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BOSTON — When the average person is reviewing the return of a trade and deciding how to rate it, they often look at the player coming back. This isn't always where the true value of a deal lies, especially in the NBA, but it's what many fans looked at when the Boston Celtics dealt star guard Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for star wing Paul George.
Yes, the Celtics also received a pair of first-round picks and a pair of second-round picks. However, that's not what a majority of Green Teamers are focusing on this offseason. They see that the Celtics lost a homegrown, five-time All-Star and gained a nine-time All-Star that's had an impressive career but is no longer in his prime. Even Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens could understand this myopic rationale.
"Listen, I'm a fan first and foremost," he said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference addressing the trade. "When I was a kid, I could care less about what picks came back, right? Especially second-round picks. I get it."
That viewpoint doesn't factor in how the Celtics acquired some draft capital and became a little more financially flexible, as George's contract is shorter than Brown's.
"The return for us was twofold," Stevens explained. "It was, number one, is there an opportunity to get somebody in the door or get tools that could allow you to get others in the door that could keep you at a very good level? And, number two, would there be assets attached that would then be usable in future deals? At the end of the day, we made what I think was a really hard decision, one that comes with very little sleep, to do the trade."
But, maybe those with a straightforward perspective are on to something. George is 36 years old and hasn't played in more than half of a regular season since the 2023-24 campaign. And how great is a trade if one of the selling points is that the centerpiece of the deal has a shorter contract?
In George's defense, he was a reason why the 76ers were able to triumph over the Celtics in seven games during their first-round playoff series. The former Sixer scored in double figures in every contest of that back-and-forth series and shot an incredible 55 percent from 3-point land overall.
"Paul's a really good player," Stevens praised. "We're not very far removed from all sitting in our series against Philadelphia and watching Paul be a guy that could carry you for portions of a quarter or a half, but also play a complementary role on both ends of the floor at the highest of levels."
Stevens and company will hope George can play alongside Celtics star Jayson Tatum and boost Boston as a two-way player. Yet, if that's what the C's were looking for, why didn't they just stick with Brown? He's younger, fresh off a career year, and has a NBA Finals MVP to his name.
Stevens offered his justification:
“I think that we did the deal because Paul George is a good player, and we got draft assets," Stevens stated. "Jaylen’s a (expletive) of a player. If he's on your team, you need to feature him, and that's the bottom line. Paul's a different player. Paul is a (expletive) of a player too, but he's a much different player.”
Since George is closer to the end of his 16-year NBA career and has a lengthy injury history, he's probably ok with taking a backseat in the offense while Tatum leads. Brown might not have been as open to that idea.
"I looked at where the league was heading...the path looked a little bit more challenging to me," Stevens described of the road ahead. "The path looked a little bit more challenging with 70 percent of our cap and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players."
Although the Celtics haven't solved the cap problem yet, the usage question should be answered with the addition of Paul and the loss of Brown. Regardless, it still feels like the Celtics were overthinking when they agreed to this deal.
Simply put, they swapped a reliable, playoff-proven player for a vet that has struggled to stay on the court in recent years. Perhaps Stevens and company should've just keep it simple, because there aren't a lot of fans or pundits who share their excitement for George.
"We're excited about Paul," Stevens said. "We're excited about a lot of our young guys, we're excited about the depth of our group, we're excited about our very best players, and...we think we've got a good team, and we think we've got a lot of options moving forward."
Stevens mentioned "moving forward" five different times over the course of his 40-minute presser. That'll be crucial for the Celtics executives who hope this trade pays dividends in the future and for the discouraged Celtics fans who already want to forget it ever happened.
Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Brad Stevens defends Celtics addition of Paul George
Continue reading...
Yes, the Celtics also received a pair of first-round picks and a pair of second-round picks. However, that's not what a majority of Green Teamers are focusing on this offseason. They see that the Celtics lost a homegrown, five-time All-Star and gained a nine-time All-Star that's had an impressive career but is no longer in his prime. Even Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens could understand this myopic rationale.
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"Listen, I'm a fan first and foremost," he said during a Wednesday afternoon press conference addressing the trade. "When I was a kid, I could care less about what picks came back, right? Especially second-round picks. I get it."
That viewpoint doesn't factor in how the Celtics acquired some draft capital and became a little more financially flexible, as George's contract is shorter than Brown's.
"The return for us was twofold," Stevens explained. "It was, number one, is there an opportunity to get somebody in the door or get tools that could allow you to get others in the door that could keep you at a very good level? And, number two, would there be assets attached that would then be usable in future deals? At the end of the day, we made what I think was a really hard decision, one that comes with very little sleep, to do the trade."
But, maybe those with a straightforward perspective are on to something. George is 36 years old and hasn't played in more than half of a regular season since the 2023-24 campaign. And how great is a trade if one of the selling points is that the centerpiece of the deal has a shorter contract?
In George's defense, he was a reason why the 76ers were able to triumph over the Celtics in seven games during their first-round playoff series. The former Sixer scored in double figures in every contest of that back-and-forth series and shot an incredible 55 percent from 3-point land overall.
"Paul's a really good player," Stevens praised. "We're not very far removed from all sitting in our series against Philadelphia and watching Paul be a guy that could carry you for portions of a quarter or a half, but also play a complementary role on both ends of the floor at the highest of levels."
Stevens and company will hope George can play alongside Celtics star Jayson Tatum and boost Boston as a two-way player. Yet, if that's what the C's were looking for, why didn't they just stick with Brown? He's younger, fresh off a career year, and has a NBA Finals MVP to his name.
Stevens offered his justification:
“I think that we did the deal because Paul George is a good player, and we got draft assets," Stevens stated. "Jaylen’s a (expletive) of a player. If he's on your team, you need to feature him, and that's the bottom line. Paul's a different player. Paul is a (expletive) of a player too, but he's a much different player.”
Since George is closer to the end of his 16-year NBA career and has a lengthy injury history, he's probably ok with taking a backseat in the offense while Tatum leads. Brown might not have been as open to that idea.
"I looked at where the league was heading...the path looked a little bit more challenging to me," Stevens described of the road ahead. "The path looked a little bit more challenging with 70 percent of our cap and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players."
Although the Celtics haven't solved the cap problem yet, the usage question should be answered with the addition of Paul and the loss of Brown. Regardless, it still feels like the Celtics were overthinking when they agreed to this deal.
Simply put, they swapped a reliable, playoff-proven player for a vet that has struggled to stay on the court in recent years. Perhaps Stevens and company should've just keep it simple, because there aren't a lot of fans or pundits who share their excitement for George.
"We're excited about Paul," Stevens said. "We're excited about a lot of our young guys, we're excited about the depth of our group, we're excited about our very best players, and...we think we've got a good team, and we think we've got a lot of options moving forward."
Stevens mentioned "moving forward" five different times over the course of his 40-minute presser. That'll be crucial for the Celtics executives who hope this trade pays dividends in the future and for the discouraged Celtics fans who already want to forget it ever happened.
Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Brad Stevens defends Celtics addition of Paul George
Continue reading...
