Fake Ass Brad Stevens secures JB, TJ, Luke &..Luke!

Celtics GM “Fake Ass” Brad Stevens offers Jaylen Brown an Extension, signs TJ Warren, Luke Kennard and yes…Luke Kornet

t’s time for my annual attempt at running the Boston Celtics.
President of basketball operations Brad Stevens already drafted JD Davison in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft but still has plenty of decisions to make this offseason. Who should Stevens prioritize with his team’s taxpayer midlevel exception? How should he use his team’s trade exceptions? What tweaks should he make to a roster that reached the NBA Finals this past season and still has everyone important under contract?
Hoping to evaluate what the Celtics front office could accomplish, I pretended to be Stevens and wrote what I would do in his place. This exercise isn’t meant to simulate a dream offseason, but one that would be both realistic and successful. Unlike some other recent summers, the Celtics should feel comfortable with their core. Understanding that, I aimed to find a couple of additions to bolster the roster depth without significantly altering the identity formed this past season. Because Boston is set to return everybody who played substantial minutes during the postseason, I felt emboldened to look for upside on the free-agency market, as you’ll be able to see below. That said, it will be tough for Stevens to find newcomers worthy of regular minutes in the Boston rotation. The Celtics were great late in the season partly because their top eight was so strong.
Whenever I do this exercise, I leave it with an even greater appreciation of how challenging it is to run an NBA team. Even after using the two biggest roster tools at Boston’s disposal, it’s possible I left the team with the same old playoff rotation. Anyway, here’s my attempt at a Celtics offseason. This wouldn’t be the best possible outcome for the team but hopefully it represents a somewhat realistic preview of what’s to come.

Sign T.J. Warren with the taxpayer midlevel exception
Warren has played four games over the last two seasons. He missed this past season entirely. He has been battling some serious foot issues, which might not be entirely resolved. Signing him would be a risk. If Warren’s available at this price, it means teams around the league are skeptical of his body. If he’s not right physically, the Celtics could end up getting little or nothing from their biggest free agent acquisition.
I don’t care. The upside would be worth the bet. At his best, Warren is an efficient scorer from anywhere on the court. He shot an absurd 57.5 percent on 2-pointers during his last full season, plus a sparkling 40.3 percent from behind the 3-point arc. He’s not big on the whole “assists” thing, but he would give the Celtics a legitimate third scorer. They could have used one in the playoffs. At the highest level of basketball, teams need guys who can just go get a bucket against any caliber of defense.
I don’t know all of the details on Warren’s health, but I would expect the Celtics to show interest if he is available with the taxpayer midlevel exception. This signing would be surrounded by question marks, but, as the acting Celtics president of basketball operations, I would be willing to take that gamble and sign Warren to a one-year, $6.3 million contract. If possible, the Celtics should try to sign him to a two-year deal so they would eventually have his Bird rights if he does round into form. For the sake of this exercise, I’m assuming he would prefer a shorter contract if he needs to accept this price.
Beyond Warren, other forwards like Atlanta’s Danilo Gallinari, Golden State’s Otto Porter Jr. and Orlando’s Gary Harris would make sense if they’re in Boston’s range. Those guys would all be pretty obvious fits, but Warren has the highest ceiling. That’s why he would be my pick.
Acquire Luke Kennard with the $17.1 million TPE
The Celtics have the green light to spend this summer, according to Stevens. If they allow their biggest traded player exception to expire, it would be a waste of a valuable resource. I fully expect them to use it even though that would mean going deeper into the luxury tax.
Before making this move, I would call the San Antonio Spurs about Dejounte Murray. I would inquire about Duncan Robinson and Jordan Clarkson. I would explore the markets for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a number of other wings. I would do all my homework to decide which players the Clippers would be OK with moving. They’re so loaded with wings – and set to shoulder such an enormous tax bill – that they should be expected to deal at least one solid player. Even Steve Ballmer won’t want to pay that much luxury tax (I think).
Because of their situation, it would make sense if Luke Kennard is available. Other players would be splashier additions. He might be the seventh-best wing currently on the Clippers. Even so, the trade price for him should be minimal enough for Boston to stomach the pain of his $14.8 million guaranteed in 2023-24. By using the TPE on him, I would also keep all of the Celtics’ future first-round picks to load up for a starter-level player when the right one becomes available. That future flexibility would be a priority for me. It would shove Kennard over other options that I believe would do more to help next season’s team.
Kennard can handle a bit of playmaking. He led the NBA in 3-point shooting this past season. He has shot 44.8 percent from behind the arc over the last two seasons combined. He has some defensive issues. Still, he at least owns pretty good size for a guard at 6-foot-5 (just don’t check his wingspan). The Clippers allowed just 106.6 points per 100 possessions with Kennard on the court last season. That mark would have ranked second in the league (behind the Celtics) over the course of the full season. So it’s at least possible to defend at a high level with him on the court. Kennard also rarely commits turnovers. With his elite shooting touch and weirdly low usage rate, he’s an easy guy to fit into an offense.
Kennard wouldn’t necessarily be in Boston’s regular playoff rotation, but his shooting would give Udoka another option when the postseason comes. Importantly, Kennard would also help the Celtics survive throughout the regular season whenever Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown need to miss time. After running out of steam in the finals, the organization wants to build a deeper roster to lighten the load on those guys. Kennard would afford the Celtics that luxury. His salary, while not ideal, could at least be packaged in a bigger deal one day down the road.
As the man in charge of this theoretical operation, I would trade a second-round pick to the Clippers for Kennard. Mostly, it would be a salary dump for Los Angeles. I would not be thrilled to use this TPE on someone unlikely to help much in the playoffs, especially considering the future money I would be adding to the team payroll. Still, Kennard is a 26-year-old sharpshooter coming off a solid season with his prime likely ahead of him.

Luke Kennard. (Brad Mills/USA TODAY Sports)
Offer Jaylen Brown a three-year contract extension
The Celtics can offer Brown a contract extension beginning this offseason but will be restricted to offering him a 120-percent raise in the first year of the deal. He will be eligible for a three-year extension that would pay him roughly $111 million in base salary, plus about $12 million more in incentives, while keeping him under contract through the 2026-27 season.
In this fake world, Brown would turn down my extension offer because he could make significantly more money by waiting until free agency. If he would rather lock in financial security on a contract extension that would still pay him nearly $40 million in base salary during the final year, the Celtics would be lucky to get him at that price.
Sign Grant Williams to a four-year, $44-million contract extension
I’m not certain Williams would accept an extension at this price. It should at least be in the vicinity of what he would consider, though. And this is my world. In it, Williams would say yes.
He made major progress during his third season, emerging as a knockdown shooter and valuable defender. His limitations mattered against the Warriors, but, before that, he made things tough for Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. Williams can help in the playoffs against great players. He has proven that.
I doubt he will ever be more than a role player, which is why I wouldn’t want to offer much more than this. If he turned down an extension at this price, I would be comfortable letting him enter restricted free agency next summer with the intention of matching any offer in this range. Williams would have good value – and a tradeable contract – at this price.
Rounding out the end of the bench
Based on discussions with a number of Celtics figures, forward Sam Hauser is highly regarded around the team. Though his contract isn’t fully guaranteed, I fully expect him to be on the roster. He would be on mine. He might even be a threat to take some bench minutes if he’s actually as good as some in the organization believe.
As Stevens said on draft night, the Celtics have the type of roster that can afford a developmental prospect or two at the end of the bench. Davison would take one of those spots in this scenario. Boston also has the NBA rights to recent draft picks Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin, but I would leave them overseas to continue learning on somebody else’s payroll.
That would leave me with one roster spot for a veteran’s minimum contract. I would fully expect to have limited options because my team wouldn’t have much playing time for anyone at the back end of the roster. Under the circumstances, keeping Luke Kornet on a one-year contract would make sense. He would give my team an emergency frontcourt option who can protect the rim and shoot a few 3-pointers on the rare occasions he actually steps on the court.
Evaluating the final roster
In this scenario, my depth chart would look like this:
Point guard: Marcus Smart, Payton Pritchard, JD Davison
Shooting guard: Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Luke Kennard
Small forward: Jayson Tatum, T.J. Warren, Sam Hauser, Aaron Nesmith
Power forward: Al Horford, Grant Williams
Center: Robert Williams, Daniel Theis, Luke Kornet
That’s a good, deep group. The Celtics would have a lot of lineup versatility. They would be built around the same identity that worked so well for them this past season with a little more shooting, scoring and depth sprinkled on top. Assuming reasonable health, Boston would have enough contributors to give Tatum and Brown fewer minutes throughout the season.
As mentioned earlier, there’s a chance I didn’t upgrade the playoff rotation at all. Still, a number of the returners would have room to grow. Warren would be a candidate to close games if he can be nursed back to form (maybe a big if). I would have plenty of avenues to look for trades in the future. Opposing front offices would need to get used to me calling to float a trade package of Theis, Nesmith, Kennard and a number of first-round picks. I don’t know how far that would get me, but I’d be looking most intently for an athletic power forward to succeed Horford, whose age doesn’t match the rest of the Celtics’ core.
Would my team win a title? Who knows? But this roster would be on the short list of Eastern Conference favorites with a chance to build on this past season’s promising playoff run.
J King

My “Bum Brad Stevens” wish list is one of Galinari, Patty Mills, in that order. That provides the veteran scoring presence that will not be a uni-dimensional scoring threat only.

Save the draft picks and scrape up whatever powder is available and try for PJ Washington (GWill, Nesmith + picks). After that, sit back and prepare for the season.

Well sure. You gotta have Luke Kornet.