The Celtics’ fallout with Jaylen Brown reportedly began after their talks with the Bucks failed to land Giannis Antetokounmpo in a potential trade that would have sent the former Finals MVP to Milwaukee. Subsequently, they put Jaylen Brown on the trade block and began listening to offers from multiple teams across the league.
According to Shams Charania, the Celtics initially expected much more than what they ended up getting from the Sixers in a trade for Brown.
“The 76ers were among about eight to ten teams engaged with the Celtics over the last few weeks about a Jaylen Brown trade. But the Celtics’ asking price was just so sky-high,” said Charania on SportsCenter.
“Mike Gansey, the Sixers’ new president, just stuck around for that party, waiting for that price to continue to drop and deplete. He didn’t say the Irish goodbye like most teams, but once the Celtics missed out on Giannis Antetokounmpo, when they offered Jaylen Brown and two first-round picks, they then pivoted to asking for four to five first-round picks from teams.”
“That price was not met, and the fact that I’m told is that after the Giannis deal did not go through for Boston, Jaylen Brown did feel a level of disrespect. You shop a player like this, not only do you rub him the wrong way, but also his value plummets.”
“Remember, four years ago they offered him for Kevin Durant, and now they offered him for Giannis. I’m told he never formally requested a trade. But I talked to people around the league who said if he were to be moved, he would also welcome that ultimately.”
“The other thing here is that the Celtics faced a contract extension decision with Jaylen Brown in July. The fact that they traded him right now is all the indication that anyone needs to know whether they were ever going to offer him that extension.”
“No one could have foreseen Jaylen Brown being traded at 30 years old to an in-division Eastern Conference Rival like this for a player who is six years older and some draft assets,” Charania added.
Charania later dove into the specifics of the Sixers’ negotiations. He explained that the Celtics initially hoped that the Sixers would also include a young player like V.J Edgecombe in the trade along with many more first-round picks.
But once no one in the league met their demands, they began going back to teams, asking them for their best offer. It gave teams the impression that the Celtics were “yearning” for a deal to be done today.
“There were other teams around the league that might have stopped conversations or moved on to do other deals, but the Sixers stayed with it… they stuck around, and at the end of it, they were the last team standing today, so just staying engaged paid dividends for the Sixers.”
So, in summary, the Celtics’ excessive price tag on Jaylen Brown killed his demand in the market, and the 76ers simply benefited from staying engaged with Boston on the talks instead of ghosting them.
There can be several arguments over why the Celtics went through with this trade, but no one can deny that it currently seems like a steal for the 76ers, who have instantly propelled themselves to being championship contenders, especially if they now land someone like LeBron James.
We should always remember that it was trading away Kevin Garnett that landed the Celtics with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. But that was a 37-year-old Garnett, and not a 30-year-old version of him in his prime. So it remains to be seen if the draft picks eventually help the Celtics or not.
