When the Celtics entered the 2025 2nd round vs. the Knicks, it felt like they were on a different level than New York. That was proven wrong and since that point, it has become clear that it is New York who is on a different level than Boston.
Three wins away from their first championship in 53 years, the Knicks look like they tower over everyone else in the Eastern Conference.
It became very clear as the 76ers, who came back from down 3-1 vs. the Celtics, were not only swept by New York, but embarrassed
by them, that the gap between Boston and New York was bigger than any of us thought it was.
It is up to Brad Stevens and company to close that gap this summer.
Does making a marginal move like trading Sam Hauser for a center help the Celtics? Yes, but we need to be thinking bigger.
The trio of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White has shown us they are good enough to win at the highest level. Get more of a contribution from the younger players in the playoffs and the Celtics could be back at the top of the East next year. Maybe you think the Celtics’ exit and the Knicks run are both flukey and that Boston shouldn’t panic.
Is that something that the Celtics should be betting on?
The roster is just not good enough as is and when you have Jayson Tatum on your team, you owe it to him and yourself to be doing everything to win the championship every year.
That is why so many, myself included, feel that trading Jaylen Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo is something Boston should be exploring.
Antetokounmpo would give the Celtics so many different layers to both their offense and defense that Brown doesn’t, including getting to the rim more, which is something that Brad Stevens talked about at his end of season press conference.
Yes, you’d be losing some of the great stuff Brown does like those mid-range shots, but Antetokounmpo gives more than Brown does on both ends of the floor.
You could also keep the Tatum and Brown duo together, and find a way to use Derrick White to upgrade the roster with either a big man or a scoring guard to pair with the Jays. The way the Celtics offense fell apart in the first round was much more worrying to me than their defense was.
The Celtics have four tradable picks and a $27.7 million trade exception. They don’t have to move any of Tatum, Brown or White to make an aggressive move. Maybe the Pelicans would be willing to give you Trey Murphy for Hauser, one or two of the young wings and a bunch of draft picks.
When the Knicks felt they needed to catch up to the Celtics after Boston’s 2024 championship, they traded for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. They took big, risky swings and it is the Celtics’ turn to do just that. I don’t know that Boston has two moves like that in them, but they should be making at least one big time addition to close the gap.
