The Golden State Warriors completely missed out on adding another star to improve the roster ahead of next season. It turns out that the Warriors had an easier path towards acquiring Jaylen Brown than originally expected. The Boston Celtics made the call to trade Brown and shop him to all NBA teams that were looking to add a star.
Golden State beat writer Danny Emerman revealed that the Warriors could have “easily” landed Brown:
“Conversations between the Warriors and the Celtics never got really serious. I think it was kind of like a preliminary stage situation… I think the Warriors could have matched or exceeded Philadelphia’s offer fairly easily, and Jaylen Brown is the exact type of player that they need.
They need someone who can carry them through the regular season to take the load off of Steph Curry, and that’s even independent of if adding Jaylen Brown might have put them over the top for LeBron James.”
The original offer that Boston sent Golden State asked for four draft picks, and the Warriors understandably didn’t want to sacrifice their entire future. Emerman revealed that they only had to beat the Philadelphia 76ers offer rather than agreeing to the Celtics original offer.
How Warriors Could Have Traded For Jaylen Brown
Boston ultimately accepted the trade package of Paul George and two future first round picks from the 76ers to move Brown. George’s contract is considered to be a negative asset to see Philadelphia getting rid of a talent they wanted gone and only had to give up two picks to lose him.
Golden State’s picks are more valued than Philadelphia to make their two picks far more valuable. The Warriors likely would have had to include Jimmy Butler on his expiring contract to make the financial element of the deal match up.
Most fans of Golden State would have loved to move Butler and two picks for Brown. The Warriors reportedly were willing to part ways with two picks for Trey Murphy from the New Orleans Pelicans. Brown has proven more than Murphy or other rumored names on Golden State’s radar over the past few months.
Why Golden State Didn’t Want Jaylen Brown
The clear explanation for why the Warriors didn’t take advantage of Brown’s lower trade price was that they just didn’t want him. Reports circulated that a large percentage of teams in the league didn’t want to trade for Brown due to analytics being used against him.
Regardless of if it was due to the analytics or not, Golden State clearly didn’t believe in Brown helping their team. General Manager Mike Dunleavy preferred to keep Butler and Draymond Green on the roster as the main help for Curry rather than going after Brown.
The decision looks bad now since Brown helped the 76ers sign LeBron to improve their title hopes. Meanwhile, the Warriors have added zero new players to the roster outside of rookie Yaxel Lendeborg. Passing on a previous NBA Finals MVP and NBA Champion could easily hunt Dunleavy if Philly wins a ring with Brown.
Warriors Could Have “Easily” Acquired Jaylen Brown For Fair Price