Boston Celtics
“Somebody asked me [Monday] if I missed coaching. I said I did this week. This is not for the faint of heart.”
Brad Stevens during his Monday press conference following the Jaylen Brown trade. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
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The Celtics‘ front office knew trading Jaylen Brown to the division rival Philadelphia 76ers would be an unpopular move.
After a spending a decade in Boston, winning a championship, making five All-Star appearances, and starting a foundation aimed at bridging the multi-generational opportunity gap in Boston and Atlanta, Brown’s time with the Celtics came to an abrupt end this summer.
Boston and Philadelphia have played each other in the playoffs more than anyone in NBA history. The 76ers eliminated the Celtics in the first round last year. Now, Brown is on the other side.
Team owner Bill Chisholm said Brad Stevens and his front office staff convinced him that this trade would help the Celtics win in the long term.
Having Brown and Jayson Tatum take up 70 percent of the salary cap was not sustainable under the rules of the latest collective bargaining agreement, Stevens said. The Celtics would have to find another way to build a contender.
“This is a really hard call,” Stevens said, as he concluded his press conference at the Auerbach Center on Monday. “We’ve lost a lot of sleep about it, and we understand that a lot of people have, but those are the reasons.”
The Celtics’ ownership group did not give Stevens a mandate to trade Brown, Chisholm said. Jayson Tatum did not have input in the decision, Stevens said.
Stevens, who coached Brown for five years before taking over as president of basketball operations in 2021, said that Brown means a lot to him. He said he had several talks with Brown over the summer and did not sense any disgruntlement from the 2024 Finals MVP.
Last week, during an episode of his Twitch stream, Brown said he felt disrespected by the way the process played out. The talks with Stevens were going well, he said, until there was a shift.
““I will say there was definitely a message being sent, and that message was received,” Brown said. “I wasn’t thrilled with the amount of respect that was showed during this process. I think there was a bit of a lack of respect.”
“I think it was fine at one point, and then out of nowhere, things just kind of went left. I think Brad is probably getting a lot of the criticism. I wasn’t thrilled with the way he facilitated some of the conversations, but I definitely think there’s more to it. There’s definitely more to it.”
When asked about Brown’s comments, Stevens said he was sorry Brown felt that way. He also said he was candid about the trade talks.
“If he feels that way, then I’m sorry about that. I am, genuinely, because he is a meaningful person in all of our lives and certainly mine,” Stevens said. “Like I said, we had a lot of open discussions about here or elsewhere and I would say he, or at least his agent were well aware of even teams that had the most cursory of interest.”
“That was well communicated, or at least communicated,” he added. “We tried to do that to the best of our abilities. As things get further down the line, it’s complicated to ultimately get over the finish-line with any deal, but I’m sorry that he feels that way.”
The Celtics receive Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks in exchange for Brown.
George is a nine-time All-Star, but he is 36 years old and missed 84 out of 164 possible games during his two-year stint in Philadelphia because of a combination of injuries and a lengthy suspension over performance enhancing drugs.
He is scheduled to make $54.1 million next season and has a $56.6 million player-option for the following season. While is salary is comparable to what Brown makes, he has one fewer year left on his contract than Brown does.
Stevens said his goals for the Brown trade were to bring in a player who could help the Celtics remain competitive while adding assets. He was asked how this trade makes the Celtics better.
“We’ll see,” Stevens replied.
The Celtics are not finished making moves, Stevens said. They’ve just completed a big one, and the impact is already being felt.
“I lost sleep over this and I get it,” Stevens said. “There’s a bunch of No. 7 jerseys around. I’m pretty sure I bought a couple. I get it, and you know, somebody asked me [Monday] if I missed coaching. I said I did this week. This is not for the faint of heart.”
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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