ESPN Insider on Boston Celtics trade deadline: 'They're going to be aggressive'

Everyone wants to know what the Celtics are going to do at the trade deadline. They have a number of potential paths, from blockbuster deal to standing pat.

Brad Stevens is notoriously secretive when it comes to these things, running a tight front office with few, if any, leaks that tip his hand. But he still has to talk to other front offices, and those front offices aren’t quite as tight-lipped. That gives ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania an opportunity to get at least some sense of what Stevens is trying to accomplish. He laid some of that out on the Pat McAfee show.

"Jaylen Brown has to be in the MVP conversation for what he's done with this Celtics team..

Boston could be a team looking to make a move before the trade deadline" ~ @ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/3Brhpavexf
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 23, 2026

“I can see Boston going the other way and maybe adding a player, maybe adding another big man,” he said. “They’ve been in the marketplace trying to go get a big-time starting center, potentially. They're going to be, I think, aggressive in moving the needle. They’ve got assets, they’ve got contracts to use and play with.”

The list of assets is, indeed, a long one. They have an opportunity to combine some contracts, most notably Anfernee Simons’ $27.7 million, and some draft picks to get just about anyone on the market. However, the issue they face is what comes next, financially.

The Celtics fought to get under the second apron this summer because they could no longer operate with the CBA handcuffs on. So while it’s possible the Celtics can do a lot, it still feels unlikely that they are going to go over the second apron to get it done.

“There’s a lot of things that go into these moves and a lot of things that are really important.” he told reporters after making the Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday trades. “I think the second apron basketball penalties are real, and I’m not sure I understood how real until they were staring me in the face in the last month. So I do think that that can’t be overstated.”

So “aggressive” is something we should probably expect, but the there's a big difference between “aggressive” and “completed trade.” Getting a deal done in this climate is difficult mostly because more teams have to get involved more often to make money work, especially when big salaries are involved.

“I think there is definitely an increased awareness every day about the aprons, the effect of the aprons and the trade restrictions that are a part of that,” Stevens said last month. “It becomes much more difficult just to do a one-for-one. And it's always been difficult when you start including third, fourth, fifth teams.”

The trade deadline is February 5, so the ticking clock is starting to get louder. The Celtics may feel the East open enough to go for it right now, but they do have other factors to consider. Jayson Tatum seems poised to return at some point this season, and how he fits with some of the new players (or more accurately, how they fit with him) has to be considered as well.

There's also the possibility of keeping Simons at a mid-level kind of deal, if he’s willing to accept a contract that starts at $15 million. The market will dictate whether he’s okay with that, but keeping him at number would give the Celtics a potent bench scorer on a very tradeable deal. The Celtics could pivot to a lesser move at this deadline and see how that works with Tatum, leaving themselves open to a bigger move next season.

For now, we’re left to guess, because Stevens doesn’t leave many breadcrumbs to follow. The answers will come soon.