The Boston Celtics are off to a less-than-ideal start to the 2025-26 season.
Jaylen Brown is doing his best to help the Celtics remain in playoff contention. Still, the fact of the matter is, life without Jayson Tatum (who’s nursing an Achilles injury) is more challenging than Boston likely expected.
The Celtics boast a below-average 6-7 record through 13 games, playing inconsistent basketball to begin the year.
If the Celtics want to drastically improve their season outlook with Tatum sidelined, they could implement NESN’s Collin Keane’s bold trade idea and reunite with Dallas Mavericks star point guard Kyrie Irving.
“With the firing of Nico Harrison happening on Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks are being urged to blow things up and rebuild around Cooper Flagg,” Keane wrote Wednesday. “This has convinced fans and pundits alike that Anthony Davis and/or Kyrie Irving could be traded soon.”
“And while some Boston Celtics fans are already starting to dream about a trade for Davis, close to zero Celts fans are even considering a reunion with Kyrie, who is seen as a huge villain in Boston due to his rocky tenure with the Celtics.”
“What Kyrie haters don’t realize, however, is that Boston could actually address three key issues by making a blockbuster trade with Dallas that brings Irving back to Boston.”
“The following trade proposal (Irving, Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell to the Celtics, Jaylen Brown to the Mavericks, and Sam Hauser and a 2032 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets) involving Kyrie would improve Boston’s weak frontcourt situation, free up near future cap space, and reignite immediate contention hopes for the 2025-26 season.”
Irving’s tenure with the Celtics in the late 2010s was short-lived. Despite publicly stating that he intended to re-sign with Boston during the 2019 free agency period, multiple factors led to the former Cleveland Cavaliers star ultimately agreeing to a deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
Irving certainly had his moments with the 2024 NBA champions, though, averaging 24.4 points and 5.1 assists on a 2017-18 Boston squad that reached the Eastern Conference Finals and guiding the franchise to back-to-back top-5 regular season finishes.
That said, the 6-foot-2 NBA champion guard wasn’t meant to be a long-term asset in Boston, as evidenced by his decision to depart the organization after only two seasons.
Considering Irving is still a ball-handling wizard and generational finisher around the rim at age 33, and the Celtics could use more offensive assistance without Tatum on the hardwood, however, a reunion may cross Boston’s mind before the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Still, it’s unlikely Irving returns to a franchise with which he isn’t on good terms.
More NBA: Lakers blockbuster trade idea reunites LeBron James with $175 million NBA champion forward