Many are still asking why after the Boston Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. There's a solid, albeit complicated, rationale for why they made this deal. Among the reasons why they did this was their strong faith in the team as a unit, which showed itself during their regular season finale against Orlando.
Because of what happened next, it's become easy to forget that, like any team who has their playoff seeding wrapped up, they didn't play their A-team in the regular season finale. However, the team they were facing, the Orlando Magic, were still fighting for it, meaning they had everything to gain while the Celtics had nothing to lose.
And yet, the Celtics still came away with the victory. There were some questionable decisions on the Magic's part, but the undermanned Celtics beat the Magic, who came within inches of getting to the second round, primarily because of Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza, and Ron Harper Jr.
Orlando had every reason to win this game, as doing so would have made it so that they got the No. 6 seed, meaning they would have avoided the play-in. Losing made their playoff bid a lot more complicated.
Even if Boston hadn't won the game - and they did because Luka Garza hit a HORSE shot - this was an impressive display of how deep their roster truly was. It wasn't the primary reason Boston traded Brown, but this likely factored into why they were okay with making the deal.
They should be more than ready to make up for Brown's absence
None of this is to say that the Celtics will be better without Brown. It will definitely be on the team to make up for his absence, but their depth proved at the end of last season that they can hold up their end should the team ask them to.
For the record, all three of Scheierman, Garza, and Harper proved how valuable they were even before their final regular season matchup against the Magic. However, that game proved just how far their value goes. When the Celtics (sort of) asked them to step up with their starters out, they delivered in spectacular fashion.
Next year, the Celtics will likely ask more out of Scheierman and Harper (adding Mitchell Robinson brings Garza's role into question), and it won't start and stop with them. Hugo Gonzalez and Payton Pritchard will also likely see bigger roles.
If they were good enough to withstand Jayson Tatum's absence, they unquestionably should be able to do the same with Brown.
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