The Boston Celtics could change the NBA landscape this summer by trading for the face of the league.
That’s right, despite losing Jayson Tatum for the entire 2025-26 season, Boston could make an epic splash on the offseason trade market and bring in a player who would make the Celtics one of the most fun teams in the NBA next season.
Consider the following three-team deal between the Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and Golden State Warriors.
The Trade
Celtics receive…
Pistons receive…
- Jimmy Butler
- 2025 No. 28 pick (BOS)
Warriors receive…
- Jaylen Brown
- Kristaps Porzingis (expiring)
- Jaden Ivey (expiring)
- Tobias Harris (expiring)
- Isaiah Stewart
Celtics’ perspective
This would sadly mean the end of the Tatum-Brown era in Boston. It would also mean punting completely on the 2025-26 season … or would it?
A Derrick White-Curry backcourt could still power the Celtics to the playoffs, especially if Boston didn’t trade Jrue Holiday and also re-signed Al Horford and Luke Kornet this summer. Think about the following rotation for the Cs in 2025-26 … how far do you think this team could go?
Derrick White/ JD Davison
Stephen Curry/ Payton Pritchard
Jrue Holiday/ Sam Hauser
Al Horford/ Xavier Tillman
Luke Kornet/ Neemias Queta
That might not be an NBA Finals team, but it also wouldn’t be a team you can sleep on in what promises to be a weak Eastern Conference.
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There’s also the entertainment factor to consider: Curry in Celtics green would fill the seats … every night. And that’s something that Boston’s ownership is probably concerned about entering a 2025-26 season without Tatum.
Speaking of Tatum, when he returned in 2026-27, it would be to play alongside White and Curry … wow. There’s no reason that those three players — plus a key additional frontcourt piece that Brad Stevens brings in — wouldn’t be able to form the core of a contender for a year or two.
Once Curry ages out, the Celtics would see their cap space renewed, enabling Stevens to acquire another big piece to maintain contender status around Tatum and White.
Warriors’ perspective
A complete rebuild. Golden State is too old to compete with its current core of Curry, Butler, and Draymond Green for much longer. Sure, the trio might have another 12 to 24 months of winning basketball left, but is it plausible that they can contend in the vicious West?
By choosing to blow things up now rather than in a year or two, the Warriors could get a much better haul for Curry than they would when he’s 39 or 40 years old.
Acquiring Jaylen Brown would be a massive way to begin a new era in Golden State. Jaden Ivey is also an explosive guard with All-Star potential who could be huge for the Dubs if he recovers fully from a broken fibula (and if he doesn’t look right, Golden State wouldn’t be tied to his expiring deal).
Getting Stewart would be awesome for the Warriors, too, as they lack size and grit in the frontcourt.
Porzingis would be an intriguing guy to keep in the organization beyond his expiring deal if he showed some durability in 2025-26, but more likely, the Warriors would let KP and Harris walk in the summer of 2026 to maintain cap space and keep building around Brown.
There’s also the Jonathan Kuminga situation to think about. The Warriors could do the above blockbuster trade while moving other pieces around in other deals to retain Kuminga, thereby creating an intriguing Brown-Kuminga pairing on the wing.
Pistons’ perspective
It remains to be seen whether or not Detroit will be able to re-sign Malik Beasley, but even if they fail to, take a look at this starting lineup:
Cade Cunningham
Tim Hardaway Jr. (or Beasley)
Jimmy Butler
Ausar Thompson
Jalen Duren
Sure, that’s a small lineup other than Duren, and Detroit could replace Hardaway in the lineup with a power forward if they wanted to play two bigs (losing Stewart in the deal would make the Pistons a bit thin upfront, so they’d have to snag another big on the market).
Despite subtracting Stewart, though, it feels like adding Jimmy Butler to a Cade-Ausar-Duren core would make this team’s ceiling higher than last year.
Losing Ivey is no small matter, either, but he’s on an expiring deal, and Detroit can’t be planning to pay him in 2026, as they’re more likely allocating big funds to keep Cunningham and Thompson on board long term (someone else could pay Ivey a lot of money if he looks healthy in 2025-26, but it wouldn’t be Detroit).
And then you’re losing Harris in the deal, but that’s 100 percent okay if you’re getting Butler back.
This is a risky deal for the Pistons only in the sense of losing Stewart.
Curry in a Celtics uniform. Butler raising the Pistons’ ceiling. Epic rebuild for the Warriors.
Who says no?
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