The Boston Celtics were already projected to be one of the most active franchises during the 2021 offseason, but no one expected things to transpire this early on into their summer break.
Less than 24-hours after their Game 5 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in round one of the playoffs, it was announced that Danny Ainge would be stepping down from his duties with the organization and, in his place, Brad Stevens would drop the clipboard on the sidelines and move on up to fill the vacated role of President of Basketball Operations.
A little over two weeks later, another bomb erupted, as Stevens’ first move as President was a trade that sent starting point guard, Kemba Walker, from Beantown to Oklahoma City in exchange for Moses Brown and former starting center for the Cs, Al Horford.
With this move, Boston is setting itself up for quite a different look to their rotation come 2021-22, and despite them already making some sizeable moves in such a short time span, the folks at Bleacher Report believe this could be “only the beginning” for the franchise.
Citing their expectations coming into last year being followed up with a lackluster .500 record, writer Zach Buckley is under the impression that the front office for the Boston Celtics may wish to make some more adjustments to this team prior to next season’s tip-off, and thinks that everyone but Jayson Tatum could be considered as somewhat expendable:
"Jayson Tatum is going nowhere. He’s the organizational centerpiece. Jaylen Brown is probably staying put, too, though if the Portland Trail Blazers are ready to talk Damian Lillard trades (more on that later), Brown could conceivably top their wish list.If the Celtics swing a big trade without sacrificing a star wing, that probably means the end of the road for their longest tenured player, Marcus Smart. It could also mean giving up a prospect or two such as Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith or Payton Pritchard to sweeten the offer and up the return."
As we move forward into this year’s offseason, we expect to see the Boston Celtics attached to many other notable rumors.
Be it buzz relating to their head coaching search, free agency, or perhaps even more trades, the shamrocks are going to be an organization worth monitoring closely between now and October 19.