Everyone waiting to find a smoking gun that explains the Celtics' trade of Jaylen Brown for Paul George is probably going to be disappointed, but the more the dust settles, the more we get little hints that help piece the puzzle together. Brad Stevens did a good job explaining himself in the press conference, repeatedly stating the need for optionality and the challenges of having two players take up 70% of the cap with the NBA’s CBA.
Brad downplayed any involvement from Brown, revealing that JB wasn’t disgruntled with the team, nor was the team with JB. And while that all may be true, one of the tougher things to explain was the timing, the return, and the destination.
Well, perhaps some of that can be explained by a revelation from Zach Lowe on his latest podcast with Bobby Marks, when he discussed how Brown may have influenced his final landing spot by making his feelings known to potential suitors.
“I think there was at least one or two other teams who might have been interested in Jaylen Brown and who got intel that Jaylen Brown wasn’t interested in them and to maybe stay out of the bidding. I think Boston felt the circle closing.”
It makes sense as Brown doesn’t live under a rock and obviously knew his name was being floated on the trade market, which was confirmed by Stevens. At that point, there’s no reason for Brown not to have his camp put out some messaging to teams, perhaps telling them to stay away from Jaylen, forcing them not to pursue a trade.
Brown influenced teams not to trade for him
Lowe specifically brought up the Trail Blazers, and it’s not hard to speculate about what other teams may have had some initial interest but been less than thrilled to take on three years of a supermax contract for a player who wasn’t thrilled to be there.
That would certainly explain the market drying up and also why the Celtics felt the need to act with urgency and get this done before they lost what little leverage they had. With extension eligibility rapidly approaching for Brown, the Celtics didn’t want to risk the situation becoming toxic and clearly saw that teams were dropping out of the bidding like flies, decisions that easily could have been swayed by Brown’s preferences.
With three guaranteed years left on his deal, there was little that Brown could do in this situation, but about to enter his age-30 season, in the heart of his prime, it’s understandable that he’d want some input, and this was really the only avenue he had at his disposal.
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