The Boston Celtics shortened their title window by trading Jaylen Brown for Paul George (or at least it seems that way -- we don't know what moves they might make with the money they will save by not extending Brown, and we also don't know what will come of the Los Angeles Clippers' first-rounder in 2028), but they were also absolutely right to try and maximize Jayson Tatum's prime.
Don't look now, but Tatum is already 28 years old. He's at his peak right now, and it makes sense for Boston to go all in on him for at least the next few years. The Celtics weren't going to win another title with the Jays, and it made sense to cut it short this year instead of committing to Brown for the long run and trying to trade him next year (he already had low trade value from what was reported... and that was before he signed another contract worth about $50 million per year).
The Celtics are supporting Tatum by handing him the reins to the franchise, not hindering him. And they’re right to do it because if they want to win another championship, it’s going to be off the heels of his performances, which, as it stands, likely won't get much better than it should over the next few seasons.
The Celtics should unlock another level of Jayson Tatum
You can say what you want about the Brown trade, and I do agree with most of the sentiment. I also hate that he's in Philadelphia and teaming up with LeBron James, that this lowers the Celtics' immediate floor, and that they're putting way too much pressure on a 36-year-old George to stay healthy for a potentially deep playoff run.
But on the flip side, I love what this could mean for Tatum individually. He's finally going to be the clear-cut guy for the first time in his NBA career. And whether he wants to admit it or not, the Celtics are unequivocally his team.
The 1A-1B dynamic is completely gone in Boston. There's just "1," and it's Tatum, which is a great thing for the Celtics. This system is built around him and his strengths and gravity, and it should run way better without Brown being a ball-stopper and putting the ball on the floor too often.
As much as I loved Brown during his time in Boston, this was always more of Tatum’s team (if I had to chime in on this still-ridiculous debate). He can be inconsistent, and it’s also not lost on me that we haven’t seen Tatum No. 1 option hoops yet, but we did with Brown just last season, and he mostly succeeded (led Boston to the No. 2 seed when many expected them to be a Play-In team at best; finished sixth in MVP voting).
But Tatum is far more talented, has a higher ceiling, and he makes his teammates better in a way Brown never could.
The Celtics have serious title aspirations for this season and beyond. They want to hit the peak they hit in 2024, but they were never going to do it if they didn't break up the Jays. Instead, they committed to Tatum as their guy and built a team around him that can help him reach new heights. And as it stands, it's hard to fault Boston for doing that.
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