The Boston Celtics won 56 games this season. They finished No. 2 in the Eastern Conference. They had one of the most compelling stories in the NBA, with Jayson Tatum returning from Achilles surgery and Jaylen Brown playing at an MVP level. For four months, the Celtics looked like legitimate championship contenders.
Then the playoffs happened.
Boston took a 3-1 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. One win away from advancing. And then they collapsed. Three straight losses. At home. In Boston. The same fans who watched them raise a banner in 2024 watched them get eliminated in the first round.
The headlines will focus on the obvious questions: Should the Celtics trade Jaylen Brown? Should they break up the Tatum-Brown duo? Should they make a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo?
But according to former Celtics center and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, the real problem is hiding in plain sight. It’s not on the wings. It’s not in the backcourt. It’s in the middle.
“The first move, where they got exposed was the big [man] area,” Perkins said. “I like Queta but I don’t think he’s a starter. They need to go find that All-Star-caliber big.”
Perkins is right. The Celtics’ center rotation was a patchwork of “good enough” and “maybe someday” – and in the playoffs, it wasn’t enough.
Let’s break down what went wrong, why the center position is Boston’s biggest offseason priority, and whether a trade for a star big man – even someone like Anthony Davis – is realistic.
The Numbers: What the Celtics Got from Their Centers in 2025-26
Let’s start with the players who actually manned the middle for Boston this season.
Neemias Queta (starter):
10.2 points per game (career high)
8.4 rebounds per game (career high)
1.2 blocks per game
Played 68 games
Solid, not spectacular
Queta had a breakout season by his standards. He proved he belongs in the NBA. He’s a serviceable rim protector and a decent rebounder. But is he a starting center on a championship contender? The playoffs answered that question with a resounding no.
Luka Garza (backup):
6.8 points per game
3.9 rebounds per game
Stretch-5 potential but limited defensively
Garza can shoot. He can space the floor. He’s a useful weapon in small doses. But he’s not a reliable backup center. He’s a matchup-specific piece – a guy you play for 10 minutes when the other team goes small, not a guy you trust in crunch time.
Nikola Vucevic (trade deadline acquisition):
Acquired from Chicago
Never fit
Played sparingly in the playoffs
Will likely play elsewhere next season
The Vucevic trade was an admission of failure. The Celtics knew their center rotation wasn’t good enough, so they went out and got a veteran. But Vucevic is a poor defender, and he couldn’t find a rhythm in Boston’s system. He’s not the answer.
The Playoff Exposure: Why the Sixers Series Revealed Everything
The Celtics didn’t lose to the 76ers because of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. They lost because Joel Embiid destroyed them in the paint.
Embiid averaged 32 points and 12 rebounds in the series. He shot 55% from the field. He got whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. Queta couldn’t guard him. Garza couldn’t guard him. Vucevic couldn’t guard him.
That’s the reality of the modern NBA: if you don’t have a center who can at least slow down the elite big men, you’re not winning a championship.
The Celtics don’t have that guy. Queta is a fine backup. He’s a high-energy, hard-working rotational piece. But he’s not a starter on a contender.
Perkins said it best:
“I like Queta but I don’t think he’s a starter.”
That’s not a knock on Queta. It’s a statement of fact. The Celtics need an upgrade.
The Perkins Blueprint: Find an All-Star Big
Perkins didn’t just diagnose the problem. He offered solutions.
“If I’m the Celtics, do I break up JB and JT? No. But if a Giannis [Antetokounmpo] becomes available, I might have to think about it. Or if Anthony Davis is feeling some type of way as a Washington Wizard and you could package something up and bring him to Boston.”
Let’s break down both options.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: The dream scenario. A two-time MVP, a Finals MVP, a defensive player of the year. Adding Giannis to Tatum and Brown would create a superteam that would dominate the Eastern Conference. But the cost would be astronomical – likely Jaylen Brown plus multiple picks and young players. And there’s no guarantee Giannis wants to leave Milwaukee (or that Milwaukee would trade him to Boston).
Mavs’ Anthony Davis (leg soreness) leaves game early vs. Pacers | NBA.com
Anthony Davis: The more realistic (but still unlikely) option. Davis is in Washington now, and the Wizards are rebuilding. He’s still an elite defender when healthy. He’s a nightmare matchup on offense. But “when healthy” is the operative phrase. Davis has played just 71 games over the last two seasons combined. He’s owed $58.5 million next season. And to get him, the Celtics would almost certainly have to trade Jaylen Brown – or find a third team to take on salary.
Perkins acknowledged the difficulty:
“Not that Davis has overwhelming value – he has played 71 games in the last two seasons combined – but he does make $58.5 million next season, which means (barring the inclusion of a generous third team) it would almost certainly require the Celtics to trade Brown to get him.”
The Realistic Path: Draft, Development, or a Modest Trade
Let’s be honest: Giannis and AD are not walking through that door. The Celtics are not going to trade Jaylen Brown for an injury-prone Anthony Davis. And Giannis to Boston is a pipe dream.
So what can the Celtics actually do?
Option 1: The Draft
Boston picks at No. 27 in the 2026 NBA Draft. That’s not a spot where you typically find a franchise-altering center, but there are prospects who could develop into a rotation player. The Celtics could draft a big man – someone like North Carolina’s Henri Veesaar (a 7-footer who shot 42% from three) – and hope he develops into a contributor by Year 2 or 3.
Option 2: Developmental Signing
The Celtics have had success finding undervalued big men. They turned Daniel Theis into a valuable piece. They developed Robert Williams into a starter. They could find another diamond in the rough – a young center who needs the right system and the right coaching.
Option 3: A Modest Trade
The Celtics have a traded player exception (TPE) from previous deals that they could use to absorb salary. They could target a center who is undervalued by his current team – someone like Daniel Gafford or PJ Washington from the rebuilding Dallas Mavericks. These aren’t stars, but they’re upgrades over Queta. They’re reliable rotation players who can give you 20-25 minutes a night.
The Queta Question: What to Do with the Breakout Big
Let’s not forget about Neemias Queta. He had a good season. He deserves to be in the NBA. But he’s not a starter on a contender.
The Celtics should keep Queta. He’s a valuable backup. He’s cheap. He’s popular in the locker room. He plays hard. But he needs to move back to the bench.
That means Boston needs to find a starting center – someone who can guard the Embiids and Giannises of the world, someone who can rebound, someone who can protect the rim.
Queta can be the energy big off the bench. He can play 20 minutes a night, wreak havoc on second units, and give the starter a breather. That’s his ideal role.
The Tatum-Brown Dynamic: Why the Center Position Is the Key to Keeping the Duo Together
Here’s the underrated angle of this entire discussion.
If the Celtics can’t find a starting-caliber center – if they run back Queta and Garza and hope for the best – they will be wasting another year of Tatum and Brown’s primes. And at some point, one of them (probably Brown) will start looking for the exit.
The Celtics don’t need to trade Brown. They need to build around him. And building around him means finding a big man who can do the dirty work, protect the rim, and allow Brown and Tatum to focus on what they do best: scoring.
A star center would unlock this team. A reliable starter would stabilize the defense. A two-way big would make Boston a legitimate threat again.
The Kendrick Perkins Perspective: Why His Voice Matters
Kendrick Perkins knows what he’s talking about. He won a championship with the Celtics in 2008. He played with Kevin Garnett, one of the greatest defensive big men of all time. He understands what it takes to win in the playoffs.
When Perkins says the Celtics need an “All-Star-caliber big,” he’s not just throwing out hot takes. He’s speaking from experience.
The Celtics have the wings. They have the guards. They have the coaching. But they don’t have the big man. And until they find one, they’ll keep getting exposed in the playoffs.
The Boston Celtics have a center problem. Neemias Queta is a nice player. Luka Garza has a role. Nikola Vucevic was a failed experiment.
But none of them is a starting-caliber center on a championship contender.
Kendrick Perkins said it clearly: the Celtics got exposed in the big man area. They need to find an All-Star-caliber big. Whether that’s through the draft, through development, or through a trade – they need to do something.
The dream scenarios – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis – are probably not happening. The Celtics aren’t trading Jaylen Brown for an injury-prone Davis. And Giannis isn’t walking through that door.
But there are other options. A modest trade for Daniel Gafford or PJ Washington. A draft pick on a developmental big. A savvy free-agent signing.
The Celtics don’t need to break up their core. They need to complement it. And the biggest hole in that core is the center position.
Fix that, and Boston is a contender again. Ignore it, and next year’s playoff exit will look just like this year’s.