When the Celtics entered the 2025 2nd spherical vs. the Knicks, it felt like they have been on a distinct degree than New York. That was confirmed improper and since that time, it has turn out to be clear that it’s New York who’s on a distinct degree than Boston.
Three wins away from their first championship in 53 years, the Knicks seem like they tower over everybody else within the Jap Convention.
It turned very clear because the 76ers, who got here again from down 3-1 vs. the Celtics, weren’t solely swept by New York, however embarrassed by them, that the hole between Boston and New York was greater than any of us thought it was.
It’s as much as Brad Stevens and firm to shut that hole this summer season.
Does making a marginal transfer like buying and selling Sam Hauser for a middle assist the Celtics? Sure, however we have to be pondering greater.
The trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White has proven us they’re adequate to win on the highest degree. Get extra of a contribution from the youthful gamers within the playoffs and the Celtics may very well be again on the prime of the East subsequent yr. Possibly you assume the Celtics’ exit and the Knicks run are each flukey and that Boston shouldn’t panic.
Is that one thing that the Celtics needs to be betting on?
The roster is simply not adequate as is and when you’ve got Jayson Tatum in your workforce, you owe it to him and your self to be doing the whole lot to win the championship yearly.
That’s the reason so many, myself included, really feel that buying and selling Jaylen Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo is one thing Boston needs to be exploring.
Antetokounmpo would give the Celtics so many various layers to each their offense and protection that Brown doesn’t, together with attending to the rim extra, which is one thing that Brad Stevens talked about at his finish of season press convention.
Sure, you’d be dropping a number of the nice stuff Brown does like these mid-range pictures, however Antetokounmpo provides greater than Brown does on each ends of the ground.
You can additionally preserve the Tatum and Brown duo collectively, and discover a approach to make use of Derrick White to improve the roster with both a giant man or a scoring guard to pair with the Jays. The way in which the Celtics offense fell aside within the first spherical was way more worrying to me than their protection was.
The Celtics have 4 tradable picks and a $27.7 million commerce exception. They don’t have to maneuver any of Tatum, Brown or White to make an aggressive transfer. Possibly the Pelicans can be prepared to offer you Trey Murphy for Hauser, one or two of the younger wings and a bunch of draft picks.
When the Knicks felt they wanted to catch as much as the Celtics after Boston’s 2024 championship, they traded for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Cities. They took huge, dangerous swings and it’s the Celtics’ flip to just do that. I don’t know that Boston has two strikes like that in them, however they need to be making a minimum of one huge time addition to shut the hole.
