The Celtics continue to be in the thick of trade rumors even though they’ve already made a pair of big deals. Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis have been traded away as the Celtics saved a significant amount of money by moving their contracts.
Now, all eyes are on the C’s heading into the 2025 NBA Draft, which starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday with the first round. Trade rumors continue to swirl when it comes to Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. ESPN’s Shams Charania provided the latest on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday ahead of the draft.
“All eyes are going to be on Jaylen Brown, Derrick White,” Charania said. “My sense this morning, on the morning of the NBA Draft, unless a team blows the Celtics out of the water, they prefer to keep both Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. But, again, they are still a first apron team in the tax. They are still a luxury-tax-paying team. Their phone lines are open. They’re ringing. They’re open to the conversations.
“At minimum, a player like Sam Hauser, Anfernee Simons, we could see potentially being discussed even more. They’ve got a very price threshold on Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, to my understanding, talking to people around the league. If they are going to move either of them, it’s going to be a massive haul they’ll get.”
It doesn’t sound like there’s too much new information at this point. Teams continue to call about Brown as the former NBA Finals MVP will naturally garner a lot of attention. White is also a stellar player on what’s looking like a value contract with four years and $118 million on it.
If there is a move that involves Brown or White, it would likely include draft assets. It sounds like the C’s would rather not trade one of their core pieces at this point, though it will depend on the trade haul returning back to Boston.
The Celtics have already dipped under the second apron of the salary cap by dealing away Porzingis and Holiday. Considering the state of the roster, though, further moves are expected the rest of the offseason. It just depends on what the front office’s next deal will be after already making a pair of big splashes.