Nikola Vucevic recently spoke with Sasa Ozmo of Skweek. Their conversation included the two-time All-Star sharing his thoughts on the Jaylen Brown trade.
The 15-year veteran joined the Boston Celtics in February shortly before the trade deadline. During the months he spent in their locker room, did he see any signs of strife? Any signals that the relationship between two players who led one of the most successful eras in franchise history had to be separated?
"While I was there, did I sense anything between the players or any kind of problems? No, I honestly didn't," said Vucevic. "I was as surprised as everyone else when the trade happened, even though there had been plenty written about it in the media. But plenty of things get reported and don't end up happening.
"Maybe the time had simply come. They'd been together for ten years and achieved great results. Maybe they'd reached the end of that road and some things needed to change. Maybe the team needed to be refreshed so they could start over and move in a different direction."
Vucevic saw Celtics' cap reality that led to Jaylen Brown trade
Some would love to see the NBA introduce cap credits. They could be a mechanism that helps teams keep their homegrown stars. However, the league introduced this harsher collective bargaining agreement to promote parity. Making it easier for Boston to have kept Brown would have flown in the face of this CBA's mission statement.
Instead, as Brad Stevens stated at his press conference after sending the former Finals MVP to one of their most hated rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers, Brown and Tatum taking up 70 percent of their cap space became untenable.
Brad Stevens: "the path looked a little bit more challenging to me with 70% of our cap tied into 2 players" pic.twitter.com/fcus4RwBoQ
— Danielle H. (@DanielleHobeika) July 6, 2026
Vucevic saw that too.
"With Tatum and Brown both on such big contracts, it wasn't easy for them to fit the rest of the team around those two," he acknowledged.
Resetting the repeater tax sets the Celtics up for a big swing
Vucevic's short stint in Boston coincided with the first year the organization scaled down after consecutive campaigns over the second apron. In fact, there were two reasons for his arrival at the trade deadline. One was to stabilize the center position. The Celtics needed a reliable option behind Neemias Queta. They also had to be equipped to handle a potential injury at that spot.
The other reason was that it paved the way for them to get underneath the luxury tax. That was a crucial accomplishment that sets them up to reset the repeater tax. Doing so gives them the flexibility to take a big swing and keep a title-contending team intact for multiple years. In a way, Vucevic represented a portion of the price it will take to achieve that.
Interestingly enough, while Boston is under the luxury tax at the moment and well positioned to reset the repeater tax, Paul George is taking up nearly the same cap space Brown was. However, the organization can get off of his contract a year earlier. It could also prove a valuable trade chip.
The Celtics already have the young talent to help facilitate a deal if they're in the market for a star like Nikola Jokic. Their draft capital is more robust after acquiring a pair of first-round picks in their trade with the Sixers. George's salary could match that of a new star running mate for Tatum if the franchise pivots in that direction.
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