Need to blow it up

[droopdog7]

JT will take a couple of years to recover and likely won't ever be as good as he is now. I don't think he will ever be the centerpiece of another title team. Team is STILL going to be insanely expensive.  Guys like White and Jrue and PP could yield a really high return.  Brown because of cost and KP because of injuries, not as much.

[wdleehi]

Can we at least wait until we hear what the injury is before we say he is our for a couple of years?   (which seems like an extreme amount of time)

[BringToughnessBack]

JT is only 27, God forbid it is the worst case scenario like we think, he as many before him can return at full strength. Hell, Bernard King had an ACL back in the 80's and returned to be top scorer in the NBA. He will definitely be a center piece of our team going forward.

I am more concerned now with JT's health than our team and who we build around. I truly don't care about anything else right now.

He is a true warrior and to see him crumple to the floor last night was one of the worst memories in quite some time of an athlete I have come to love on our team.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

trade brown, KP and jrue.

1-dee white
2- payton pritchard
3- jayson tatum
4- giannis
5- get a servicable center who can rebound and maybe get 10-10 games.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

trade brown, KP and jrue.

1-dee white
2- payton pritchard
3- jayson tatum
4- giannis
5- get a servicable center who can rebound and maybe get 10-10 games or better

[droopdog7]

Can we at least wait until we hear what the injury is before we say he is our for a couple of years?   (which seems like an extreme amount of time)

Yeah, we can wait, but I'm about as certain about the injury as one can be.  In terms of the two years, I would expect one year to return and another year to fully recover athletically.  And, fully recover athletically doesn't necessarily mean fully recover to what he is now or would have been without the injury.  Make no mistake, this has the potential to be a career altering injury.  And no, I am not being hyperbolic.

Besides, the team was going to get blown up anyway.  We were already going to be facing an uphill climb to contend after this year.

[wdleehi]

Can we at least wait until we hear what the injury is before we say he is our for a couple of years?   (which seems like an extreme amount of time)

Yeah, we can wait, but I'm about as certain about the injury as one can be.  In terms of the two years, I would expect one year to return and another year to fully recover athletically.  And, fully recover athletically doesn't necessarily mean fully recover to what he is now or would have been without the injury.  Make no mistake, this has the potential to be a career altering injury.  And no, I am not being hyperbolic.

Besides, the team was going to get blown up anyway.  We were already going to be facing an uphill climb to contend after this year.

There is a difference in blowing up and resetting the cap.


I think either way, they are going to pick their key big salary players and decide what low end salary players fit with them.   The idea everyone but Tatum are suddenly on the board to be traded doesn't make a lot of sense.   

[keevsnick]

Define "blow it up." I think they will trade at least one of KP or Jrue for tax purposes, but besides that i expect they'll largely run it back next year.

It doesn't make any sense to trade for another star in a year when your best player is out, and tanking is much harder when you are a 61-win team rather than a 45-win team who loses a star. The Celtics aren't going to get bad enough to chase a real lottery pick without gutting their team, and if you gut the team there's no guarantee you will build it back up before the end of tatum's prime.

I expect them to cut some salary, play next year out, probably win like 48 games, then re-evaluate in 2026 when they will hopefully have a better idea hoe Tatum is looking going forward.

[johnnygreen]

If Tatum's injury goes into next season, hopefully Jaylen takes advantage of the situation and makes that next step in becoming the team's number 1 option. When Tatum's playing, Jaylen can disappear, regardless if Jayson is on the floor or on the bench. He needs to fo a better job of imposing his will on the game on a nightly basis.

[Redz]

[jambr380]

If Tatum's injury goes into next season, hopefully Jaylen takes advantage of the situation and makes that next step in becoming the team's number 1 option. When Tatum's playing, Jaylen can disappear, regardless if Jayson is on the floor or on the bench. He needs to fo a better job of imposing his will on the game on a nightly basis.

Brown is a great scorer and tough shot maker, but there is more to being a #1 than that. He still can't dribble and while his passing has improved, he still doesn't make advanced reads or play out of the double team well above the arc.

That's why he's a #2 - an ideal #2 when healthy - but I don't think he's going to make that next jump in year 10,

[Moranis]

Haven't posted in awhile. First, CELTICS IN 7,

Second, assuming that doesn't happen. I think the C's should make wholesale changes if Tatum is projected out all or most of next year.

A potential path to tank next year as a gap year with eyes to contend in 2026-27 and thereafter.

Trade 1 with Houston
Brown for Sheppard, Brooks, Smith, Eason, 2025 1st (10), 2027 PHX 1st, 2028 HOU 1st

Trade 2 with Detroit
Porzingis for Stewart, Fontecchio, 2026 DET 1st (lotto protected)

Trade 3 with San Antonio
Holiday for Vassell

Trade 4 with Brooklyn
Hauser for 36 and future protected 2nd

New roster
PG - White, Sheppard
SG - Vassell, Pritchard, Fontecchio
SF - Brooks, Walsh, Scheireman
PF - Smith, Eason
C - Stewart, Tillman
10 + 28 + Tatum on IR

Obviously some of the trade filler like Fontecchio can be moved, but I didn't work out all of that.

Also, these trades are all contingent on really liking Sheppard and the potential options at 10. You dont do this if the team doesn't like Sheppard a lot.

Team uses next year to feed Sheppard minutes and tank without Tatum and then has cap space the summer of 2026 to build around Tatum, Sheppard, 10, and Boston's 26 lotto pick with plenty of future 1st to trade to supplement core.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

If Tatum's injury goes into next season, hopefully Jaylen takes advantage of the situation and makes that next step in becoming the team's number 1 option. When Tatum's playing, Jaylen can disappear, regardless if Jayson is on the floor or on the bench. He needs to fo a better job of imposing his will on the game on a nightly basis.

Brown is a great scorer and tough shot maker, but there is more to being a #1 than that. He still can't dribble and while his passing has improved, he still doesn't make advanced reads or play out of the double team well above the arc.

That's why he's a #2 - an ideal #2 when healthy - but I don't think he's going to make that next jump in year 10,

I agree. A true No. 1 has to have good handles and a high BBIQ, and Brown has neither.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Can we at least wait until we hear what the injury is before we say he is our for a couple of years?   (which seems like an extreme amount of time)

Speaking for myself, I don't think he'll be OUT for two years, but I do believe it'll be about that long (1.5-2 years) before he's "back to his old self," so to speak. And maybe not even 100% of his former self. Maybe he comes back sooner than we think, but whenever he comes back, I strongly doubt he'll have his sea legs under him right away.

[droopdog7]

Define "blow it up." I think they will trade at least one of KP or Jrue for tax purposes, but besides that i expect they'll largely run it back next year.

It doesn't make any sense to trade for another star in a year when your best player is out, and tanking is much harder when you are a 61-win team rather than a 45-win team who loses a star. The Celtics aren't going to get bad enough to chase a real lottery pick without gutting their team, and if you gut the team there's no guarantee you will build it back up before the end of tatum's prime.

I expect them to cut some salary, play next year out, probably win like 48 games, then re-evaluate in 2026 when they will hopefully have a better idea hoe Tatum is looking going forward.

The jrue-KP idea has been floated around for awhile now, so I am not talking about that.  I mean a complete reset.

As I see it, the team won't really be a contender without not just a star JT, but stars around him.  There is not guarantee that we'll see superstar JT after this injury.  So everyone excluding JT (because of his injury) is available.  Most of the supporting cast is great on this team but those guys tend to get exposed without the star to hold it all together.