Boston Has Entered The Chat · NESN

Would Celtics Entertain Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade With Sean Grande

April 11, 2026·16 min·1 clip
Jayson Tatum returned to Madison Square Garden where he was injured last May, facing ghosts from the Celtics' playoff loss.
The episode opens with a host recapping the prior night's Celtics loss to the Knicks, crediting Josh Hart and the Knicks' clutch play while defending Jason Tatum against blame. Sean Grande joins to provide deeper analysis. Grande reframes the loss as a positive experience for Tatum, calling his return to Madison Square Garden a box-check on his rehab journey from a playoff injury. He notes a moment midway through the fourth quarter when Tatum tripped in the exact same floor spot where he was hurt the previous May. Grande says the Celtics checked every box they wanted in the game despite losing. On the Knicks more broadly, Grande says he was already concerned about a potential playoff matchup before last night. He argues New York was built to beat Boston, did so last year with some fluky circumstances in the first two games, and has since improved their bench depth. He picks Boston and New York as the two best teams in the Eastern Conference likely to meet in the second round. On Derek White, Grande pushes back against the negative narrative stemming from his shooting struggles, citing his Eastern Conference-leading plus-minus figure and noting the Celtics have been essentially a .500 team when he is off the floor. He acknowledges the poor shooting year but attributes the perception gap to fans conflating shooting performance with overall impact. On Nikola Vucevic, Grande says the Celtics are running out of time to determine what they have in him before the playoffs, with only two regular season games remaining. He pushes back against the notion that Joe Mazzulla must settle on a fixed eight-man rotation, pointing to Oklahoma City and Indiana using broader rotations in last year's playoff run. On Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors, Grande dismisses the idea. He argues Giannis has played since 2013 with more accumulated miles than Kevin Garnett had when he arrived in Boston in 2007, and questions the logic of trading a current top-five player for an aging star. On first-round opponents, Grande warns the hosts against focusing on Charlotte and instead identifies Orlando as the most dangerous option because of the Magic's strong motivation to prove their down season was an aberration. The episode closes with a lighter discussion about Jayson Tatum's son Deuce eating a sour candy that went viral, and candy preferences among the hosts.

As heard by us

A Celtics loss becomes a grounded playoff conversation about Tatum, the Knicks, and the rotation.

Boston wakes up angry, but the loss is only part of the story. The discussion starts with the Knicks' late composure, including Josh Hart's strong finish, then settles on Jason Tatum with a steadier eye: he is still working his way back, had turnovers, and came close to a…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want Celtics panic, but with somebody who can actually explain the loss.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
Listen to the show on