The Boston Celtics’ roster will look significantly different when they report to training camp following their trade that sent five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. The stunning deal was the latest in a series of moves that began last summer, further dismantling the unit that won Boston the 2024 NBA championship.
In exchange for Brown, the Celtics acquired 36-year-old Paul George, who is on the downside of his career, along with four future draft picks. As a result, they will have less offensive firepower around franchise player Jayson Tatum than they have had in years.
How will Boston attempt to remain competitive in a revamped and improved Eastern Conference? ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst shed light on how the new-look squad plans to adapt its offensive approach.
Brian Windhorst Details How Celtics Plan To Adjust Post-Jaylen Brown Trade
On Wednesday’s edition of “NBA Today,” Windhorst identified several players Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla will look to for more offensive production next season.
“The Celtics are trying a new way of doing things,” Windhorst said. “It’s not just gonna be Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown; they’re gonna rely on Payton Pritchard more, they’re gonna rely on Baylor Scheierman more, they’re gonna rely on Hugo González and even Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta, who they just re-signed.
“They feel like depth and overall youth is gonna be more important than having multiple star players on superstar contracts.”
Pritchard is someone who has proven he can provide offensive support. The guard averaged 17.0 points and 5.2 assists per game this past season, and although Mazzulla benched him midway through the campaign, he continued to get plenty of playing time and put up strong numbers.
Queta, a 7-footer, emerged as an interior contributor by averaging 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks a night. Scheierman and González are unproven as of now, but Robinson thrived as the New York Knicks’ backup center during this year’s championship run, even though he isn’t a scoring threat.
Boston still has Derrick White, who has been one of its starting guards since it acquired him in February 2022. White isn’t the most efficient scorer, but he still averaged 16.5 points per game during the 2025-26 season.
Perhaps the biggest concern for the Celtics is their medium- to long-term outlook. While Tatum is in his prime at 28 years old, he doesn’t have all the time in the world to wait for the team to reconstruct a championship-caliber supporting cast around him.
Boston will have to hope the 2028 and 2031 first-round picks it acquired in the Brown trade produce at least one high-level player because, as things stand, the Celtics lack attractive player assets to pursue another blockbuster trade.
