The highly anticipated press conference from Brad Stevens and Bill Chisholm went down on Monday afternoon as the two Celtics leaders faced the music and answered questions about the crazy Jaylen Brown trade for over 40 minutes.
They said all the right things and hit all the right notes, explaining how the deal was about basketball, that money and ownership had nothing to do with it, that the Celtics wanted to create optionality, the desire to avoid paying two players 70% of the salary cap going forward, that Brown didn’t demand a trade, that Tatum had no input, and on and on.
Stevens and Chisholm were insistent that the only goal is to win and that the team will spend when necessary, but the main point was that they think this is the best move for the team and that every move has been about basketball and building the best possible team to win at the highest level.
Stevens and Chisholm will be judged on the team's success going forward
Whether they’ve made the right moves or not remains to be seen, but I happen to take them at their word. I don’t believe there was any smoking gun or big secret behind this trade or any past moves; I simply think the owners and front office are managing the team as best they can given the current realities of the league and the rules.
However, I also understand that these moves will only be judged by the results, and as of now, the optics look bad. Fans are furious that it looks like the team essentially just salary-dumped a franchise icon, and that’s fair. Again, personally, I see the vision and think the Celtics are smartly being proactive and getting ahead of a problem before it gets worse.
I also believe that the owners aren’t trying to cut costs and that they will spend when the time comes. It has been clear that the goal was to duck under the tax last year, to reset the repeater tax, and then to have the optionality to spend freely next year for the rest of Tatum’s prime. Nothing has happened to change my thinking, and that’s exactly what Chisholm said on Monday.
But the reality of the situation is that actions speak louder than words, and until there are some tangible improvements, perception isn’t going to change. People are angry. It looks like the Celtics made the team worse, made a rival better, and got fleeced in the process. The only thing that’s going to stop that is winning.
Only thing that will save Brad Stevens is winning
Stevens is making a massive bet, and he'd better hope that it works out. The goal in Boston is always to win championships. They accomplished that goal in 2024, in large part thanks to Brown. But the last two seasons have ended in playoff disappointments that simply weren’t good enough for this organization.
Changes were needed, and Brad pressed the nuclear button, trading away Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, to the 76ers. Despite the disastrous playoff result this year, this big change has been met with near-unanimous disapproval. Luckily, there’s a scoreboard in basketball, and the Celtics have the chance to shut up all of the doubters and prove Stevens and Chisholm right.
But if the team doesn’t win, if big moves aren’t made this season or next, if Brown thrives in Philadelphia, and if the Celtics don’t get back to the promised land with Tatum, this trade will always be remembered as a massive failure.
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