Ever since the Celtics traded Jaylen Brown, Brad Stevens has done his best to explain the trade to fans without coming out and disparaging JB. He has done a great job of it, in my opinion, and has made it pretty clear what the team’s vision is and why they think this move will unlock some things and make them a better, more cohesive unit from top to bottom.
One thing he has emphasized on multiple occasions is the importance of depth, how much they like their young guys, and how important it is to keep those guys in the building and build something sustainable.
Stevens can only explain the Jaylen Brown trade so many different ways
At media day on Monday, he pushed that sentiment yet again, this time more clearly than ever:
"It's not just who you bring in; it's also what guys can step into new roles and what guys can do to take the next step in their ability to impact [winning]. And oftentimes that happens because you're younger and you get better, [but] sometimes it happens because there's movement within the roster that allows for more opportunity."
Without naming names, Stevens is basically saying that the team was giving major minutes and major usage to Brown, and by removing him from the roster, they’ve opened up some very real opportunities for guys like Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Ron Harper Jr., and others.
These are guys who came on big time last season and look like they are ready for more, but with Brown and Jayson Tatum eating up almost all of the minutes and ball-handling on the wing, that was never going to happen.
Paul George was brought in, and Sam Hauser is still around, but at this point, those guys are more like role players, and the youngsters are going to be elevated thanks to the massive evolution of the roster.
Celtics are leaning all the way into Scheierman, Walsh, and Hugo
These guys drove chaos and created advantages for Boston in limited minutes and played a huge role in the team’s stunning overachievements last season. There was some debate over how legitimate it was and what was most responsible for driving winning, but Brad couldn’t have made it any clearer where he stands on the matter.
This summer’s moves have brought things into focus and made the Celtics’ intentions obvious. They are all-in on their scouting, their development, their organizational infrastructure, and their system and style of play on the court under Joe Mazzulla and his staff.
They were largely forced to lean into it last season due to Tatum’s injury and a salary cap crunch, but this time around, it’s all by choice. Stevens has created the team that he wants around his superstar, Tatum, and he’s finally ready to unleash the full depths of Mazzulla-Ball on the rest of the NBA.
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