The Boston Celtics are in the midst of a busy offseason, and they’re far from done. But could they make an extreme shakeup to the roster?
Danny Ainge already retired from his position as president of basketball operations — a job Brad Stevens took over. Ime Udoka was named the 18th head coach in Celtics history, Kemba Walker was traded and majority owner Wyc Grouscbeck indicated he believes Boston will have a busy month of July.
Grousbeck noted he’d love if Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum retired as members of the Celtics, but Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix believes there are two targets the C’s should consider trading Brown for.
“One would be Bradley Beal, who has to make a decision of his own the next couple weeks if he wants to sign that extension with (the) Washington (Wizards),” Mannix said during an appearance on NBC Sports Boston’s “Early Edition.” “If he doesn’t, that’s tantamount to a trade request and he can become available. And we all know at this point about the relationship between Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum.”
Tatum already has caught the attention of Celtics fans with an Instagram post for Beal. The two grew up in St. Louis, attended the same prep school and have been friends for quite some time.
And the other player?
“The other is Damian Lillard. It’s still very much up in the air, Lillard’s future in Portland (with the Trail Blazers.),” Mannix said. “If in the coming weeks the Blazers decide that they have to trade Damian Lillard, I think Boston would be in a pretty good position to make a strong offer that would have to include Jaylen Brown. So, you don’t just move him to shake things up, but if one of those two players becomes available I think you have to look long and hard about trading Jaylen Brown.”
Now, trading Brown isn’t something the Celtics should just do in order to cause a shakeup — and probably cause an uproar on Celtics Twitter. While changes do need to be made, a roster shakeup still can be done without trading your two biggest stars.
