How quickly can Brad Stevens escape the criticism over the Jaylen Brown trade and return the Celtics to true contention?
When the brass convened after the Celtics’ abrupt first-round elimination by the 76ers, they obviously decided that Jaylen Brown had to be traded, whether because of his looming $70-plus-million-per-year contract extension, chemistry with his teammates or analytics that said the Celtics were better with him off the floor, and Brad Stevens’s urgency to move the five-time All-Star has created a championship window for a division rival.
Unintentionally, the trade of Brown to the 76ers for Paul George and two first-round draft picks created a core in Philadelphia that attracted free agent LeBron James, who committed to the club last week on a two-year, $8 million contract.
There are those Philadelphia fans who are thanking Stevens on social media because it’s been revealed that one of the reasons James chose the 76ers and viewed the franchise seriously as a championship contender was because of the acquisition of Brown.
And Stevens has been heavily criticized for not only getting such a minuscule return for Brown — an aging George, no prospects to join him, a complicated first-round pick tied to the Clippers in 2028, and a 2031 first-rounder who is currently entering the ninth grade and will come to Boston when Jayson Tatum is 33 years old — but also sending him to a rival.
Stevens had no idea trading Brown would lead to James choosing Philadelphia, but perhaps the 76ers may send Stevens a gift basket if they win the championship in the next two years, which would be their first since 1983. It’s been a difficult offseason for Stevens, who not only couldn’t pull off the trade of Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo but also made his roster less talented with Tatum in his prime.
Of course, the Celtics have been beneficiaries of such a butterfly effect. Three years ago, the Bucks moved Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers for Damian Lillard, hoping to reopen their championship window, but Portland countered by trading Holiday to the Celtics, who won the title with Holiday as a centerpiece.
Lillard to the Bucks was an abject failure, and trading Holiday hastened Milwaukee’s roster overhaul and the trading of Antetokounmpo to the Heat. The hope for the Celtics is the trade of Brown to the 76ers won’t have a long-term negative impact on the franchise.
George is 36 and coming off a season in which he played just 37 games — missing 25 because of a PED suspension and another 20 because of injuries and rest — and it’s hard to envision him as a reliable No. 2 option behind Tatum. Stevens said there weren’t myriad trade possibilities for Brown, even though social media general managers came up with several that sounded intriguing.
The question for Stevens that was never really answered during his 45-minute news conference this month was why he felt the need to hurriedly trade Brown instead of waiting for perhaps a more lucrative package later in the summer. There are two topics to examine: the trading of Brown after 10 years with the franchise, and the package the Celtics received in return.
Of course, a different team — preferably one in the Western Conference — and a more fruitful group of players coming to Boston would have relieved the pressure and scrutiny on Stevens. The Celtics are now going to have to find a productive — and cost-efficient No. 2 option — behind Tatum for the coming years. George is at best a temporary fix and the Celtics, for the first time in years, are banking on hope and not really on reason.
Stevens made all the right moves to build title contenders in recent years, but some of his recent transactions have been curious, such as giving prospect Josh Minott to the Nets for a small trade exception, and acquiring Nikola Vucevic from the Bulls for Anfernee Simons. The Vucevic deal did create a $27.7 million trade exception, but since the Celtics used their mid-level exception on Mitchell Robinson, they are hard-capped in the first apron, meaning they would have to send out salary in order to use that large exception.
What is fascinating is Rich Paul, James’s agent, revealed the Celtics were one of the 27 teams interested in his client. Could Stevens have delayed the Brown trade for one year and went with a super team of Tatum, Brown, and James, and left the financial decisions to 2027?
By the time James announced he was leaving the Lakers and signing with a new team on June 30, Stevens was committed to moving Brown, and he traded him a day later.
Stevens spent free agency acquiring Robinson and aging point guard Mike Conley, and extending the contracts of Neemias Queta and Jordan Walsh after drafting Chris Cenac and Dillon Mitchell. The Celtics are going to move forward because they have to. There is no time for regrets.
Stevens made a move he felt was best for the franchise — maybe not on the floor but definitely for the fiscal health of the ownership group — and that seems to be a priority since Bill Chisholm became the majority governor one year ago.
There has to be hope for Celtics fans that now that the team has cleared the first and second aprons, Stevens can concentrate on moves to improve the roster, capitalize on Tatum’s prime, and uplift the Celtics back into championship contention.
As of now, Stevens’s decision to trade Brown to the 76ers, along with the acquisition of James, may have reignited championship hopes in Philadelphia.
Read more How views on Trump’s handling of Iran have shifted, according to a new poll
Post Comment