How the Boston Celtics Built Their Championship Team

The Celtics have won their 18th championship in franchise history, the most in the league, but the road to this title wasn’t easy. Building a championship team is not a simple task. It takes years of trials and errors, drafting and trading, free agent signings and staff adjustments. We are going to dive into how the Celtics built this championship team, and the series of transactions that led them to acquiring their players. In order to do this, we have to go all the way back to 1994.
 
In the post-Larry Bird and Kevin McHale era, the Boston Celtics went into the worst stretch in franchise history. They failed to win more than 36 games for 8 straight years from the 1993-94 season to the 2000-01 season, resulting in a handful of lottery picks.
 
Drafting Eric Montross ninth overall in 1994 spearheaded the avalanche of transactions that led to acquiring Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. In the following years they drafted Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson, among others, with their lottery picks. Paul Pierce was the only player that the Celtics kept around for a long period of time. In 2007, they went all in trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, leading to a championship in 2008. In 2013, they traded Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett along with other assets for players and 4 first round picks. One of those picks was Jaylen Brown drafted 3rd overall in 2016. Another pick ended up being the 1st overall pick in 2017, which they traded back and drafted Jayson Tatum 3rd overall. This led to a new era of the Boston Celtics.
 
The Celtics were already a good team when Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were drafted with Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart leading the team. They were a playoff team, and even made the conference finals, but they were missing the superstar-level talent to make them true contenders.
In 2017, when Jayson Tatum was drafted, they acquired Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving to help them take that next step. There were high expectations for this group, but unfortunately, things didn’t pan out exactly as they hoped. Injuries were a big issue during their first year together, but they still made the conference finals while Tatum, Brown and Terry Rozier took a major step in their development. Team chemistry and the cohesion of the group was another issue. After just two years together, Kyrie chose not to re-sign with Boston, leaving Celtics fans unhappy with the situation.
Terry Rozier was drafted in 2015 by the Celtics and primarily played as the backup point guard behind Kyrie Irving. When Rozier became a free agent, the Celtics used him in a sign-and-trade deal with the Charlotte Hornets to acquire Kemba Walker in 2019.
The next wave of talent acquisition included Kemba Walker and Grant Williams in 2019 and Robert Williams III the year prior in 2018. Kemba Walker gave them veteran leadership and another shot at a title run. They made the conference finals again in 2020 for the third time in four years, but ultimately fell short against the Heat.
Kemba Walker had a good two-year stint with the Celtics, making the all-star team his first year there. In 2021, Kemba Walker was traded to the Thunder for Al Horford, his second stint with the Celtics. This trade also led to the acquisition of Derrick White.
In 2020, the Celtics drafted Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith. The former has been the primary backup point guard and a vital piece of the bench unit. The latter was on the team for two years, then was used in a trade for Malcolm Brogdon in 2022. This trade led to acquiring Jrue Holiday in 2023 by sending Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III to the Portland Trail Blazers.
 
Since Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have become star players, they have always been considered a contender. The Celtics surrounded their stars with good role players, and in 2022, Tatum and Brown led them to their first finals appearance since 2010, eventually losing to the Warriors in 6 games. A year later, in 2023, they made another conference finals appearance, but lost to the Miami Heat once again. The front office felt like this group had hit their ceiling, and big changes needed to be made.
 
They made the tough decision to trade Marcus Smart, who had a great 9-year stint with the team and was beloved by the organization and the fans. He was part of a 3-team trade with the Grizzlies and Wizards to acquire Kristaps Porzingis.
 
They also traded valuable players like Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon, among others, as part of the trades for Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. They made a number of other trades and signings throughout the off-season to fill out the back half of the roster. These transactions completed the roster for their championship season.
 
This Celtics team was dominant, becoming the best offense and 2nd best defense in the league. They also had the best starting unit and one of the deepest benches this season. Even though their road to the finals wasn’t very difficult, with injuries plaguing opposing teams, they proved their dominance over the Mavericks in the finals winning in 5 games. This team will run it back for another year, looking to be dominant once again and win back-to-back championships for the first time since the Golden State Warriors in 2017-18.
 

How Each Player Was Acquired:

This is a list of transactions that led to the acquisition of every player on the championship roster.
 
For example:
The Celtics re-signed Terry Rozier in free agency, but later traded him for Kemba Walker. Then, Kemba Walker was traded for Al Horford.
 
Terry Rozier → Kemba Walker → Al Horford
 
Jaylen Brown – Drafted 3rd overall in 2016
  • June 29, 1994 – Drafted Eric Montross 9th overall
  • June 21, 1996 – Traded Eric Montross and 1996 1st round pick (Samaki Walker) to the Mavericks for 1996 1st round pick (Antoine Walker) and 1997 1st round pick (Ron Mercer)
  • June 26, 1996 – Drafted Antoine Walker 6th overall
  • June 24, 1998 – Drafted Paul Pierce 10th overall
  • August 3, 2000 – Signed Randy Brown as a free agent
  • January 10, 2001 – Signed Milt Palacio as a free agent
  • June 27, 2001 – Drafted Joe Johnson 10th overall
  • February 20, 2002 – Traded Randy Brown, Joe Johnson, Milt Palacio, and 2002 1st round pick (Casey Jacobsen) to the Suns for Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers
  • October 20, 2003 – Traded Tony Delk, Antoine Walker to the Mavericks for Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch and 2004 1st round pick (Delonte West)
  • June 24, 2004 – Drafted Al Jefferson 15th overall
  • June 28, 2005 – Drafted Gerald Green 18th overall
  • June 28, 2005 – Drafted Ryan Gomes 50th overall (2nd round)
  • September 30, 2005 – Traded 2006 2nd round pick to the Hornets for Dan Dickau
  • June 28, 2006 – Drafted Randy Foye 7th overall
  • June 28, 2006 – Traded Dan Dickau, Randy Foye, and Raef LaFrentz to the Trail Blazers for Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and 2008 2nd round pick
  • July 31, 2007 – Traded Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, 2009 1st round pick, and 2009 1st round pick to the Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett
  • July 18, 2012 – Signed Jason Terry as a free agent
  • February 28, 2013 – Signed D.J. White as a free agent
  • July 12, 2013 – Traded Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, D.J. White, 2017 1st round pick and 2017 2nd round pick to the Nets for Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Kris Joseph, Gerald Wallace, 2014 1st round pick, 2016 1st round pick (Jaylen Brown), 2017 1st round pick (Markelle Fultz), and 2018 1st round pick (Collin Sexton)
Jayson Tatum – Drafted 3rd overall in 2017
  • June 19, 2017 – Traded 1st round pick (Markelle Fultz – See acquisition under Jaylen Brown) to the 76ers for 2017 1st round pick (Jayson Tatum) and 2019 1st round pick (Romeo Langford)
Payton Pritchard – Drafted 26th overall in 2020
 
Luke Kornet – Acquired via trade in 2021
  • July 16, 2019 – Re-signed Daniel Theis in free agency
  • July 25, 2019 – Signed Javonte Green in free agency
  • March 25, 2021 – Traded Javonte Green, Daniel Theis, and cash to the Bulls; The Bulls traded Luke Kornet to the Celtics; The Bulls traded Daniel Gafford and Chandler Hutchinson to the Wizards; The Wizards traded Moritz Wagner to the Celtics; The Wizards traded Troy Brown Jr. and cash to the Bulls
Al Horford – Acquired via trade in 2021
  • July 6, 2019 – Sign-and-trade deal
    • Re-signed Terry Rozier in free agency
    • Traded Terry Rozier and 2020 2nd round pick (Grant Riller) to the Hornets for Kemba Walker and 2020 2nd round pick (Yam Madar)
  • June 28, 2021 – Traded Kemba Walker, 2021 1st round pick (Alperen Sengun), and 2025 2nd round pick to the Thunder for Moses Brown, Al Horford and 2023 2nd round pick (Amari Bailey)
Sam Hauser – Signed as an undrafted free agent on August 13, 2021
 
Derrick White – Acquired via trade in 2022
  • July 6, 2019 – Sign-and-trade deal
    • Re-signed Terry Rozier in free agency
    • Traded Terry Rozier and 2020 2nd round pick (Grant Riller) to the Hornets for Kemba Walker and 2020 2nd round pick (Yam Madar)
  • June 28, 2021 – Traded Kemba Walker, 2021 1st round pick (Alperen Sengun), and 2025 2nd round pick to the Thunder for Moses Brown, Al Horford and 2023 2nd round pick (Amari Bailey)
  • July 31, 2021 – Traded Moses Brown to the Mavericks for Josh Richardson
  • February 10, 2022 – Traded Romeo Langford (See acquisition under Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown), Josh Richardson, 2022 1st round pick (Blake Wesley) and 2028 1st round pick to the Spurs for Derrick White
Kristaps Porzingis – Acquired via trade in 2023
  • June 26, 2014 – Drafted Marcus Smart 6th overall
  • November 30, 2020 – Signed Tristan Thompson in free agency
  • August 7, 2021 – Traded Tristan Thompson to the Kings; The Hawks traded Kris Dunn, Bruno Fernando and 2023 2nd round pick (Julian Phillips) to the Celtics; The Kings traded Delon Wright to the Hawks
  • July 12, 2022 – Signed Danilo Gallinari as a free agent
  • September 14, 2022 – Signed Justin Jackson as a free agent
  • February 9, 2023 – Traded Justin Jackson, 2023 2nd round pick (Keyonte Johnson) and 2029 2nd round pick to the Thunder for Mike Muscala
  • June 22, 2023 – Drafted Julian Phillips 35th overall (2nd round) (From ATL)
  • June 23, 2023 – Traded Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, and Julian Phillips to the Wizards, and Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies; The Grizzlies traded Marcus Sasser and 2024 1st round pick (Bub Carrington) to the Celtics; The Grizzlies traded Tyus Jones to the Wizards; The Wizards traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics
Jordan Walsh – Acquired via trade in 2023
  • June 28, 2023
    • Traded Marcus Sasser (See Marcus Sasser acquisition under Kristaps Porzingis) to the Pistons for James Nnaji, 2025 2nd round pick, and 2026 2nd round pick
    • Traded James Nnaji to the Hornets for Mouhamed Gueye and Colby Jones
    • Traded Colby Jones to the Kings for Jordan Walsh and a 2024 2nd round pick (Anton Watson)
Oshae Brissett – Signed as a free agent on July 6, 2023
 
Svi Mykhailiuk – Signed as a free agent on August 31, 2023
 
Neemias Queta – Signed as a free agent on September 17, 2023
 
Jrue Holiday – Acquired via trade in 2023
  • August 22, 2012 – Jeff Green re-signs with the Celtics in free agency
  • January 12, 2015 – Traded Jeff Green to the Grizzlies; The Grizzlies traded Tyshaun Prince and 2020 1st round pick (Aaron Nesmith) to the Celtics; The Grizzlies traded Quincy Pondexter and 2015 2nd round pick (Branden Dawson) to the Pelicans; The Pelicans traded Austin Rivers to the Celtics; The Pelicans traded Russ Smith to the Grizzlies
  • June 21, 2018 – Drafted Robert Williams III 27th overall
  • November 18, 2020 – Drafted Aaron Nesmith 14th overall (From MEM)
  • August 13, 2021
    • Signed Enes Freedom in free agency
    • Signed Dennis Schroder in free agency
  • February 10, 2022 – Traded Bruno Fernando (See Bruno Fernando acquisition under Kristaps Porzingis), Enes Freedom, and Dennis Schroder to the Rockets for Daniel Theis
  • February 23, 2022 – Signed Malik Fitts in free agency
  • March 4, 2022 – Signed Nik Stauskas in free agency
  • April 29, 2022 – Signed Juwan Morgan in free agency
  • July 9, 2022 – Traded Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Daniel Theis and 2023 1st round pick (Julian Strawther) to the Pacers for Malcolm Brogdon
  • October 1, 2023 – Traded Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams III, 2024 1st round pick (Bub Carrington), and 2029 1st round pick to the Trail Blazers for Jrue Holiday
Xavier Tillman Sr. – Acquired via trade in 2024
  • September 25, 2023 – Signed Lamar Stevens in free agency
  • February 7, 2024 – Traded Lamar Stevens, 2027 2nd round pick, and 2030 2nd round pick to the Grizzlies for Xavier Tillman
Jaden Springer – Acquired via trade in 2024
  • February 8, 2024 – Traded 2024 2nd round pick (Adem Bona) to the 76ers for Jaden Springer
 
 

Sources:

Basketball Reference

Land of Basketball

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