During a recent episode of the Beneath the Banners show on the Boston Celtics' official YouTube channel, Brad Stevens shared some additional thoughts on the Jaylen Brown trade. Or, more specifically, an additional explanation.
Based on what he said, it seems clear the Celtics didn't believe they could win another title with Brown and Jayson Tatum as the leaders:
Stevens started: “It’s something that you have to just say, do you think where we currently are…will get us to where we ultimately want to go?” (H/t Daniel Donabedian of CelticsWire) But that wasn't all he had to say, and his follow-up made things even more obvious.
“If not, does it make sense to explore other pathways, even if that could be very tough in the near term?”
Even if that could be very tough in the near term. A statement obviously made about the Brown trade. About the blowback. About all the criticism he and the Celtics have received since making the deal.
Stevens knew what he was getting himself into. He knew the can of worms he was opening. Not only would the Celtics be relentlessly judged, but he would be thrown into the hot seat. An entire fanbase would question his every move.
That's what's happened. Trading Brown is one thing, but trading him for the package Boston got back from the Philadelphia 76ers was another. Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks. For a guy who just finished sixth in MVP voting.
Maybe Brown's value around the league was really that low. That's different from his public perception. But even if that's the case, then why not wait? Why not wait and see if the value went up later in the summer? Well, maybe they thought it would drop.
It's one thing for the Celtics to believe they will be better off with Brown. They could very well be proven right. Perhaps doubling down on Joe Mazzulla-ball, adding players who fit the style and dropping players who don't, could pay off in the long run. The same can be said for the Celtics' desire to reshape their books.
But that still doesn't necessarily explain the decision to trade Brown when Boston did and for what it did. That's what doesn't make sense. And it may never make sense.
On top of that, Bill Chisholm recently made an appearance on The Greg Hill Show. He followed up on some of the comments he made during the post-Brown trade press conference, noting that the front office had to convince him that trading Brown was the right move.
"I needed to be convinced," Chisholm said on Hill's show during WEEI's 24th annual Jimmy Fund telethon. He implied as much back in July, but this was stated as plainly as possible.
This was a front-office decision. The Celtics believe their future will be better without Brown. It was only a money move in the sense of rearranging the team's books to create more roster-building flexibility, not for the literal task of cutting salary.
Between Stevens and Chisholm's latest comments, all that is as clear as ever. It may not make sense, and it may not be proven right or wrong for years, but Boston wanted out of the Brown business. And they were willing to make this trade to get out of it.
© David Dermer
Peyton Watson and Jarrett Allen
1. Cavaliers' Peyton Watson trade
The Cleveland Cavaliers pulled off a sign-and-trade for Peyton Watson, ending his restricted free agency stint with the Denver Nuggets. Watson will join the Cavaliers on a four-year, $88 million contract.
The deal was expanded into a