The Boston Celtics pulled off one of the most stunning moves in recent memory last month when they finally agreed to move on from guard Jaylen Brown and his supermax contract and sent him to Philadelphia for a relative pittance. In the wake of that deal, the usual hindsight stories of discord within the franchise oozed out, though none seemed draped in truth and reason. But Nikola Vucevic, who was traded to the Celtics by the Bulls at the trade deadline, did say there were “signs” that the team might need a change.
The only problem with that, though, is that the signs Vucevic identifies aren’t the same ones so many commentators suggested drove the Celtics to offload Brown–a poor relationship with Jayson Tatum, an inflated ego, a desire to be the 1A on a team, and not be Tatum’s 1B.
Vucevic was not in Boston for long, and has since signed with the Magic, but he said he never saw anything resembling the kinds of chemistry issues that were later attached to the Celtics and Brown.
Nikola Vucevic: Celtics Had ‘The Big Contracts’
Speaking to the European hoops site SKWEEK this week, Vucevic said it was the Celtics’ finances that made many around the league wonder about an eventual trade. It was not the reported frostiness between Brown and Tatum.
“I think there were some signs, mostly because the big contracts and the NBA’s new rules made it difficult for them to build the team,” Vucevic said. “With Tatum and Brown both on such big contracts, it wasn’t easy for them to fit the rest of the team around those two.
“But while I was there, did I sense anything between the players or any kind of problems? No, I honestly didn’t. I was as surprised as everyone else when the trade happened, “even though there had been plenty written about it in the media. But plenty of things get reported and don’t end up happening.”
No Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum Chats After Celtics Trade
It is no secret within the Celtics or the team’s media that Brown and Tatum were not pals, though they came up together–Brown was the team’s No. 3 overall pick in 2016 and Tatum was third overall in 2017. They’re different personalities, but they never had issues with each other and there was no rampant chemistry problem, as Vucevic said.
When Brown met the media in Philadelphia after he was traded, he admitted that he had Tatum did not talk after the trade.
But, he said, “We won a championship together. So anybody that you win a championship with, you would think that’s what a brotherhood or a lifelong legacy would entail. Obviously, there’s ups and downs in any type of relationship, for sure. But on my end, it’s nothing but respect. Besides when he plays the Sixers, I hope he does well. But other than that, everything for me is just based in respect.”
Nikola Vucevic Wondered if ‘Time Had Come’
Vucevic said, to him, maybe it was just time for the Celtics to try a different direction. After winning the championship in 2024, Boston struggled through a poor 2025 postseason before blowing a 3-1 first-round lead to the Sixers last year.
Vucevic said: “Maybe the time had simply come. They’d been together for ten years and achieved great results. Maybe they’d reached the end of that road and some things needed to change. Maybe the team needed to be refreshed so they could start over and move in a different direction.”
Ex-Celtics Big Man Reveals There ‘Were Signs’ Before Jaylen Brown Trade