The second the Shams Charania notification popped up, revealing the Jaylen Brown trade, a clock began. It put the Boston Celtics on a timer with multiple splits.
The first split is almost over. From July 1 to September 28 (Media Day and the start of training camp). The Celtics couldn't save themselves during that time. Everything was left up to the court of public opinion. And that court certainly did not rule in Boston's favor.
After the deal went down, the Philadelphia 76ers intensified the discussion by signing LeBron James, a move directly tied to their ability to land Brown. Needless to say, the Celtics have been put through the wringer. And rightfully so.
Boston traded Brown -- an NBA Champion, Finals MVP, and fresh off an All-NBA Second Team campaign -- for what is widely viewed as one of the worst contracts in basketball, along with two first-round picks and two second-round picks.
Meanwhile, LaMelo Ball -- a one-time All-Star who has never made the playoffs -- landed the Charlotte Hornets Naz Reid, an unprotected future first, and three first-round pick swaps. Walker Kessler went for two first-rounders and two first-round pick swaps, and he was a restricted free agent.
There is no defending the return the Celtics got for Brown. At least, not right now. Not for a while. If we go off only the deal itself and the last few years of NBA action, it's an objectively brutal trade package.
That's why the first deadline is Media Day. Because in the few months from the beginning of July to the end of September, there was nothing the Celtics could do about the chatter. A measly Brad Stevens and Bill Chisholm press conference was all fans had to go off of.
But in just a few weeks, the next split of the timer begins. September 28 to October 20. Just three weeks. From Media Day to the Celtics' Opening Night matchup against the Detroit Pistons.
There won't be any real basketball. No regular-season games. But it will be significantly more informational than the last few months. Joe Mazzulla will speak to the media almost every day. A new set of players at every availability. Training camp clips. Preseason camps. The works.
If nothing else, we'll get an actual feel for what this team is all about. The new-look Celtics. The Celtics that everyone believes got worse. And maybe they did. But this will be their first small chance to prove otherwise.
Paul George, Mitchell Robinson, and Mike Conley have yet to speak to the Boston media. Mazzulla spoke at Summer League, but even that wasn't a real reflection of anything other than immediate aftermath damage control.
Early October will offer a window into next season. An opportunity for fans to either buy in or start the season off on the back foot. And most are probably all the way on their heels right now following the summer Boston had.
After that, October 20 to April 11. The length of the 2026-27 NBA regular season. The Jayson Tatum-led, Mazzulla-led Celtics will get their first chance to prove the front office right. Well, their first real chance.
How will Brown-less basketball look? Will the Celtics actually be able to double down on the styles Brown didn't accentuate? The ball security? The 3-point-heavy style? The creation of turnovers? Will that lead to more success? Or will it all backfire?
The Eastern Conference is much improved. Brown and James have created a stacked 76ers lineup. Giannis Antetokounmpo is in a much better situation with one of the greatest coaches of all-time. Kawhi Leonard could still end up on the Toronto Raptors. The Indiana Pacers are healthy. Almost every team in the conference is gunning for the postseason.
Last year, at least 10 teams around the league were tanking. They were playing for a draft pick instead of the playoffs. That's not the case anymore. Right now, based on the way the summer shook out, only about five teams are going to be heading in that direction. And even so, with the new lottery odds, being the worst of the worst gets punished. So, every team is going to try to win.
Still, the Celtics have been a dominant regular-season team every year under Mazzulla. That doesn't seem likely to change. Mazzulla and his coaching staff have found an elite regular-season formula that should only be featured more with George and Robinson earning heavy minutes.
But that's where the third timer split comes in. April 12 to June 20. The first day after the regular season to the potential Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The NBA Playoffs.
That's where it all fell apart for last year's Celtics. For the 2024-25 Celtics, too. That's the hump Boston needs to get back over. The high they've been chasing for the past two seasons.
Mazzulla deserves blame for the way the 2026 NBA Playoffs ended for Boston. So does Brown. So do Tatum, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and the rest of the Celtics. Perhaps some deserve more blame than others, but that's irrelevant now.
Now, it's all about where the Celtics go from here. It's about how Mazzulla can adjust his playoff game plans and learn to trust what worked in the regular season more. It's about how Tatum can bounce back from an end-of-the-season marred by a Game 7 absence. It's about how Pritchard can be more assertive and how White can re-find his jump shot.
And from the perspective of the Brown trade, it's about how George makes his impact in the postseason. About how the lack of Brown minutes helps or hurts the Celtics. What will be louder: Missing Brown's isolation scoring or getting rid of his tunnel vision?
If Boston makes it past the first round, it will be better than last year, but still not enough. Anything short of an Eastern Conference Finals berth won't be enough to quell the noise of the Brown trade backlash. And even then, there will be more to do.
Because that's not the final split. The full results of the Brown trade won't be clear for years. Because the next timer stretches into the 2028 offseason, when the Celtics own a pick swap with the LA Clippers.
The pick has more detailed protections, but for all intents and purposes, the Celtics can swap picks with the Clippers. And after the Leonard debacle, the Clippers are projected to be in a tough spot.
If that pick lands in the top-10, top-five, or even top-three, it will change the outlook of the Brown trade. Because at that point, Boston could use the pick to set itself up for the future.
That summer, the Celtics will also have to figure out what to do with George. He only has two years on his current contract, including a player option he's likely to pick up. What will have happened by then?
Will the Celtics have traded George for an upgrade? Will he have played well enough to earn a new, restructured contract? Will Boston let him walk and try to sign more depth in free agency?
Then, there's the final timer. A timer that stretches all the way into the 2031 offseason. Because that summer, the Celtics own the 76ers' unprotected first-round pick.
By 2030, four players will need new contract extensions in Philadelphia: Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe. And even though the current CBA is up for renegotiation in 2029, a lot of those extension talks will likely have been going on before then.
Based on the current CBA and second-apron restrictions, it seems extremely unlikely that Philadelphia would keep all four of those guys. It may even be tough to keep three of the four. And if the Sixers don't play their cards right, they could enter the 2030-31 season with some serious question marks.
If that's the case, their pick would be all the more valuable. And once again, another rising pick could change the outlook of the Brown trade five years in the future.
The point is, it's mid-September, and the Brown trade looks rough. If nothing goes the Celtics' way, it's going to continue to look rough. But nothing has been done to change that notion because there's been nothing to do.
No training camp, no games, no future draft picks unearthed. And until training camp begins -- and, in truth, primarily until the regular season begins -- the trade is going to be viewed in the same light.
Boston will have its chance to prove itself right. But that chance won't come around quickly. And it's going to be a multi-step, long, drawn-out process.