I’m glad we’re on the same page.
It’s hard to think about the Celtics without thinking of a couple things. Firstly, Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles. He is out for next year. That sucks. Secondly, the Boston Celtics, as presently constructed, are looking to be the most expensive NBA team ever. By a lot.
It leaves people with the question of how the new owners are going to react to this reality. I’m sure there is a lot of hope that they eat the luxury tax bill and just keep a championship team together, but faced with the second apron in the CBA and the repeater tax. However, to my knowledge, no one has ever, ever done that.
Maybe they’ll be the first. I don’t like the idea that finances are what break apart the best teams. I want the best team to be the best team until another team comes along that’s better. And so on. And so forth.
And teams like this don’t exist in episodes. They don’t exist in seasons. When I think of my favorite teams, I rarely point to a single year construction and say, “that’s what I mean.” As far as I’m concerned, Chris Webber was part of my favorite era of Pistons teams. It’s cool, I get to do that. You can too!
So yeah. Let’s hope, somehow, this team stays together.
But they probably won’t, so let’s look at a fun way to tear JB from a championship roster
In the most recent mock draft on Bleacher Report by Jonathan Wasserman, the following trade was proposed:
“Spurs Receive: Jaylen Brown
Celtics Receive: No. 2 pick, No. 14 pick, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan and a 2030 first-round pick (via SAS, DAL or MIN)”
I really don’t know how to weigh the value of players in deals. For me, it’s difficult to measure value absent a system that the players are actually playing in. The Celtics have been largely unchanged the last two years. Now, suddenly, five more players are going to be looking for roster spots. It would give them Dylan Harper with a full Tatum-less year to go through growing pains, and that might be enough to make this season bearable, but still. We’re still less than a year removed from a ring.
But the bigger thing is JB. He has been arguably the best number-two option in the NBA for years. We know he can be trusted to fit into a broader system. Unless he’d be coming to San Antonio thinking he was taking the reins from Wemby, someone with Brown’s power and poise would be a welcome addition to a San Antonio Spurs team that can be… let’s say “slight” at times. I imagine Wemby is getting stronger, but it’d be great if he could pass the ball to Jaylen and say, “Hey, do you mind running straight into and through this brick wall for me?” And we know he can do it.
I think the trade makes sense, but I think it would also make me sad for both teams. The Celtics experience I don’t want to think about anymore, but I also don’t like the prospect of missing out on Harper. Wemby is still super young, and this feels short-sighted. Unless Wemby makes a huge jump (which I’ll admit is super possible), I’m not sure this trade would put them in contender ranks. And they’ll just have gotten older. I like the idea of letting stuff play out. Being patient. Teams that are allowed to be patient often do quite well.
But again, this is just an idea. Ideas are fun. Unless they’re not. The end.