recent years, the Celtics had the privilege of having both Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis, who are both excellent shooters from 3-point range, and it really enhanced and solidified the strategy that Mazzulla created.

This strategy slowly pulled the big men away from the basket in favor of pick-and-pop opportunities and not as much of pick-and-rolls. This method works well with Horford and Porzingis, who are excellent shooters, but that strategy didn’t change too much with the starting center being Neemias Queta, who’s not a shooter and plays well at the rim.

That said, Stevens expressed that he doesn’t think play style comes before the roster, meaning that the coach has to play to the strength of the team.

“I don’t think play style comes before roster, you have to figure out who you have and then play to the strength of the team.”

I believe that Brown is as solid as they come when he’s on the court and his performance last season proved it by carrying the Celtics to the playoffs. He’s shown to be able to adapt to do whatever the team needs from him during his 10-years with Boston.

Perhaps he’s ready to move on from Boston and said as much to Stevens this offseason and that’s why there are these sudden urgencies to try to trade him. If that’s the case and Brown asked to be out, it would explain why Stevens is shopping around.

The most recent report is that the Celtics are looking for four first round draft picks for Brown after missing out on Giannis. A return of that stature would put Boston in a similar position to when they traded Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in 2013 for three future first round picks and a pick swap.

If Brown did ask to be traded, perhaps Stevens is doing what he can to get the best possible return that will set Boston up for the short and long term.

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