No matter how anyone feels about the Jaylen Brown trade, one thing is for sure: the Boston Celtics will challenge their younger players to step up in Brown's place. We don't know how they'll respond to that challenge, but keep in mind that they've been tasked to replace a star coming off an All-NBA second team appearance from his best season.
That will not be easy, but keep in mind that this was a similar challenge that Boston taksed Brown with back in 2017: replacing Gordon Hayward.
Yes, we all know about the Hayward tragedy, but when it happened, many believed it was already over for Boston. That reflected on how high Hayward's value was back then. But the Celtics didn't take it lying down. Instead of going for the tank, Boston depended on the likes of Brown and Jayson Tatum to fill the void with Hayward down.
They passed the test with flying colors, as the Celtics still managed to snag the No. 2 seed even with everything that had worked and would continue to work against them.
It only got harder when Kyrie Irving went down
As if the challenges weren't hard enough, Irving was also out for the season because of knee surgery, on top of Daniel Theis' torn meniscus. Again, everyone thought Boston's goose was cooked following confirmation Irving couldn't play, but all that did was give both Brown and Tatum more on their plate, and they did not back down.
Granted, this was the first hint that maybe Boston would do just fine without Irving before he left a year later, but even so, the Jays did as best they could to help the Celtics get the furthest they could. Sure, they didn't make it to the NBA Finals, but they were on the one-yard line during a time in which everyone believed they were done for months prior.
Fast forward to now, and Boston now re-enters a similar territory after trading Brown. Of course, this time, they created this challenge instead of unintentionally facing it like they did in 2017. Everyone will look at Paul George first to fill the void, but they shouldn't act like George can do what Brown does. He will fill in somewhat, but this will be a challenge for the team as a whole, not just one person.
It's why everyone should be looking forward to the developments of Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman, among others. Their progress could offset Brown's absence. In fact, it's fair to conclude that they believe they have the firepower to replace Brown's impact, even if they can't replace the numbers he put up.
Back in 2017, the Celtics had the talent to overcome the losses of their best players Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Nine years later, they have to overcome the loss of Jaylen Brown. They may not have the talent, but they may have the personnel to work past it.
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