Just when it felt like we had hit the dog days of the offseason with the NBA Draft, free agency and Summer League in the rearview mirror, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski hit us with a patented "Woj Bomb" in the middle of the night.
According to Wojnarowski, the Celtics have "emerged among teams engaged in talks" with the Nets in a deal to acquire superstar forward Kevin Durant.
Durant requested a trade earlier this summer, but Brooklyn's astronomical asking price for the former MVP has deterred any franchise from trading for him.
The Athletic's Shams Charania provided a more in-depth look at the Celtics' trade package, reporting that Boston offered All-Star guard Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick to the Nets for Durant. Brooklyn countered by asking the Celtics to include reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and multiple draft picks in addition to Brown and "potentially one more rotation player."
While nobody can blame the Nets for seeking that much in return for one of the 15 greatest players in NBA history, I'm here to repeat something I said during the lowest lows and highest highs of Boston's season last year.
The Celtics should not break up Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. No, not even for Durant, who is one of the best scorers of all time.
Here's why.
MORE: Where would Celtics' trade package rank among potential Durant deals?
The case against the Celtics trading for Kevin Durant
After years of turmoil within the franchise and locker room, the Celtics finally saw everything click into place last season. Under new head coach Ime Udoka, Boston's talented roster was able to maximize its true potential, playing an unselfish brand of basketball on offense while locking down on the defensive end.
As a result, the Celtics returned to the NBA Finals for the first time in over a decade, but their inexperience on the league's biggest stage saw them fall to the Warriors, coming up two wins shy of a championship.
With their young core of Tatum, Brown, Smart and Robert Williams all under the age of 28 and under contract through the 2023-24 season, the aftermath of the loss immediately felt like "they'll be back."
Then the offseason hit, and Boston got even better.
After trading for a floor general in Malcolm Brogdon and signing a veteran shooter in Danilo Gallinari, the Celtics filled two major voids and became the betting favorites to win the 2023 NBA title. That brings us to real-time, where it's hard to understand why the front office would want to blow things up to acquire Durant.
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Don't get me wrong, Durant is still an incredible player – one of the five best in the league – who immediately makes any team he joins a title contender. A lot of the offensive woes we saw from the Celtics in the playoffs and Finals would vanish with him on the roster.
But is trading for a 33-year-old superstar who is only two years removed from a devastating Achilles injury and has missed plenty of time lately due to injury management worth shaking up your depth and chemistry?
In my opinion, absolutely not, and for a few different reasons.
Shrinking the Celtics' title window
It would feel impatient and short-sighted from Boston's front office. The Celtics nearly won the title this past season and, as I mentioned, they're already the favorites to win next year. This roster has more than enough talent to compete for a championship right now and in the future.
If they were to trade Brown, Smart and other pieces, along with draft compensation, that title window shrinks drastically. And how much would Durant really increase their championship odds this season compared to where the team already stands?
Sacrificing depth
The Nets reportedly want Brown, Smart and another rotation player in return for Durant. That means the Celtics would be left with a starting backcourt of Brogdon – who is injury prone and has not played more than 60 games in four of his six NBA seasons – and potentially White, with only Payton Pritchard off the bench.
While their frontcourt would naturally receive a boost with Durant, the other rotational player they would possibly have to give up if it wasn't White would be someone like Grant Williams, leaving the Celtics with only KD, Tatum, Robert Williams (who is also injury prone), 36-year-old Al Horford and Gallinari.
As Boston's roster is currently constructed, it's fair to say it is the deepest team in the league. That would no longer be the case if it made a trade for Durant.
Continuity on the court
Incorporating Durant completely changes the make-up of this Celtics roster, on and off the floor.
On the court, a Durant-Tatum pairing is scary on offense and would surely fix a lot of the issues we saw from Boston on that end of the floor in the playoffs. But Tatum would also become 1B to Durant's 1A.
Does the front office really want to take the keys of the franchise away from their 24-year-old superstar who will likely be an MVP candidate over the next few seasons? Playing alongside Durant, it's inevitable that Tatum would have to take a back seat to one of the greatest scorers in league history, and it would be ill-advised for Boston to stunt his growth like that.
Defensively, the Celtics would undoubtedly take a hit losing players like Brown and reigning DPOY Smart. Boston's defense was the engine that drove its run to the NBA Finals, using its versatility to its advantage to switch everything. While Durant is still a solid defender at this point in his career, he's no Smart or Brown on that end of the floor, and the Celtics would be forced to play guys like Pritchard and Gallinari – who are both limited on defense – more minutes because of lack of depth.
Just as everything was starting to fall into place for the Celtics last season, they would have to almost completely start over if they traded for Durant.
Team chemistry off the court
On top of that, Brown and Smart are two of the biggest leaders and voices in the Celtics' locker room.
The core of those two, Tatum, Horford and Williams has been through a lot in Boston to get to this point. It's what made getting over the hump and reaching the Finals so rewarding for that group when they defeated the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
"They said we couldn't play together!"
— ESPN (@espn) May 30, 2022
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown share a moment after reaching the NBA Finals 🤝 @jaytatum0 @FCHWPO pic.twitter.com/JPnR9r0CMb
Moving Brown and Smart would gut the locker room and change the identity of this Celtics team. There's no doubt about it.
Brown already shared his displeasures with the trade rumors on Monday, tweeting a simple phrase: "Smh." The majority of Celtics Nation echoed that sentiment, not wanting to trade Brown for Durant.
There's something more rewarding about a homegrown team pursuing – and winning – a title compared to a team that was bought or traded for. Boston appears to be this close to raising Banner 18 into the rafters with a core of players who were drafted and developed by this franchise. For that reason, it's hard to argue with the fans who want them to see it through with this group.
Trading for Durant would give the Celtics a future Hall of Famer and one of the best players to play the game as they continue to push for their first championship since 2008. But it's not worth breaking up Tatum and Brown and sacrificing the near future to make it happen.
