When it comes to Jaylen Brown’s complicated departure from the Boston Celtics, multiple things can be true.
Fans have every right to be distraught. The man is a legend in a city built for legends. Still, they should also be understanding.
Since the day he was drafted in 2016, Brown invested his blood, sweat, tears and, not to mention, millions of dollars into Boston and its surrounding communities. He promised, and then delivered on his promise, to hang a championship banner in the rafters of the TD Garden. He was so consistent in Boston’s run to the 2024 title, in fact, that he was named Finals MVP.
This past season, which Brown controversially said was his “favorite” of his 10-year NBA career, was darn right special. He led a team of mostly affordable, underdeveloped players to a second seed in the Eastern Conference, refusing to buy into talk of a rebuilding year while superstar Jayson Tatum recovered from Achilles surgery.
The problem for Celtics management, however, and in particular President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens, is that come playoff time — even with Tatum back on the court — the team was clearly outmatched. Think about it. With strong headed personalities like Brown and head coach Joe Mazzulla running the show, it’s easy to see how the Celtics could “over-perform” during an 82-game regular season in which most other teams are costing along until the postseason.
When the playoffs finally did begin, other teams dialed in and began to play to the talent on their rosters. Boston, on the other hand, appeared exposed, resembling more a team many predicted to be in the hunt for a lottery pick than the No. 2 seed they so rightfully earned.
“When I looked at our team and where the league was heading, looked at the way that we’ve finished the last couple years and at the unbelievable way we’ve played in the regular season in the last couple years, the path looked a little bit more challenging to me,” Stevens told reporters following the trade. “I might be wrong. I’m not going to stand up here and be defensive about that, but the path looked a little bit more challenging, with 70% of our cap and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players [Brown and Tatem].”
So, after a disappointingly early postseason exit, it’s not hard to understand why the Celtics made a run for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and why Brown was the key in that potential trade. The shocking part is that when that trade fell through, the market was so low for Brown that Boston was seemingly forced to deal him to a conference rival, and for pennies on the dollar.
Paul George, at 36 years old, is not Antetokounmpo, and the four picks the Celtics received from the Philadelphia 76ers are likely going to do little to help the team win with Tatum in his prime. For these reasons, fans of the NBA’s most winningest franchise should be distraught. Their team is not better, as it stands, today.
Even so, multiple things can be true. Living and dying by the three-pointer had its day, but change in Boston was needed. Let’s just hope Stevens has a few more moves up his sleeve so that when the regular season starts up in a few months, maybe we can say the roster is better than it is today.
Then, come playoff time, we can revisit how the Brown trade actually worked out.
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