Celtics news & rumors: Marcus Smart blasted; Tatum or Brown trade?

The Boston Celtics are an early season train wreck and one of their longest tenured players just made matters worse, which has amped up a former player to call him out.

Following the team’s embarrassing 128-114 loss to the Chicago Bulls Monday night, Marcus Smart added salt to the wounds by calling out young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for not wanting to pass the ball.

The entire context of Smart’s comment wasn’t a complete callout as he was essentially saying his teammates are still growing, but the timing was not cool. The team blowing a 19-point lead at home was the cause of Smart’s frustration, but what is going on with this team is beyond Brown and Tatum, although it starts there or does it start with Smart himself.

Ex-Boston Celtics player Kendrick Perkins puts Marcus Smart on blast

During an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” former Celtics player Kendrick Perkins blasted Smart for his comments saying it wasn’t cool to call out his teammates in public like that.

"“Marcus Smart has lost his damn mind,” Perkins said, as transcribed by WEEI. “There are certain things you know as a player that you can’t come out and do in an interview or come out and say in an interview, and those are one of the things. You cannot attack your two franchise guys in the media saying that they need to pass the ball. Not only are you attacking them, you’re attacked the first-year head coach in Ime Udoka, who is just starting to get his feet into the sand a little bit and trying to figure things out.”"

Perkins went on to say that the last thing the 2-5 Boston Celtics need now is “outside distractions” and Smart has essentially created that by pointing fingers at Tatum and Brown.  There may be some truth to what he is saying as far as the duo turning to isolation ball during stretches of the game, but that is something that should be addressed internally.

NBA rumors: Can the Boston Celtics young duo play together?

While it will be easy to point at Marcus Smart as the issue with the Boston Celtics and the one that should be traded, there are rumblings around the NBA on whether Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can play together.

Both young thoroughbreds have Celtics fans jumping in excitement about the future of the team when they are at their best.  However, they also have Celtics Nation marveling in frustration when they lack consistency and doesn’t lead the team like they should.

While its scary to think how good this team can be when they are both playing well together, it’s hard to overlook how mediocre the team looks when either or both are struggling.

So, if the Celtics had to get rid of one, who would it be? Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown?

It’s a choice fans hope the Celtics don’t have to make, but if things don’t get better for the team moving forward, it’s a decision that may ultimately have to be made. The common denominator of the last three seasons of underachievement has been Tatum, Brown and Smart. It’s becoming clear that trio must either get it together on the court or one or two of the three must go.