Shams drops obvious Celtics’ Jaylen Brown MVP truth bomb

Shams links Jaylen Brown’s MVP surge to Celtics’ trade deadline aggression

Charania also addressed Boston’s broader outlook, noting that the Celtics are expected to be active ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline. He framed the Eastern Conference as competitive but unsettled, with several teams jockeying for position as the season progresses.

“And we’ll see if and when Jayson Tatum exactly when he comes back for the second half of this NBA season but when I look at this Eastern Conference I think of Boston, think of Detroit, and you have to still put New York in there even though they’ve had this lull of the last 12-13 games where the have lost nine of their last 12 games. Cleveland still has some talent, Philadelphia has come on pretty strong, so the East is wide open. Detroit has been far away the best team in that conference so far in for a regular season perspective but you look at what Boston has: they’ve got the talent, they’ve done it before, so you have to put them up there.”

Boston’s roster construction could also shift as the deadline nears. Charania suggested the organization may reverse course from recent cost-cutting moves and instead look to add pieces to strengthen a playoff push.

“You look at this trade deadline, the schedule is starting to turn here… because the trade deadline is less than two weeks away and Boston could be a team where going into the year it’s like, ‘ok, are they going to shed some salary?’ We know they shed Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday last offseason, who else will they shed in season? Will it be Anfernee Simons? Will it be Payton Pritchard? But those guys are essential parts to this team. I could see Boston going the other way and maybe adding a player or maybe another big man. They’ve been in the marketplace trying to get a big time starting center, potentially so they are going to be aggressive in moving the needle. They’ve got assets, they’ve got contracts to use to play with.”

For now, Brown remains the focal point as the Celtics continue their road schedule. Boston opens a two-game trip Friday night against the Brooklyn Nets (12-30) at 7:30 p.m. ET, with Brown carrying momentum from an MVP-caliber first half of the season.