When the Jaylen Brown trade happened, it actually wasn't that big of a surprise because it had been reported for some time that the Boston Celtics were looking to trade him. What was the surprise was when they did it, everyone's response to Boston's side of the trade was, "That's it?"
Boston only received Paul George and two first-round draft assets, one pick swap from the Los Angeles Clippers/Philadelphia 76ers in 2028, and one unprotected first-round pick from the Sixers in 2031.
For someone who probably built a strong enough legacy with the Celtics that he could get his number retired, not to mention an All-NBA Second Team honor, that seemed weak. And they sent him to a division rival.
However, the latest reveal from Brian Scalabrine that Brown asked the Celtics to meet his demands or trade him could explain why their return wasn't as good as many could have anticipated. If that got out to NBA teams (again, it was reported for weeks that Boston was looking to trade him), they may have known the situation was unsalvageable, so they took advantage of it.
That's what happens. Milwaukee didn't get the best haul for Giannis Antetokounmpo because they waited too long. It may not be that bad in the end, but because they waited too long, Miami got him for less than what someone like the Greek Freak would fetch back.
It wasn't the exact same situation with Brown, but if other NBA teams knew Brown was done with the Celtics, they may have intentionally undersold as much as they could, especially if they knew Brad Stevens was desperate.
And was the return really that poor?
As time has gone on, suddenly the deal hasn't aged too poorly. Not because of anything that has to do with Brown, but after so much complaining about George, it turns out that he's not that bad after all. He's going to have his ups and downs, but it's pretty clear that he has more juice than everyone gave him credit for.
Brown may be in his prime, and George is coming out of his, but there's a growing possibility that Boston may get more out of George than Brown. Not because of how they compare as players, but because of how they fit with their respective teams.
And those future assets could be fantastic in no time. The Clippers are still cleaning up their own mess from the Kawhi Leonard fallout. The Sixers are trying to win now, but there's no telling what that team is going to look like in five years.
Maybe Boston could have extracted more assets out of Brown, but if it's out there that he wanted out, it put them between a rock and a hard place. With that context, this deal may have been the best one on the table.
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