No team has been more successful in the Eastern Conference lately than the Boston Celtics. The winningest team in NBA history has played in six of the last eight Eastern Conference Finals. Boston’s best player, Jayson Tatum, has already played in 19 playoff series and is still only 26 years old.
All of that makes it no surprise to see the Celtics in their second NBA Finals in three seasons. And this time, their appearance in the NBA’s championship round is a little more tense on paper.
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That’s because these Celtics were built to win a title. They have two All-Stars (Tatum and Jaylen Brown) surrounded by a roster stacked with other All-Star-caliber players and difference-makers. They also hail from the East, which is inarguably the easier path to the Finals between the NBA’s two conferences. If the Celtics don’t win this title, it’s hard to see this iteration of the team ever getting over the hump. Full stop.
With all of that said, we’ll have plenty of time to dive deeper into these narratives in a few weeks. For now, it’s worth revisiting the steps the Celtics took to build a juggernaut that qualified for this year’s NBA Finals.
1. Taking advantage of the Milwaukee Bucks’ desperation for Damian Lillard
This time last year, it wasn’t an abject certainty that Giannis Antetokounmpo would be a Buck for the duration of his entire NBA career. Well, actually, at this point in time, it still isn’t. But it helps that Milwaukee traded for perennial All-Star Damian Lillard with the aim of giving Antetokounmpo a top-flight running mate.
However, to acquire Lillard in a blockbuster trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, the Bucks had to give up some sizable assets. One of them was point guard Jrue Holiday, arguably the NBA’s best point-of-attack defender. With rebuilding Portland having no need for an older veteran guard like Holiday, it quickly shipped him off to the win-now Celtics.
Now, Holiday anchors a tenacious and elite Boston defense while usually making timely and smart plays on offense. This only happened because the Bucks were so eager for Lillard in the first place.
2. Selling high on Marcus Smart when they still could
From a glance, Smart might be one of the greatest Celtics of all time. The guard made three All-Defensive First Teams and was the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year during his career in green. He was once rightfully considered an important long-term core piece for Boston alongside Tatum and Brown.
Until he wasn’t.
After the Celtics’ disappointing collapse in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, they decided to sell high on Smart. They offloaded the defense-first point guard in a three-team deal that helped completely remodel their starting lineup. In return, Boston received a much-needed floor-spacer in center Kristaps Porzingis, who gives the Celtics another top-flight three-point shooter and offensive player.
While the Celtics are a deep and great team without Porzingis’s services, he undoubtedly gives them another extremely dangerous element. This never happens without a tough and shrewd trade of Smart.
3. Believing in Derrick White
Once upon a time, White was just another bog standard cog-in-the-machine for the San Antonio Spurs. By no means was he a bad player, but there was little chance the guard would ever really flourish once the Spurs entered an earnest rebuild. The Celtics thought as much because they wanted to capitalize on his potential.
Once San Antonio began trying to bottom out, Boston swooped in with a modest 2022 trade centered around White eventually shining in a winning environment. He’s done that and then some ever since.
In two seasons with the Celtics, White has morphed into an elite high-volume three-point shooter. Mix that up with his All-NBA-caliber defense, and the Celtics have constructed one of the more useful “winning” backcourts in the NBA. White fits like a perfect puzzle piece with the Celtics’ starters.
Even despite their recent success, these Celtics are proof that NBA contenders should never be afraid to make bold or shrewd trades.
Sometimes, a few shake-ups are exactly what’s necessary to compete for a title.
