Bill Simmons reveals 2 key reasons Celtics swapped Jaylen Brown for Paul George

From a talent perspective, the Boston Celtics downgraded from Jaylen Brown to Paul George. Brown just had his peak season while George is no longer the superstar he once was. That much is for sure, so many have still been scratching their heads for why they made the deal. Bill Simmons revealed that there was more to it than meets the eye.

Besides the fact that George's deal is more team-friendly than Brown's is (and was going to be even more so), along with the draft capital Philly gave up, Simmons revealed during his latest appearance on SiriusXM that Boston made the swap believing George fits better with Jayson Tatum and that the Celtics wanted to play their young wings more.

To be fair, George really showed out during the Celtics-Sixers series on both ends of the floor, thus displaying that his All-Star days may be gone, but his days as a high-impact player are alive and well. Not to mention, those young wings, which include Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Ron Harper Jr., did quite well in stepping up for the absent Jayson Tatum last year.

George is the better three-point shooter and all-around defender than Brown, though Brown is definitely the better pure scorer. None of the other four aforementioned wings are as talented as Brown either, but they proved how useful they can be when given the playing time.

Both reasons could and should go well together this season

George will likely start right next to Tatum this season as the two will be interchangeable. If George proves to be an elite 3&D player who can provide some shot creation that translates into winning basketball, that's a win for the Celtics no matter what he's paid.

However, everyone also knows how old George is, which is why it's in Boston's best interest to conserve him to the best of their abilities. That means that they will play their young wings in his absence the same way they did when they would play Blake Griffin, Luke Kornet, and Neemias Queta to help keep Horford fresh for when it mattered most.

This is the Celtics' vision, but whether it works, we have yet to see. It's a calculated, but still a risk all the same. At the end of the day, they still traded a star at the top of his game for someone who was once a star, but not anymore. They're banking on his limited capabilities and their young wings filling the void left by Brown.

There's a chance this works. In fact, the likelihood may be stronger than we all think, but regardless of Boston's reasons, this was still quite a gamble.

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