Jaylen Brown had been with Marcus Smart since first entering the NBA with the Boston Celtics in 2016. With Smart now on the Memphis Grizzlies, Brown gave his honest thoughts on losing Smart.
“Definitely a lot of big changes,” Brown said. “Change is not always a bad thing. My brother and my teammate — and one of my best friends — is not on the team anymore. Everybody knows it — I learned so much from Marcus.”
Brown gave more details on what his relationship was like with Smart as well as what the Celtics will miss with him gone.
“Marcus has been somebody that’s, like, we butted heads at times. We fought, we did it all, we put each other in headlocks, etc. The journey won’t feel the same without him, to be honest,” Brown said. “But it’s a part of life. It’s a part of what you do going forward. And everything he’s instilled into this organization — everything he’s instilled into this community — is still going to be with us, still carried with us. So we’re going to wish him well on his new journey. Obviously, the city of Boston is going to feel the loss of his impact when he’s no longer here, but we’ll be able to keep moving forward.”
Joe Mazzulla Says Derrick White is the Starting Point Guard
With Smart gone, the Celtics have a void at starting point guard. After Brown’s press conference on July 26, Head Coach Joe Mazzulla clarified with reporters that Derrick White will be Smart’s replacement on that front going forward.
“Derrick will be our starting point guard,” Mazzula said. “We have the ability to play different ways with the ability to play small. We have the ability to play big, and so, with some of the changes we made, it opens up a lot of opportunities for Derrick, Payton (Pritchard), and Malcolm. So I think it’s really important that those three feel like we have an opportunity to grow them. We have an opportunity to help them on both ends of the floor, and those three guys at the guard spot is a part of our identity and part of where we need to get to on offense and defense.”
White is coming off one of his most efficient seasons shooting-wise as a pro with the Celtics, shooting 46.2% from the field and 38.1% from three. Trading Smart will give White a bigger role with the team, which he showed from last season that he deserves.
Exec Explains Why Celtics Needed to Pay Jaylen Brown
An Eastern Conference executive explained to Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney why the Celtics had to pay Brown the money that they did.
“It is a good deal because he is a star player and that is what they had to pay him,” one Eastern Conference executive said. “I love the people who say they should not have given him that contract. Like, OK, then what should they have done? Traded him? Let him go to free agency? The same people who are beating them up for signing him would be beating them up if they did not sign him. It’s crazy.”
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Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Gives Heartfelt Reaction on Losing Marcus Smart