NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal believes the Boston Celtics need to split up Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
“I don’t want five stars on my team. I want a guy that I can go to every night, I want a guy that’s going to lead, and I want three dogs, three others. I would prefer if they were specialists: one to be a shooter, one to be a rebounder, and one to be a fighter,” O’Neal said on The Big Three Podcast. “I would, business-wise, break [Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown] up and use one of them to get the pieces I want. I will say Tatum is the number one, use Brown to bring in a Brown-type player, and then just do it like that.”
The Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals in seven games. Boston reached the NBA Finals last year but lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. Brown and Tatum haven’t been able to lead the Celtics to the promised land.
“I can tell that it frustrates him (Brown) to be the ‘other guy,'” O’Neal said.
Brown is eligible to sign a designated veteran extension with the Celtics this summer. The star swingman averaged 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists this season for Boston. Brown has one year left on his contract. He will make $28.5 million next season and hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2024 if the Celtics don’t sign him to an extension.
After the Celtics lost Game 7 to the Heat, Tatum told reporters that he wants Brown back.
“It’s extremely important,” Tatum said after the Celtics lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. “He’s one of the best players in this league. He plays both ends of the ball and still is relatively young. And he’s accomplished a lot so far in his career. So I think it’s extremely important.”
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