ESPN grades the Celtics off-season

[Roy H.]

Boston Celtics
Grade: C-

The Celtics undercut the Knicks with their addition of Mitchell Robinson and signed Neemias Queta to a great extension. But their offseason will be defined by the stunning Jaylen Brown trade, which shocked the basketball world not because it happened but because it brought back such a light return from the 76ers (Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks) for the player who finished sixth in MVP voting last season.

So many aspects of the Brown trade -- from his fit in Philadelphia to the value of George's contract to what the trade says about analytics and the NBA's financial landscape -- will continue to be debated for months, if not years, to come.

President of basketball operations Brad Stevens might prove right in the long run. But right now, it seems like the Celtics reduced their 2026-27 championship equity without saving all that much money, so they receive one of my worst offseason grades.

The only teams they have tied or worse:  Detroit (C-), Orlando (D+), Washington (D+), New Orleans (D), with the understanding that the draft isn't counted in the evaluations.

The Clippers and Raptors received an incomplete.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49410979/nba-2026-offseason-grades-30-teams-free-agency-trades#bos

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

People can and will say what they want, when they want, but the full story of this trade won't be known for quite some time, and depends on several factors: how George performs, what becomes of the draft picks and swaps, how Boston uses any cap space gained in the trade, etc.

[Donoghus]

People can and will say what they want, when they want, but the full story of this trade won't be known for quite some time, and depends on several factors: how George performs, what becomes of the draft picks and swaps, how Boston uses any cap space gained in the trade, etc.

Yeah, I think this is the reasonable take although my mind is still struggling to accept it.  Still have a lot of anger at the trade and return that won't be alleviated for a while but what happens on the court this season could go a long way as a start.

[perks-a-beast]

Im not sure why everyone keeps saying Detroit had a bad offseason.

Collins and Joe were solid pickups who fit well and space the floor.

They got 3 second round picks for Stewart who the coach clearly wasnt a fan of and was barely cracking 15 MPG by the end of their run.

I think they?ll ultimately end up resigning Duren on a reasonable contract.

They got Okorie who could very well end up being the steal of the draft

Theyve maintained roster flexibility in order to continue to build around Cade.

I like what they did.

[Roy H.]

People can and will say what they want, when they want, but the full story of this trade won't be known for quite some time, and depends on several factors: how George performs, what becomes of the draft picks and swaps, how Boston uses any cap space gained in the trade, etc.

I think it's still possible to judge a trade at the time it's made, based upon whether the return matched the perceived value.  Obviously, future context will matter if somehow Philly becomes uniquely bad or if Brad hits a home run with one of the draft picks, but a pick, a swap, and two seconds while taking back the worst contract in the NBA just isn't good value as things look today.

[Vermont Green]

I get the C- grade.  It is tough to be higher than C when the result of the main transaction (Brown for George) results in the team being worse.  Sure Mitchell Robinson Mitchell (or whatever we are calling him) appears to be a decent addition, but I don't buy that somehow subtracting Brown is going to result in this team being better in the near term.

This trade was about the longer term and of course optionality down the road, it was not about the here and now.  We'll see.  The ceiling for George is high, but the floor is very low, due to durability.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

i'd give us a D+ like orlando

[Who]

i'd give us a D+ like orlando

Yeah, C- seems generous.

An F would be acceptable. I'd go D- next.

How does that off-season get a C grade? Nuts!

[Jiri Welsch]

Makes sense considering anything that would impact the grade of the trade (Paul George performing better than expected, Brown performing worse than expected, a draft pick hitting) hasn't happened yet.

Not to mention Brown is 29 and in his prime, while George is 36 and injury prone.

Sigh.

[Neurotic Guy]

People can and will say what they want, when they want, but the full story of this trade won't be known for quite some time, and depends on several factors: how George performs, what becomes of the draft picks and swaps, how Boston uses any cap space gained in the trade, etc.

I think it's still possible to judge a trade at the time it's made, based upon whether the return matched the perceived value.  Obviously, future context will matter if somehow Philly becomes uniquely bad or if Brad hits a home run with one of the draft picks, but a pick, a swap, and two seconds while taking back the worst contract in the NBA just isn't good value as things look today.

Both things are true. You don?t know what will come of trades made or those declined until time gives you answers (or some answers). But also true that you can judge trades in the moment based on perceived value. Sometimes things play out better than anyone would have expected which is either brilliant GM-ing or pure luck.  Chris Wallace, who I?ve despised for many years made a terrible in the moment trade handing a short dynasty to the Lakers when he gave them Pau Gasol in return for a package worse than what the Cs got for JB. But it did include rights to the Lakers second round pick, a center with mediocre expectations.  That guy turned out to be a three time all star. Wasn?t the player his brother was, but Marc turned out to be pretty dang good.  IMO not a chance in heck Chris Wallace was anything but lucky that Marc Gasol salvaged that trade (to some extent). Still a bad trade in the moment but Memphis ended up with more than they deserved.