Boston's 56-26 last season ended with a blown 3-1 lead to Philadelphia in the first round, and the offseason answer was sending Jaylen Brown to that same franchise for four draft picks. The 76ers visit TD Garden Saturday in the preseason, the first look at the trade from the other side of the court.
Trios have come and gone here before this one.
The Celtics have been built around three names before: Bird, McHale and Parish in the 1980s; Garnett, Pierce and Allen after 2007; Tatum and Brown, drafted in 2016 and 2017, after that. The Jays reached the 2022 Finals and beat Dallas for the 18th championship in 2024. This summer ended that pairing. Boston now pairs Tatum with Derrick White and Paul George instead, a trio that has yet to play a real game together.
The opponent Saturday already ended this era once.
Philadelphia eliminated Boston in the first round of the 2026 playoffs after the Celtics led 3-1, and the trade that followed sent Brown to the 76ers for four draft picks, two first-rounders and two second-rounders. Jaylen Brown, now on Philadelphia's roster, averaged 28.7 points a game last season. Saturday's preseason game at TD Garden is the first look at that math from the other bench.
The floor has outlasted bigger departures than this one.
Red Auerbach's signature is stitched into the parquet, and the Celtics have retired 23 numbers, more than any team in American sports. None of that changes what Saturday is: a preseason game, after an opener Boston won 124-113 behind Luka Garza's 22 points and 10 rebounds without George, Tatum, White or Queta on the floor. Boston carries $203.9 million in salary, above the league's $200.4 million tax threshold, while it tries to build a 19th banner around a roster three weeks from its first real game.
Why did the Celtics trade Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia?
Boston sent Brown to the 76ers this summer for four draft picks after Philadelphia eliminated the Celtics in the first round of the 2026 playoffs, erasing a 3-1 series lead.
How many championships have the Celtics won?
Eighteen, the most in NBA history, a total the franchise reached by beating Dallas in 2024 and still holds over the Lakers' seventeen.
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