Despite the fact that they’re trailing 3-2 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics still have a realistic chance of rattling off two straight wins and advancing to their fifth conference finals in seven years.
Regardless of what happens in the series, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd said, Celtics general manager Brad Stevens and company must look into making serious alterations to the team in the offseason and, on the May 10 episode of his show, “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” he proposed a trade with the Golden State Warriors.
The meat of the hypothetical exchange reads as follows:
Boston Celtics receive: Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins
Golden State Warriors receive: Jaylen Brown and Malcolm Brogdon
The Celtics “have to make a move,” Cowherd said, asserting that the tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown “doesn’t necessarily work because Brown’s got more alpha, but Tatum’s the better player.”
Cowherd said that swapping Brown for two players — in Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole — could be a complementary shakeup for Tatum.
“If you brought Jordan Poole and [Andrew] Wiggins in from the Warriors, Tatum would be clearly the best player,” Cowherd said. “He would have a wing defensive specialist; Wiggins would take some of the defensive pressure off. Poole’s not nearly the defender Jaylen Brown is, but he’s got a lot of alpha — he’s clearly not as good as Tatum. You wouldn’t have that issue about ‘Is it a Tatum team or a Brown team?’ It would be a Tatum team with more defensive help and some offense [with] Wiggins on the wing.”
“Jaylen Brown is perfect for the Warriors.”
— @ColinCowherd on why it’s time for the Celtics to shake things up…
Cowherd said the trade would benefit the Celtics and it would help an aging Golden State club, calling Brown “perfect for the Warriors” because he’s “highly functional, plays his butt off, absolutely commits on the defensive end — but he would know it’s [Stephen Curry’s] team.”
Marcus Smart Says ‘Everything’ Went Wrong for Celtics
Cowherd spent nearly three minutes of his May 10 episode arguing that the Celtics need to put more emphasis and energy into the offense, but veteran guard Marcus Smart said team needs a little extra firepower in all areas of its game.
Following Boston’s Game 5 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on May 9, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year was asked by reporters what he believed went wrong for the C’s on the night.
Smart provided a blunt, one-word retort: “Everything.”
.@ChrisForsberg_: “What went wrong tonight?”
Marcus Smart: “Everything.”
The point guard followed it up by saying, “Everything went wrong. They made every right play, they made every hustle play. Everything went wrong for us that can go wrong.”
The Sixers put forth an offensive clinic during their latest bout against the Celtics, shooting 50.6% from the field and 40.0% from distance while Boston managed to convert on a lackluster 39.8% of their attempts from the field and 31.6% from deep.
Insider Blasts Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla
Following Boston’s brutal Game 5 loss while at home, Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer tweeted about head coach Joe Mazzulla, writing that the club’s postseason lapses are direct examples of why he isn’t ready to be leading the charge for the Celtics or, frankly, any contending team in the postseason.
“Joe Mazzulla is not ready for this stage,” O’Connor Tweeted. “Losing Ime Udoka and Will Hardy may be something the Celtics never recover from.”
Joe Mazzulla is not ready for this stage. Losing Ime Udoka and Will Hardy may be something the Celtics never recover from.
Though some were seen defending Mazzulla in the comments section of the tweet, O’Connor would follow up his sentiment by pointing out the lacking adjustments Mazzulla has made and even stated that former Boston and current Sixers coach Doc Rivers “destroyed Joe,” a sentiment NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg seems to agree with.
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Proposed Trade Would Swap Celtics’ Jaylen Brown for Golden State Warriors Star