The Boston Celtics need to shed salary this offseason, and rumors have been flying around on who might be shipped out of town. It was reported that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White would be going nowhere, but Bill Simmons stated on his podcast that he doesn’t believe one of those three is untouchable.
“I think I would qualify Jaylen Brown, as much as I hate it, and I hope they don’t trade him, I don’t think he’s untouchable with the situation that team’s in right now,” Simmons said.
Simmons also shared that he would have been surprised a few weeks ago if the Celtics decided to blow it up, but isn’t anymore. As for what blowing it up means, it’s making everyone but Tatum available for trade.
“I mean like multiple trades,” Simmons said. “Like they just say, ‘F*** it. Tatum’s not playing next year. When he comes back a year from now, we’re going to reset everything and we’re gonna have a completely different team.’ What people have been talking with them are they’ll trade Jrue [Holiday], and/or [Kristaps] Porzingis to get under the tax.
“The one thing that I would definitely put major money on is that they will shed $20 to $25 million somehow over the summer,” Simmons continued. “I don’t know how they’ll do it, but they will. I guess the question for them is, could somebody overwhelm them with a Jaylen offer? Especially if Giannis [Antetokounmpo] doesn’t get traded.”
The San Antonio Spurs can put together an offer to the Celtics for Brown that’s too good to turn down. It’s a lot of assets, but if a team wants to make a splash and someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t available, Brown is about the best player you can potentially get this summer.
Simmons hopes the Celtics do not part with Brown, but is starting to get worried that it might end up happening. It was just a year ago, of course, that the 28-year-old won Eastern Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP, as the Celtics won their 18th title.
Brown’s 2024-25 season wasn’t quite as good as the last one, but he still put up respectable averages of 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. Apart from Tatum, he is the Celtics player with the most trade value, and they could get a pretty good haul in return.
As Simmons pointed out, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis have been touted as the two players most likely to be shipped out of town. Holiday is 34 years old and signed a four-year, $135 million contract extension last year. Porzingis, meanwhile, is a 29-year-old on the last year of his contract and has an injury history.
You’re not getting much in return for Holiday or Porzingis. It has been reported that the Celtics want a first-round pick for Holiday, but that seems unrealistic. If they want to shed salary to get under the second apron while also bringing in some valuable assets, trading Brown could end up being their only way to pull that off.
You would feel for Brown if he does end up getting moved. It seemed like all this trade talk would die down for good after the four-time All-Star’s heroics in the playoffs last season, but that might not end up being the case.
