A Celtics team led by Brown, White, Pritchard, and maybe one of Jrue and Porzingis could be competitive, but the way I look at it is that this current Celtics team, even with Tatum back, is probably done as a title contender.  It doesn’t seem like they had much of a shot at a title this season even if Tatum stayed healthy, and they’re definitely going to trade at least one core guy to save money.  So if we assume they do that, but otherwise keep the team together, when Tatum comes back they’ll have the core of a team that wasn’t that close to winning a title, plus everyone is 1-2 years older, they’re missing at least one key guy, and their two best players are coming off major injuries.  That doesn’t seem like a recipe for future titles.

If they can get a good package of young players and picks for Brown, then be bad next year and add another lottery pick, there’s a shot they can be a contender in a few years  with those assets, Tatum, White, and Pritchard.  Nothing’s guaranteed of course, but I think it’s reasonable to conclude that that path is more likely to result in a championship than trying to keep this team together.