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The Boston Celtics have had a very successful start to the 2022 NBA offseason. After coming up two games short of winning a title in the 2022 NBA Finals, the front office came into the offseason with a clear plan of what they wanted to accomplish, and through a few shrewd moves, they have managed to hit on most of the points on their list.
In the 2022 NBA Draft, the C's used their lone second round pick on JD Davison, who just put together a superb Summer League campaign. They re-signed Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet to fill out the end of their bench. And they strengthened their rotation by signing Danilo Gallinari in free agency and pulling off a trade with the Indiana Pacers for Malcolm Brogdon.
Those moves are all extremely helpful and didn't cost the team much to accomplish. It's clear Boston hasn't made many missteps so far this offseason. But the way they have treated one of their star players could end up coming back to bite them down the line. And in an offseason where the Celtics haven't made many mistakes, their worst move might end up being one that they decide not to make.
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Boston Celtics worst offseason move: their treatment of Jaylen Brown
The Celtics are coming off an insane turnaround that saw them go from 11th place in the Eastern Conference in midway through January all the way to the NBA Finals. They got there because they trusted that their roster could take them there, and that confidence ended up paying off in a big way.
The detractors who said that Boston couldn't win with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the way were proved wrong. Not in the sense that they won a title because, well, they didn't. But because they managed to turn a lost season into one that very nearly resulted in a banner being raised in the rafters of TD Garden.
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There's no award for that, but it's clear that the Tatum/Brown combination is the Celtics best hope at winning their next championship. And for the most part, the moves they have made this offseason have been geared towards making their lives easier after a grueling playoff run last season.
In principal, Boston's front office has done everything right. But when reports come out that Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant has requested a trade out of Brooklyn, and the Celtics are rumored to be poking their nose in the situation, it isn't a great look for their confidence in Brown. It's clear that if the Celtics were to trade for Durant, Brown would have to be part of the deal.
Now obviously most teams are going to check in and see what the Nets are looking for in a Durant trade, and from the sounds of it, that's all Boston has done here. But in doing so, they have once again alienated one of the best players on their roster. Brown knows that if Durant were to come to Boston, he would be going to Brooklyn. That can't be a great feeling, especially after all Boston accomplished last season.
This is more concerning becaause Brown became eligible for a contract extension this offseason. Brown still has two years left on his deal, and isn't going to accept any extension this offseason because he can earn a bigger deal if he waits longer.
The problem is there have been no reports that Boston has even approached Brown about a potential extension. Sure, he's not going to accept it, but at least take the maximum deal you can offer him (three year deal worth roughly $111 million) to the table just to let him know that you want to get an extension done with him, even if it isn't this offseason.
By alienating Brown, Boston's front office is running the risk of blowing up a championship team that took years to build. After all the missteps, such as the Gordon Hayward signing, the Kyrie Irving trade, and the Kemba Walker signing, they finally figured it all out last season. In fact, heading into the 2022-23 season, they look better far better than they did at the end of the Finals.
But without Brown, it all goes to waste. He and Tatum are admittedly not the most natural fit considering they both profile as high volume isolation scorers, but they managed to make it work last season when they made a crazy run to the Finals. The Celtics have done pretty much everything right this offseason, but the one bad move they have made could very well end up being the downfall of their current squad.
