Building a Dynasty: The Boston Celtics Unique Approach to Team-Building for the 2025 NBA Finals
As the NBA Finals are about to commence on Thursday, it's fitting to reflect on how both teams made it to this point. Rather than focusing on the three teams they each defeated in the playoffs, we'll delve into how their rosters were constructed, allowing them this chance at NBA immortality. The Celtics have had one of the most unique models of team-building in the history of the league. While they have primarily built through the draft, a common strategy for decades, they've done so in a way that is truly their own. General manager Brad Stevens' approach to team-building can be compared to a mobile game played on a phone. The more time you spend on it, the more gems or digital cash you earn to reach new goals. This is how Stevens and draft picks work in real life. There is a non-zero chance that Stevens somehow acquired two firsts and five seconds as this article was being written. In fact, Boston has 10 first-round picks through 2030. However, regardless of how many picks a team has, you still need a crown jewel, and ironically Stevens had to go outside the organization to find it. When Kyrie Irving met with the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2019, he made one thing clear: The only way he was signing there was if the Celtics acquired another star to come along with him.
The Celtics, seeing the potential of signing Irving, obliged and identified Gordon Hayward as the perfect running mate. They reached out to Philadelphia, which was in no rush to part with Hayward, a top-five vote-getter in MVP that year.
Stevens set his price, and the Celtics went all-in. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart were the players sent out, and what followed was one of the most aggressive draft-pick trades of all-time. Four first-round selections, as well as two swaps, were relinquished. The 2021 and 2023 firsts came via Brooklyn, which were picks previously acquired by Philadelphia. The Celtics also gave up their own first-round selections in 2022 and 2024. Finally, the Celtics included swap options in 2025.
The acquisition of Tatum turned into a franchise-altering move, as the high-scoring Canadian became a three-time All-NBA player and earned his first league MVP honor this season. As for Brown, he's become a two-time All-Star and is undoubtedly one of the best two-way players in the league.
The pieces around them Before selecting Tatum at No. 16 in 2019, the Celtics had just completed a 44-38 season and won the third overall pick in the draft that year. They spent that pick on Jayson Tatum, who has turned into a star at the wing position. In 2017, the Celtics identified Marcus Smart as a key piece to their future success.
