Need to blow it up

[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)

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.

This is where I'm at.  While it certainly is possible we get first team JT back, it is far from a guarantee.  In fact, I would bet against it if I had to choose.  I expect his athleticism to decline by a hair, which is more than enough to impact a guy at this level.  A guy like KD was able to recover in large part because he is a GREAT shooter.  At a minimum, JT may need to reinvent himself to a degree.

All this to say that there are an awful lot of unknowns here, and the team is still uber expensive.  Something was going to give either way, but this injury could push us in a completely different direction.

[Atzar]

Given the news, I generally agree with OP.

Tatum probably misses next season.  We don't know what he'll look like when he comes back.  We do know that, at that time, Derrick White will be 32.  KP will be 31 and is already an injury concern.  JB will be 30 with a game reliant on athleticism.  Al and Jrue won't be in the conversation anymore.  The CBA will force a few of these guys out of Boston to begin with, and I have little confidence that what's left will be a contender in two years.

Rather just hit the button.  Sell everybody with value.  Get all the assets you can.  Even White and Pritchard, who I don't see much trade talk about, should be on the table now - they have good positive value relative to their contracts and that comes at a premium in this CBA.  Best case, JT comes back looking like himself and we use those assets to try to build another contender around him then.  Worst case, it's a head start on the next era. 

[celticinorlando]

East is so bad Boston will still be a playoff team next season.

I think they tread water. But I do think Jrue, Al and Hauser are all gone.

KP will be in Boston for his last year because no one wants him. They are stuck with him.

Only way they blow it up is to trade Brown, which is not happening.

[droopdog7]

East is so bad Boston will still be a playoff team next season.

I think they tread water. But I do think Jrue, Al and Hauser are all gone.

KP will be in Boston for his last year because no one wants him. They are stuck with him.

Only way they blow it up is to trade Brown, which is not happening.

At this point, we can pretty much trade anyone on the team except for Tatum.  I would think White has the most value given his contract and plug and play ability.  I think he could fetch as much as jrue the various times he was traded and bridges, assuming teams are still handing out first round picks like candy.  PP would also be easy to trade.  And I think jrue still has value.  Brown, in spite of his contract, also has some value.  KP probably has the least relative value.

So my point is, everyone should be on the table.  No sense in being on the treadmill for a year or two when we don't know what version of tatum will come back and even in the best case scenario, we probably wouldn't be a contender if this team was somehow kept intact.

[wdleehi]

The team still needs a title core for when Tatum returns unless you want him to ask to be traded.   

I think Brown, White and even Pritchard (contract value is just to good) would be 5hat core around a returning Tatum where they need to rebuild the big man rotation.

[snively]

Makes sense to trade White and Brown, the two highest value assets, so the team can load up on prospects and picks, give those prospects a lot of run next year and then trade them with Holiday's contract and other ballast to get new pieces around Tatum in 2027.

[Phantom255x]

Tatum could still come back by March and April. I'm not sure why it's automatically assumed he's out until Fall 2026 already. The Durant example has some flaws because his happened in Game 5 of the Finals (mid-June), and COVID happened early March the following season. He was cleared to return by Late March had there not been COVID, and maybe if BKN was a great team at the time (they were not).

There'll definitely be roster moves made this offseason, but I do generally agree that White and PP are "untouchables". Brown is close to it as well, BUT it depends what kinds of offers there are. I've always felt the "core" of this team was the Jays + White. I still feel that way mostly, but like obviously if you can dangle Jaylen for someone like Giannis, or even if a team like Utah or San Antonio covet Jaylen and are willing to give up a ton including 1-2 young pieces and future picks you have to listen. 

Hauser will get dumped regardless. I would prefer to just trade away Porzingis too, his health is just very unreliable and frustrating to deal with every Spring. Though we'd need to find another PF/C.

[Ilikesports17]

With Tatum either out all, or at the least, the majority, of next year. I'd think you'd try to shed as much money as possible.

Ideally there are teams out there that think KP or Holiday are the missing piece and we can get rid of them. Problem is, those guys are luxury pieces. You only really want them if you are already a contender and think they can push you over the top. That makes the list of possible teams pretty small.

I can't think of anyone who it makes sense to give up assets to add these guys.

White and Brown would have big markets, but I certainly don't want to trade White and wouldn't trade Brown unless you magically got back a player of basically the same caliber who is as young or younger. But again, why would anyone trade a young star for another young star that's more expensive?

I just don't see a path that makes sense here at all

[radiohead]

Why are a lot of people saying that Al?s gonna be gone? Is there no chance he?ll take the minimum and stay in boston? I think either he retires or stays at the minimum. Or maybe he does a PJ Brown when JT returns.

[Muzzy66]

With Tatum either out all, or at the least, the majority, of next year. I'd think you'd try to shed as much money as possible.

Ideally there are teams out there that think KP or Holiday are the missing piece and we can get rid of them. Problem is, those guys are luxury pieces. You only really want them if you are already a contender and think they can push you over the top. That makes the list of possible teams pretty small.

I can't think of anyone who it makes sense to give up assets to add these guys.

White and Brown would have big markets, but I certainly don't want to trade White and wouldn't trade Brown unless you magically got back a player of basically the same caliber who is as young or younger. But again, why would anyone trade a young star for another young star that's more expensive?

I just don't see a path that makes sense here at all

As much as I hate to say this, I actually think that the Lakers could really use a hard-nosed veteran defender like Jrue, especially if Lebron decides to retire. 

Having Jrue would take a lot of defensive pressure off Luka as well as some of the ball handling responsibilities.  And The Lakers are going to be so desperate to win (to make make the most of Luka and/or Lebron) that I wouldn't be surprised if they took the cap hit to make it happen. 

I could also see Milwaukee potentially making a push to get Jrue back in the hope of bringing back that championship duo and hopefully convincing Giannis to stay.  Jrue would take huge pressure defensively off Lillard.

I'm sure there are other teams out there a well who would make sense. 

I wouldn't be shocked if the Lakers or Bucks might be willing to take a shot on Porzingis too.  A Giannis/Porzingis front court could be very interesting and the Lakers have have no talent up front since losing AD. 

If Lebron does reture, then the Lakers could have a REALLY strong roster with a core of Jrue, Reaves, Luka, Hachimura, Porzingis if they decided they want to go all out win now mode.   

I kinda like the idea of a Jrue/Kyrie/AD core in Dallas too.

A lot of teams will probably wonder, however, how much Jrue still has in the tank.  I don't think he's any longer a #2 guy on a team, but I do think that maybe he could still be a strong #3 guy. 

[Phantom255x]

Something worth noting. Keith Smith and others on Twitter have said that if they deem Tatum's injury is "more than likely" to keep him out all of next season (or most of it), the C's could be granted a 14.4M exception to add a replacement player.

[goCeltics]

My Blow it up trade

C's get

Jusuf Nurkic
Center
$18,125,000
+ 1 yr, $19,375,000

Grant Williams
Power Forward
$13,025,250
+ 2 yr, $27,911,250

Josh Green
Shooting Guard
$12,654,321
+ 2 yr, $28,345,679

Brandon Miller
Small Forward
$11,424,600
+ 2 yr, $27,073,426

Mark Williams
Center
$4,094,280
+ 1 yr, $6,276,531
2025 1st
2025, Round 1: CHA pick - #4
2026 1st
2026, Round 1: CHA pick (BOS right to swap)
2027 1st
2027, Round 1: CHA pick - #1 ? #30
2027 1st
2027, Round 1: DAL pick (BOS right to swap)
2028 1st
2028, Round 1: CHA pick (BOS right to swap)
2029 1st
2029, Round 1: CHA pick - #1 ? #30

Hornets Get

Jaylen Brown
Small Forward
$49,205,800
+ 4 yr, $236,187,840

Derrick White
Point Guard
$20,071,429
+ 4 yr, $118,048,000

[Phantom255x]

My Blow it up trade

C's get

Jusuf Nurkic
Center
$18,125,000
+ 1 yr, $19,375,000

Grant Williams
Power Forward
$13,025,250
+ 2 yr, $27,911,250

Josh Green
Shooting Guard
$12,654,321
+ 2 yr, $28,345,679

Brandon Miller
Small Forward
$11,424,600
+ 2 yr, $27,073,426

Mark Williams
Center
$4,094,280
+ 1 yr, $6,276,531
2025 1st
2025, Round 1: CHA pick - #4
2026 1st
2026, Round 1: CHA pick (BOS right to swap)
2027 1st
2027, Round 1: CHA pick - #1 ? #30
2027 1st
2027, Round 1: DAL pick (BOS right to swap)
2028 1st
2028, Round 1: CHA pick (BOS right to swap)
2029 1st
2029, Round 1: CHA pick - #1 ? #30

Hornets Get

Jaylen Brown
Small Forward
$49,205,800
+ 4 yr, $236,187,840

Derrick White
Point Guard
$20,071,429
+ 4 yr, $118,048,000

Why on earth are we becoming the Hornets???

[Birdman]

Something worth noting. Keith Smith and others on Twitter have said that if they deem Tatum's injury is "more than likely" to keep him out all of next season (or most of it), the C's could be granted a 14.4M exception to add a replacement player.

I hope!! That 14 million would help a lot

[blink]

I don't understand why on earth you would trade Brown, White, PP if you thought that JT would at least be close to 90% for the 26/27 season.   If the team gutted all the good players for when JT comes back from the injury he would just want to be traded anyways.   We need to keep a core group that we can build around after JT recovers.