Boston Celtics
There was a reportedly a team, or two, who were informed that Brown was not interested in them.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) reacts after a 3-pointer during the second half of the April 2, 2025 game at TD Garden. (Erin Clark/Globe Staff)
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Some thoughts on the Jaylen Brown trade, and how the Celtics move forward without him
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‘Nine amazing years’: Jayson Tatum on his relationship with Jaylen Brown
One of the most puzzling aspects of the Jaylen Brown trade was the return that the Celtics received.
According to The Ringer’s Zach Lowe, Brown may have had some influence because of “intel” that was obtained about his preferences on where he might land.
“I think Boston probably miscalculated on a couple of levels,” Lowe said. “Number one, the Philly option was probably not going to go away, I think [76ers] owner Josh Harris had become pretty fixated on getting Jaylen Brown and I think they could have squeezed another asset out of the 76ers for sure.”
“I think there was at least one or two other teams who might have been interested in Jaylen Brown, who got intel that Jaylen Brown wasn’t super interested in them and to stay out of the bidding. I think Boston felt the circle closing.”
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the move was made because, in his view, having two players eat up 70 percent of the salary cap would make it tougher to win in the long term based on where the league is heading.
Bringing in a player who could help the Celtics stay competitive while adding assets were the goals for the return, he said.
Boston received Paul George, a pair of first-round picks, and a pair of second-round picks.
With George’s $54.1 million salary on the books for next season and a $56.6 million player option on the table for the following year, the Celtics are in a similar financial spot as they would have been if they kept Brown, at least in the near future.
The difference is that George has two years left on his contract while Brown has three years remaining. The Celtics got somewhat closer to getting that money off of the books, while adding some draft capital in the process.
But, the money wasn’t the only factor in Boston’s decision to trade Brown, Lowe said.
“Boston felt an urgency to do this,” Lowe said. “I think they were worried about the internal discord of bringing him back into a team that was going to be at least mostly going to be Jayson Tatum’s team as the No. 1 option.”
“I think they were worried that deals were starting to disappear. So, like, Brooklyn moved onto other business. I think there was real interest there. Minnesota moved onto its business, I think there was real interest there … Toronto if they had been interested at all pivoted to Kawhi Leonard and coming back to Toronto and all of that.”
Lowe also mentioned a pair of teams, Houston and Cleveland, that had significant assets to offer but did not seem interested in trading for Brown.
The decision to trade Brown for the 36-year-old George and draft assets sent shockwaves through the NBA.
Tatum said he was shocked when he found out. Charles Barkley, a former 76ers star, said the 76ers got away with murder. Several league executives told ESPN they were puzzled by Stevens’s decision to pull the trigger on the deal so soon considering what they had gotten in return.
“I mean, the guy [Jaylen Brown] got traded for less than Walker Kessler,” an unnamed NBA general manager told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “That’s baffling to me.”
Team owner Bill Chisholm said he did not give the front office any mandate to move Brown. The front office came to Chisholm and convinced him that this was a move the franchise should make, he said.
They made the move. Brown is heading to Philadelphia. They shipped him out three months before the start of the preseason. As puzzling as this move may be to some, the Celtics are moving on.
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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