Thursday was the first time that former Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown spoke to the media since being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. The end of press conference photo of him holding up his new Sixers jersey next to general manager Mike Gansey is absolute nightmare fuel for Celtics fans.
Gansey spoke to reporters in Philly, too. He discussed the process of bringing the former NBA Finals MVP to the organization, and that he was surprised that a deal actually came to fruition.
“I would have never thought Jaylen Brown would be a 76er, but we just kept at it,” Gansey said via CLNS Media.
I’ll tell you what, Mike, I never thought he’d be a Sixer either, but here we are.
Throughout the long, drawn-out process of Jaylen’s exit from Boston, which clearly wasn’t what he wanted to happen based on what he’s said since, there were so many other teams that seemed like frontrunners for his services.
The Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, and Houston Rockets were a few.
As we’ve all come to learn (and forget during moments of high stress) Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens almost always moves in silence. Gansey said as much and credited Stevens for keeping the discussions out of the public eye.
“It was a process of talking to them, going back-and-forth,” he said. “We just kept at it. Boston kept calling, we kept calling, trying to figure something out. Credit Brad [Stevens]. We really kept this thing quiet. They got Paul [George]. Paul still can really play.”
Gansey's reaction to the deal sure makes it all feel worse for the Celtics
This whole piece of the press conference poured salt in the wound, to be honest. The fact that Gansey didn’t think there was a chance that Boston would trade Brown to Philly says quite a bit. More or less, he didn’t seem to believe either, that the Cs would deal a star to a rival like the Sixers, or that they’d be willing to do so for the package that was offered.
There’s been plenty of discourse over the past month about how George, despite his age, is still a good fit with the Celtics and has the skills to help them in lower-usage ways than Brown. That’s all valid and could very well be the case. We just won’t know for sure until we see it in October. There’s a reason why George’s $113 million contract over the next two seasons was seen as one of the worst in the NBA.
Since joining the 76ers two years ago, the veteran wing hasn’t been able to put a consistent stretch of good health and good hoops together, besides of course the end of this past season.
Gansey had a giddiness to him, despite praising George, as well as the draft assets Boston reaped from the deal. He’s clearly excited about Brown’s fit in Philly -- another “we’re going to have to wait and see” aspect of the deal.
Add us as a preferred source on Google