People have been clowning on the Celtics in the wake of the Jaylen Brown trade, and one of the common, bad-faith arguments used to diminish them is claiming that the Clippers got more for Kawhi Leonard than the Celtics got for Jaylen Brown. This take completely lacks nuance and context, and frankly, it’s a pretty disingenuous narrative.
Breaking down the trades
The Kawhi trade:
Raptors get: Kawhi Leonard
Clippers get: Brandon Ingram, two first-round picks (2031 and 2033), a 2027 first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks (2030 and 2033)
The Jaylen trade:
76ers get: Jaylen Brown
Celtics get: Paul George, one first-round pick (2031), one first-round pick OR swap (2028), and two second-round picks (2028 and 2030)
Paul George is still better than Brandon Ingram
Let’s get into the details. First of all, Ingram and PG were basically both just salaries to make the deals work, but George is a better player than Ingram. BI was an all-star last year, but he’s not efficient, he’s a playoff dropper, and his impact on winning is suspect. All of the reasons that Boston just moved Brown apply way more to Ingram.
He’s a scorer and a tough shot-maker, but he doesn’t do much else, like defend or play without the ball. He’s younger and slightly cheaper, but he still has durability concerns and will likely be seeking another large contract very soon.Â
PG is a shell of his old self, but he’s still an excellent two-way player who will buy into his role and impact winning at a high level. If the Celtics can keep him fresh and manage his minutes, he should be a very good addition. I’ll be shocked if the Clippers can say the same about Ingram.
Celtics’ picks are much more premium
But this really boils down to the draft picks, which are the main reason for the confusion. Sure, the Clippers got two firsts, a swap, and two seconds, while the Celtics (likely) got one first, one swap, and two seconds, but let’s actually examine the picks, because this is purely a debate of quantity vs. quality.
And in these deals, the quality favors Boston. First of all, the swap in the Kawhi deal is basically nothing. Barring a miracle, the Raptors are going to be a lot better than the Clips, so LA won’t be exercising that swap. The Celtics’ swap, on the other hand, is for the more favorable of the Clippers' or 76ers’ picks in 2028. The Clippers should still be quite bad, and there’s a good chance that’s a very high pick.
The first two that the Clippers got are from the Raptors, who have built a nice young team with Scottie Barnes, Collin Murray-Boyles, and others. Even if Leonard is gone by 2030, the team is set up for success, and those two picks may well be late in the 20s. The 2031 76ers pick that the Celtics got, on the other hand, has a lot of upside. Philly is all-in on three massive contracts between Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and Joel Embiid that all expire in three years.Â
If things go wrong, Philly could be looking at a total rebuild by the end of this decade, and they could also be handing a high pick to the Celtics. Second-round picks are hard to predict, but the two that the Clippers got are both from Toronto, who will be trying to win. The seconds that Boston got are each the most favorable option among the three teams. It’s a crapshoot for sure, but I’d rather have three cracks at the lottery than one.
So ultimately, yes, the Clippers quite literally got ‘more’ in their return. But in this instance, less is more and quality trumps quantity. Only time will tell how this all plays out, but in the moment, the Celtics' return for Jaylen Brown is pretty clearly more favorable than what the Clippers got for Kawhi Leonard.
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