Celtics’ Controversial Jaylen Brown Trade Receives Strong Defense

Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics fans are still questioning Brad Stevens’ decision to trade Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. The move was certainly a divisive one, especially as Paul George was the centerpiece of the returning package.

However, during a recent conversation with CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning, analytics guru Dean Oliver shared his reasoning as to why he thinks Boston made the right call by parting with the All-Star forward.

“I know I’m a little bit in the minority,” Oliver said. “I feel like some of my colleagues at ESPN, they panned the Celtics for the deal that they got. I do not…The market was what the market was. There just wasn’t a big market. I think the Celtics did need a way to get a little bit of cap relief and from a player whose value was good, but his contract was not. They got what you would like to get, which is a couple of draft assets, pretty good draft assets.”

Oliver continued.

“They got a player in Paul George who is probably going to play 70% of the minutes that Brown has played, at least that’s what I think the average was over the last few years. And by the metrics, he contributes as much on a per-minute basis as Brown. There’s a question about his age. Of course, it’s fair…I think the Sixers are a little bit ahead of the Celtics. But if you look at the expected wins coming out of Vegas. I think the Celtics are projected at 51 or 52, and I think the Sixers are at 48.”

Celtics Traded Brown Due To Impending Extension

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who was speaking on a July 17 episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Brown’s impending contract extension was a driving factor behind the team’s decision to trade their All-Star forward.

“They knew they were not going to offer Jaylen Brown the two-year, $140 million contract extension,” Charania said. “That would have caused a reaction. Both sides would have had to have even harder conversations, and this could have gone another way. This could have gotten ugly potentially because you’ve already shopped the player multiple times. In 2022, he was offered for Kevin Durant.”

If Brown had signed his extension with Boston, he would have earned $70+ million at ages 33 and 34. Furthermore, Brown would have become borderline untradable for the foreseeable future.

Celtics’ Brad Stevens Also Spoke On The Brown Trade

Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, recently discussed the decision to trade Brown via a July 6 news conference. During that availability, he noted that between Brown and Jayson Tatum, Boston had 70% of its cap tied up.

“The path looked a little bit more challenging to me,” Stevens said. “I’m not going to stand up there and be defensive about that. But the path looked a little bit more challenging with 70% of our cap, and such a high percentage of our usage tied into two players.”

Brown has three years remaining on his current contract and will earn $57.7 million during the upcoming campaign. He will command over 35% of the cap in each of the next three years.

The All-Star forward will now become extension-eligible for the Sixers next summer. It will be interesting to see if they provide him with an offer to stick around longer term.