Boston's 18 championships have often followed the same mechanism: trade away an aging core, turn the return into the next one. The picks sent back for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce became Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum; this summer Brown himself went out in the deal that brought back Paul George.
The current core was itself the return on a trade.
Garnett and Pierce left for Brooklyn in exchange for four first-round picks. Those picks became Brown, drafted in 2016, and Tatum, the No. 3 pick in 2017. The pairing that reached the 2022 Finals and won the 2024 title was the product of tearing down the pairing before it.
Eighteen banners came more often from a trade than a draft class.
Red Auerbach acquired Bill Russell in 1956, and the first title followed in 1957. The 1980s title teams ran through Larry Bird, but the 2008 championship needed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen added by trade around captain Paul Pierce. This summer's addition of Paul George for Brown follows the same shape: a proven veteran brought in by trade around a core that grew up in the program.
Miami has closed the door on Boston more than once, and today's date recalls an early one.
On this date in 2020, Boston lost to Miami, 101-106, in a playoff game — part of a run in which the Heat would eliminate the Celtics that year, and again in 2022 and 2023. Philadelphia has since replaced Miami as the sharper rival, having ended last season after a 3-1 lead and then added Brown himself. Boston has not measured itself against either club yet this year; camp opens with Paul George, not Brown, on that side of the roster.
The banner count with the Lakers remains the number that outlasts any single trade.
Boston's 18 championships lead the Lakers' 17, a gap that has defined the sport's oldest rivalry since the 1960s. The current roster carries that history into a season that has not started: Tatum is day-to-day with a left knee issue and targets an October 1 return, and a September 12 notes roundup left questions on both Pritchard and Tatum unanswered. The franchise has rebuilt around a returning core before. It is doing so again.
How many championships have the Celtics won?
Eighteen, the most in NBA history — one more than the Lakers' 17.
Where did Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum come from?
Both were drafted with picks Boston received for trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn — Brown in 2016, Tatum, the No. 3 pick, in 2017.
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