The Boston Celtics need a starting center. If the season started today, the team’s center options would be Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and Amari Williams. While Xavier Tillman could fill in with spot minutes in small-ball lineups, none of these players projects as reliable full-time starters on a championship contender.
Brad Stevens should look to address this weakness, and the Brooklyn Nets' starting center, Nic Claxton, is the ideal trade target.
Claxton, 26, will be entering his 7th season with the Brooklyn Nets and may no longer be in the team’s plans as it continues its rebuild. During the 2025 Draft, the Nets held 5 first-round picks, and instead of packaging any of them for established players, the team proceeded to keep all of them, opting to get younger. One of the players that the team drafted is former University of Michigan big man, Danny Wolf, who projects as a stretch-five. Combined with Day’Ron Sharpe, who has shown flashes in limited minutes, Brooklyn may be ready to part ways with Claxton in favor of younger and cheaper options.
This opens the door for the Celtics.
Since becoming a full-time starter during the 2022-23 season, Claxton has played 70+ games every year and has averaged 11.6 points and 8.8 rebounds. He has also been a force on the defensive end, averaging 2.0 blocks. In a defensive scheme where switching is key, Claxton would be the perfect fit with his mobility to defend on the perimeter and his length to protect the paint.
After the losses of Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet, and (most likely) Al Horford this offseason, the team does not have a proven center on the roster. Bringing in a young, established center in Claxton would also lessen the defensive burden on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and allow them to focus more on creating for themselves and their teammates on the offensive end.
More importantly, Claxton fits Boston’s timeline. He is entering his prime and could be a long-term core piece alongside Tatum, Brown, and Derrick White.
If Stevens is serious about keeping the Celtics in title contention, upgrading the center position with a proven, ascending player like Nic Claxton should be at the top of the priority list.