The New York Knicks are officially the new top dogs of the association following their 4-1 NBA Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs. Because of this, they have every other contending club looking to make necessary shakeups in an attempt to get on their level.
The Boston Celtics, in particular, have apparently been sent into an all-out state of panic directly due to New York's championship run.
During a recent appearance on ESPN's Get Up, NBA insider Brian Windhorst publicly noted that he strongly believes the Celtics have come to the realization that they "weren't going to beat the Knicks" as currently constructed, and are now on the verge of making some drastic decisions.
"The Celtics are stone-cold sober. They think they're not as good as the Knicks, they're not sure they're going to be as good as the Pacers next year when they come back fully healthy. They believe they need to upgrade their team," Windhorst said.
Celtics know Knicks are better, and Jaylen Brown could be a scapegoat
Such a take from the in-the-know insider comes as the trade rumor mill continues to churn with Boston cornerstone Jaylen Brown's name heavily intertwined in it.
Windhorst more recently reported on an episode of The Dan LeBatard Show that Boston has adopted the belief that the aforementioned star forward "probably needs to be traded for them to be competitive."
Not two seasons ago, the Celtics were riding high as the game's reigning NBA Champions and were believed to be on the verge of becoming the game's next great dynasty.
Since then, they've been prematurely bounced from the postseason and are now believed to be on the precipice of breaking up their battle-tested partnership of Brown and Jayson Tatum.
In many ways, as Windhorst alluded to, this is largely a result of the recent ascension of the Knicks.
Considering this core group in New York is set to stick around for the next several years, the expectation is that they'll be in strong contention to repeat as champions as soon as next season and be in the running to take home many more Larry O'Brien Trophies in the seasons to come.
Because of this, it only makes sense that Boston, a team that has already lost to the Knicks in the playoffs during their title follow-up years, is looking for ways to raise its own bar moving forward.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo now officially off the market following his trade to Miami, Jaylen Brown is unequivocally the hottest name to watch on the summer trade block.
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