Boston's 18th championship in 2024 came from two players it drafted, Jayson Tatum at No. 3 in 2017 and Jaylen Brown in 2016. Brown is now in Philadelphia, and the star Boston added in his place, Paul George, arrived by trade — the same shape as the 2008 team that won banner 17.
Boston's last two banners were built by different methods.
Banner 17, in 2008, paired homegrown captain Paul Pierce with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, both acquired by trade, under coach Doc Rivers, beating the Lakers for the title. Banner 18, in 2024, came from two draft picks, Tatum, taken No. 3 in 2017, and Brown, taken in 2016, beating the Dallas Mavericks. The Jays era that banner capped is the one Boston closed this offseason.
This roster looks like the earlier model, not the one that just won.
Brown is gone, traded to the 76ers this offseason for Paul George and four draft picks. What is left is a draftee core, Tatum and Derrick White, with an imported star layered on top in George, who arrived at 36 with a $54.1M salary. That is Pierce-and-Garnett math, not Tatum-and-Brown math.
The gap over the Lakers is the number this roster is chasing.
Boston's 18 championships lead the Lakers' 17, with a record 12 Finals meetings between the two franchises, Boston winning nine. Every banner this era adds widens the oldest measuring stick in the rivalry, and the group chasing the next one now has George in the frontcourt instead of Brown.
New ownership is footing this season's bill.
William Chisholm's group bought the Celtics in May 2025 for $6.1 billion, the second-highest sports franchise sale in U.S. history behind the Lakers' roughly $10 billion deal. The team it bought sits at $203.9M in payroll, above the $200.4M luxury tax line, with Tatum ($58.5M) and George ($54.1M) the two biggest checks.
Why did the Celtics trade Jaylen Brown?
Boston sent him to the 76ers in the 2026 offseason for Paul George and four draft picks, after a first-round playoff loss to Philadelphia in which the Celtics blew a 3-1 series lead.
How does this year's roster compare to Boston's last two championship teams?
It resembles the 2008 team more than the 2024 one: a draft-built core in Tatum and White with George added by trade, rather than the two homegrown stars, Tatum and Brown, who won banner 18 together.
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