The Boston Celtics‘ decision to trade Jaylen Brown has led to endless debates among fans and the media alike.
Brown had just wrapped up a career year for the Celtics. Yet he quickly found himself being shopped to multiple teams around the NBA. He was ultimately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in return for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks.
During a recent appearance on Sirius XM NBA Radio, former Celtics forward Gordon Hayward shared his thoughts on the deal. Hayward noted that nobody will know whether there was a disconnect between the camps of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He also backed Brad Stevens, admitting that Boston’s President of Basketball Operations would have entered trade talks armed with all the necessary analytics.
“You know, I think he puts as much stock as needed (in the analytics). I think Brad is extremely intelligent. And I know everybody says that, but I can tell you firsthand, just playing for him both in college and with the Celtics, he knows what he’s doing.”
Hayward continues.
“Also, who knows what was going down between JT’s camp and JB’s camp? …I know he didn’t formally demand a trade, at least I don’t think he did, but it used to be one of those things where that was an informal type of thing. So, I don’t know. I think Brad definitely looks at the analytics. He uses the analytics and then makes a decision based on that, his gut and what he thinks is best for the Celtics.”
Hayward played with both Tatum and Brown during his three-year stay with the Celtics between 2017 and 2020.
Celtics Discussed Brown Trade Mid-Season
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Celtics were exploring trades for Jaylen Brown as early as February.
“The Warriors could’ve got in the Jaylen Brown sweepstakes if they wanted to give up 4 first-round picks-ish, in that range,” Charania said on a recent episode of ‘The Stephen A Smith Show.’ “They decided not to, from my understanding.”
Charania continued.
“Those two teams, the Warriors and Celtics, did talk about a Jaylen Brown trade around the trade deadline, and it was around several first-round draft picks, potential swaps, and seconds. The Warriors decided not to go down that route, and so that’s on them. That’s the decision they made.”
Golden State ultimately decided to stand pat and is yet to make a major addition to its roster this summer.
Brown Trade Led To LeBron James Joining Sixers
When appearing on SportsCenter following LeBron’s free agency decision, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Boston’s decision to trade Jaylen Brown to the Sixers is what put Philadelphia on LeBron’s radar.
“Jaylen Brown, the moment he got traded to the Sixers from Boston a couple of days into free agency, the Sixers came onto LeBron James’ radar. Now they have landed LeBron James on a two-year minimum contract to try to win a championship in the East.”
Now, the Sixers boast a genuine superteam, giving the Celtics another elite opponent to contend with as they continue re-tooling their roster and working toward championship contention.
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