Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum the Real Winners in the Trade

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum might be the only two clear winners in the blockbuster trade

When you complete a trade involving as many pieces as the Boston Celtics did to acquire Kyrie Irving, there are so many different ways they can win or lose the trade. Isaiah Thomas‘ hip alone could transform how this trade is perceived. How the Nets do this season could end u being the biggest factor, and who knows what Ante Zizic will become with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It is hard to tell how Irving and Thomas will be impacted by the trade. They are both in completely new situations, and it is too hard to predict how that will end up.

Even for the franchises, the Cavaliers could have thrown away their last chance to win with LeBron James, or they could have gotten the pieces they need to keep him around. The Celtics could have received the transcendent talent they have been looking for, or Thomas could repeat last seasons success with the Nets pick ending up as the best asset this team ever touched.

There is uncertainty at every level of this trade, except there are two young players that clearly benefit from this. By doing this trade, Danny Ainge has made it abundantly clear that the future of this team will be in the hands of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and it is now clear that the Celtics will do nothing that could do damage to their future.

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The first way you can see this is in the team’s willingness to part with Jae Crowder. The impact lost from him will not be replaced by some other acquisition. Instead, it is going to be Brown on the defensive end, and Tatum on the offensive end.

This trade opens up the rotation for these two young guys, and Stevens will not have to worry about balancing them, while a more polished player in Crowder is losing minutes.

You also see a bit of this in Ainge’s decision to trade for a point guard instead of other options. Irving will never get in the way of either of them, and will never take minutes away. Someone like Paul George or Jimmy Butler would do exactly that.

Ainge’s willingness to part with the Nets pick also shows how much he loves these prospects. That Nets pick looks a lot like a top pick in a stacked class. Ainge’s willingness to part with that means he has all the confidence he needs in his young core, and he does not need to continue stockpiling young talent, trying to find one that works.

The biggest way Brown and Tatum win from this trade is Irving’s age. At just 25 years old, Irving is going to be in his prime when both Brown and Tatum are starting theirs. Ainge has assembled a young core that is ready to win now, while two of the biggest talents develop with the other talent already in their primes.

Ainge has managed to free up all kinds of space and room for Tatum and Brown to develop how they need to, and they can do that with absolutely no pressure. Nobody will be blaming Brown or Tatum if the Celtics aren’t good enough.

Normally, when young players are given more responsibility, which should be the case after this trade, there is inevitable pressure that follows. With Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford still there, there is absolutely no more pressure on these players, even if Ainge is making it more clear that they are the future plans.

Brown and Tatum do not necessarily win on the court in this one. The way they win is now they can be a lot more confident that Ainge is fully supporting them. They can be confident that Ainge and Stevens are trying to build a core of players that will embrace them when they are at their best.

Ainge has given both Tatum and Brown the freedom they need to develop properly, while also showing them that when they develop properly, they will still be playing with some of the best talent the league has to offer.

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It is still difficult to make proper sense of this trade, but the more you look at Brown and Tatum, more of the pieces start to come together in a way that points to the most promising future in the NBA.

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