The Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum era for the Boston Celtics may be over.
Entering Game 7 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, it felt as if the stars were aligning for something special to happen for the Boston Celtics. But from the opening tip in which Jayson Tatum turned his ankle on the opening play, it was as if the script completely changed.
The crowd at TD Garden flipped from incredibly confident to anxiously nervous. And the Celtics’ play echoed that as the Heat showed their mental fortitude once again in this series to control the game from wire to wire. The Heat never seemed fazed at any point during the game and cruised to a 103-84 win.
As the Heat celebrated on the Celtics’ home floor, Boston officially entered an offseason in which they have many questions to answer.
Is it the end of an era for the Boston Celtics?
The biggest question that the Celtics will need to answer is whether or not they will offer Brown a supermax contract extension that could be worth up to $295 million over five years. And that’s one of the biggest questions that nearly every other front office in the league will be keeping a close eye on.
Because the general thought is that if the Celtics don’t offer Brown the supermax extension or at least something close to that, he’s going to demand a trade away from Boston. That would clearly mark the end of an era for the Celtics.
You’d have to imagine that question is something the Celtics’ front office and the ownership group will need to hammer out before the official start of the offseason arrives. The last thing that the Celtics need to do is enter the offseason without a clear path forward.
So, was the Celtics’ disappointment of losing in the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 7 on their home floor against an 8th seed enough to warrant a complete retooling of the roster? And was that enough doubt to make the franchise believe that they can’t win a title with Tatum and Brown as the team’s two best players?
It’s hard to imagine that the Celtics are going to throw the towel on this core. I’d have to see it to believe it. But there are some very clear flaws that the team will have to deal with heading into the offseason.
The offense was not good enough in key moments. The team as a whole seemed to freeze in crunch time. And throughout the latter portion of the season and into the playoffs, their defense took a clear dive.
It’s finally time for the Celtics to make a decision. Do they want to move forward with Tatum and Brown or is this the perfect time for a bit of a detour?