The Boston Celtics absolutely need to make some changes this summer. Their roster isn't good enough to compete for a championship (or apparently to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of a playoff series, even after taking a 3-1 lead), and even natural development isn't going to be enough to change that.
But all this talk of trading Jaylen Brown (for Giannis Antetokounmpo or whoever else) is a bit of a stretch. He's not a perfect player (has tunnel vision as a playmaker, his handle is still a bad problem, and he has long been an inconsistent defender), but he has also been a big part of Boston's success for roughly the last decade, and he has what it takes to help the team raise Banner 19 sooner rather than later.
Instead of splitting him and Jayson Tatum up, the Celtics need to focus on optimizing the rest of the roster around them. That's what they did in 2023 with the Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday acquisitions before they won it all the following year. Now, it's time for them to do the same and find the right pieces to add to the puzzle.
The Celtics should already know what to prioritize this offseason
Boston has way more problems than Brown that it needs to address: lack of depth and bench scoring, and its center situation.
They all have potential to be contributors one way or another, but can you really trust players like Baylor Scheierman, Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and Jordan Walsh to play real minutes in a playoff series? And on top of that, can you trust a center room where Queta and Garza are the two best options?
Of course not. And we learned that the hard way not even two months ago.
The Celtics need to improve their depth, particularly in their frontcourt (example: trading for Myles Turner or Wendell Carter Jr. and moving Queta back to the bench, signing Isaiah Hartenstein or Robert Williams III, or drafting Alex Karaban, Henri Veesaar, Tarris Reed Jr., etc.) and by getting another legitimate scorer (Anfernee Simons, CJ McCollum, or maybe even Bennedict Mathurin if the Los Angeles Clippers choose not to re-sign him as an RFA).
They don't need to make a big splash. Trading for Giannis can help in a lot of ways, but it's not their only solution, especially pertaining to their long-term outlook. Instead, they need to fill in the margins and build the best roster possible to support their core. It has already worked before, and there are reasons to believe it can work again.
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