Many couldn't believe Brad Stevens traded Jaylen Brown for what seemed like so little in return. It only looked worse when LeBron James joined the exact same team he traded Brown to. However, it has recently come to light that trading Brown had been something Stevens had wanted to do for a while.
This all sounds very familiar because making such a move, sure to create so much backlash, was something that never stopped Bill Belichick during the New England Patriots' reign of terror. Even when the Patriots had already won a few Super Bowls, many questioned Bill's decisions over the years, but time and time again, he was proven right.
The Pats remained among the NFL's elites for almost two decades, primarily because they had the greatest quarterback ever, but secondarily because they had a brilliant football mind on the sideline who knew exactly when his players weren't as valuable as many had thought.
So when they started asking for more than what they were worth, Bill got rid of them without a second thought. The moves weren't easy, but they were necessary. This was a recurring theme throughout the Patriots' reign, and it played a part in how New England stayed at the top. The decisions weren't always received well, but more often than not, Bill was right.
That wasn't just because the player wasn't worth as much as he thought he was, but because Belichick knew who to replace him with. He wasn't always right, but his accuracy was high enough that he deserved the benefit of the doubt
Stevens has shown he's cut from the same cloth
For the record, it's not like Stevens has never been afraid to take risks before he traded Brown. Many couldn't believe he had traded Marcus Smart, period, let alone for Kristaps Porzingis. There were plenty of questions about why he traded a first-round pick to bring back Al Horford.
Stevens has been proven to be completely correct. Now, he's made the most courageous move of his career as an executive: trading Boston's second-best player. More than that, he traded him for an aging Paul George, who hasn't played at an All-Star level in years and probably won't in his mid-30s. That, and two draft assets.
He didn't trade Brown for George hoping the latter will replace what the former did, but rather that George will help Boston win games with what he can still do while the rest of the roster's abilities compensate for Brown's absence.
It's a very Belichickian decision by Stevens. He knows there's not a lot of love for him with the legacy Brown left in Boston, but Stevens made this deal because, like Belichick, he believes it was best for the team to be rid of him more than anything.
Because Stevens' track record has been mostly spotless, he deserves leniency until we see how the Celtics and Sixers fare. If he's proven correct to make the deal, then he's entered the same motto Belichick once had in New England: "In Brad, we trust."
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