Monday night was an absolute gut punch. A blown 14-point 3rd quarter lead, an all-time performance from Jayson Tatum, a stunned Madison Square Garden crowd, and for the next 21 minutes, the Celtics' season and possibly next season went up in flames.
Let's be blunt. There is no reasonable way to replace a 3 time (soon to be 4) First Team All-NBA player without a major overhaul. There is a lot of speculation around Tatum's injury, and a rough timetable to return is hard to pinpoint. What the Celtics do know is he isn't returning this offseason, and there's a pretty good chance he doesn't start the season playing if he participates in the 2025-26 campaign at all.
Making matters worse is that the Celtics are in salary cap hell. That's ok when the end goal is an NBA Championship. It's less acceptable, especially to new ownership, when the best-case scenario is a second-round exit. Tatum covered up a lot of the Celtics' warts. Both Al Horford and Jrue Holiday have started to look their age, despite both giving valiant efforts this postseason. Kristaps Porzingis' medical history makes him unreliable. Lastly, Jaylen Brown has gone from "Is he the Alpha Dog on the Celtics?" to "Is something wrong with him?"
It may be time for a soft reset. Rumors are circulating about Giannis Antetokounmpo looking for an alternative team. The offseason rumor mill already has Giannis landing in the Western Conference. Both the Houston Rockets and OKC Thunder have significant assets but may need one more playoff-tested veteran to push them over the top. What if the Celtics got to the Rockets before the Bucks?
The Celtics Must Send Jaylen Brown to the Rockets to Jump Start the Next Era
Ime Udoka has familiarity with the Celtics roster and one player in particular appeared to have a strong relationship with Jaylen Brown. After one season with Udoka, Brown followed that up with his 2nd All-Star appearance and an All-NBA 2nd Team award. Udoka and Brown share a unique appreciation for one another. Brown glowingly reflected upon his time with Udoka in 2024.
"“I think Ime was great for us because we were kind of used to playing in Brad’s system and Ime, when he came about, he made the system kind of around us. It was like, see a play, make a play and he kind of designed everything around what we did and do best and he kind of empowered us to make more decisions, stuff like that, so it was great for our development and things like that because we were used to Brad, who would kind of think the game for you."Jaylen Brown
Reuniting Udoka and Brown brings in a veteran presence to the Rockets locker room to partner with the Rockets' talented roster, including Amen Thompson, Alpren Sengun, Jalen Green, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason and Cam Whitmore. The Celtics can assume that Sengun and Thompson are off the table, so this would be a package built among the other young Rockets.
Should Tatum miss most or all of the 2025-26 season and lose Brown from the roster, it would make sense to replace them with wings. Jalen Green has continued to grow over the course of his young career. He is offensively more talented than Brown but not as stout defensively. Joe Mazzulla could continue that development.
Looking ahead, Kristaps Porzingis, while talented, has been an injury concern. Bringing in a young big man to complement and potentially replace Porzingis would be ideal. The Celtics are unlikely to find top-tier talent without a complete dismantling of the roster. Bringing back Jabari Smith as part of the Brown trade package would bring in a former No. 2 overall pick and free up Smith to grow.
There will need to be other pieces to make salaries and compensation work. Adding additional shooting is always in demand. The Celtics could ask for either Reed Sheppard or Cam Whitmore to add additional depth in case other moves have to happen while Tatum rehabs.
A roster built around Tatum, Green, Smith, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard with Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Whitmore or Sheppard coming off the bench helps bridge the gap to the next era of championship contention. It's a shame that the "Jays" era may be coming to an end, but should the Celtics move from Jaylen Brown, it doesn't mean the championship window has to close.