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The Boston Celtics have a pivotal Game 7 first-round postseason clash against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.
The Celtics jumped out to an early 3-1 series lead following a dominant 128-96 victory last Sunday, but have come up short in their last two close-out games (113-97 loss in Game 5 and 106-93 loss in Game 6). A Game 7 win would temporarily silence the Celtics’ doubters and keep the franchise’s title hopes alive.
However, a loss would likely prompt many to speculate about the future of the franchise’s Big 3 in Boston. According to Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, there’s a good chance the Celtics could ‘secretly’ explore a trade involving their 29-year-old NBA Finals MVP.
“How far the Boston Celtics make it in the 2026 playoffs will ultimately decide just how safe veterans like Brown and White are,” Swartz wrote Wednesday. An early playoff exit will undoubtedly have teams calling about both, and Boston should at least listen to offers given the season Brown is coming off of.”
“His stock is at an all-time high after averaging a career-best 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists, primarily as a No. 1 option while Jayson Tatum worked his way back to the court. He's still owed a whopping $183.1 million over the next three years (over $61 million per season).”
This isn’t the first time the Celtics have been rumored to move on from Brown. After Jayson Tatum suffered a gut-wrenching Achilles injury in the second round of the postseason and was subsequently eliminated by the New York Knicks, the idea of the Celtics trading Brown began to surface despite him being an integral part of the organization’s offense.
Ultimately, it didn’t happen, as Boston elected to cut ties with Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday via separate offseason trades. That said, an inexcusable first-round playoff blunder could, at the very least, compel the 18-time NBA champions to shop the five-time All-Star.
Needless to say, the Celtics’ upcoming playoff battle has massive implications.
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