Celtics news & rumors: Jaylen Brown day-to-day; Victor Oladipo trade hype

The Boston Celtics can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to injuries surrounding their core four players.

With Marcus Smart still out nursing a calf injury, the Celtics had to play Sunday night’s game against the Washington Wizards without All-Star swingman Jaylen Brown due to knee soreness.

In what has been deemed as a day-to-day injury, the Celtics may want to be cautious with how this minor injury is handled because if Brown returns to the court too quick, it could turn into something that lingers over the rest of the season.

Considering the type of season Brown has been having, averaging 25.0 points per game, it would be in Boston’s best interest to make sure their rising All-Star is as healthy as possible.

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As far as the time of the injury, Brown is just committed to battling through and getting back to the court as soon as he can.

"“It’s tough, but you’ll never hear me making an excuse,” Brown said prior to Sunday’s game, via Masslive.com.  “That’s just not me.  So despite whatever the adversity is that as a unit we’re facing, individually, injuries, COVID, whatnot, you know, we’ve still gotta find a way to win through all that.  We have had opportunities and we haven’t.”"

Jayson Tatum leads Celtics over Washington Wizards

How did the Boston Celtics fare without Jaylen Brown Sunday night?

Well, there other All-Star made sure they were victorious.

In the team’s 111-110 victory over Bradley Beal and the Wizards, Tatum poured in 31 points, including this clutch game winner:

Kemba Walker added 21 points in the victory as the Celtics got back to the .500 mark.

In all, they won the game without Brown, but this team will be much better when their core four players are all healthy and back on the court.

NBA trade rumors: let the Victor Oladipo to Celtics trade hype begin

Of course, the Celtics will be even better if they can pull off a blockbuster trade to add another star to the mix.

What about Houston Rockets star Victor Oladipo?

The C’s have been linked to Oladipo before, so it is not surprise that the team is once again rumored as a potential landing spot for the Indiana product who reportedly turned down a two-year, $452 million extension from the Rockets.

Oladipo, who was acquired from the Indiana Pacers as part of the James Harden blockbuster deal, is on the last year of a four-year, $85 million contract and could be a player the Celtics could obtain with the trade exception they obtained in the Gordon Hayward trade.

Of course, Boston may have to part with Marcus Smart or Kemba Walker in such a deal but adding a healthy Victor Oladipo to the mix along with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown could provide a fascinating trio of young scorers.

If the Celtics could swing a deal for Oladipo with Smart as the centerpiece even better.

So far this season, Oladipo is averaging 20.0 points a game.  If the Boston Celtics are able to keep Kemba Walker, that would give them four players averaging over 20 points a game.  It would also put them a big man away from really making some noise in the Eastern conference.