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BOSTON — Before Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens was bombarded with questions from the media on Monday afternoon, the de facto general manager prefaced his first press conference since trading star Jaylen Brown with an 8-minute long statement.
In that lengthy address, Stevens praised Brown for his Celtics tenure and his off-court impact in the Boston community. He then got into the nitty gritty of the shocking trade that sent Brown to the rival Philadelphia 76ers, explaining why he pulled the trigger in return for 9-time All-Star Paul George, a pair of first-round picks, and a pair of second-round picks.
"When I looked at our team, and I looked at where the league was heading, looked at the way that we've finished the last couple years, and also looked at the unbelievable way we've played in the regular season the last couple years, the path looked a little bit more challenging to me," Stevens admitted in front of several cameras at the Auerbach Center. "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."
Ironically, moving Brown for George didn't give the Celtics true financial freedom. However, while the amount of money Brown is earning is similar to George, the latter has a shorter contract that includes a player option as well.
"The reality in this era and in this day and age in the NBA, you could see it, obviously, with the last couple of champions and some of the teams that were at the very top of the league, when it was all said and done at the end of this year, is that you have to do a great job and you have to have the optionality to do a great job of building out depth that can hopefully replace the irreplaceable individual," Stevens said.
Brown, a five-time All-Star, may have simply been taking up too much space on the Celtics roster. And when it came to parting ways with him or star forward Jayson Tatum, the C's chose to trade Brown.
"If you have Jaylen Brown on your team, you should feature him," Stevens stated. "You should use all those possessions, and you should approach things that way. But I think the importance of depth, and then, obviously, we have to continue to work on ways to diversify our attack overall."
In many ways, Tatum is considered a more versatile player than Brown. He's a better passer and rebounder and is easy to match with other players. Yet, Brown was the centerpiece of an undermanned roster during the 2025-26 campaign and helped lead the Celtics to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference.
That must not have been enough to sway Stevens and company, who were reportedly thinking about dealing Brown last summer, too.
"I would say that it's a move to keep us at a very competitive level and give us optionality moving forward," Stevens described of the trade.
Whether or not the Celtics benefit from such a controversial swap remains to be seen, as it could prove wise in the coming seasons if the aforementioned flexibility brings another star to Beantown or immediately blow up in their faces if Brown thrives and wins in Philly. Those are consequences Stevens and Celtics owner Bill Chisholm — who was sitting right beside his head decision-maker on Monday — must live with.
"I recognize that I have accountability and I'm accountable for it," Chisholm told reporters. "Brad's accountable to me for it, and his team's accountable to him, but the mandate here is to win, and we came to the conclusion...this was the best way for us to win."
Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Brad Stevens focuses on two reasons for trading Jaylen Brown: Depth and optionality
Continue reading...
In that lengthy address, Stevens praised Brown for his Celtics tenure and his off-court impact in the Boston community. He then got into the nitty gritty of the shocking trade that sent Brown to the rival Philadelphia 76ers, explaining why he pulled the trigger in return for 9-time All-Star Paul George, a pair of first-round picks, and a pair of second-round picks.
"When I looked at our team, and I looked at where the league was heading, looked at the way that we've finished the last couple years, and also looked at the unbelievable way we've played in the regular season the last couple years, the path looked a little bit more challenging to me," Stevens admitted in front of several cameras at the Auerbach Center. "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."
Ironically, moving Brown for George didn't give the Celtics true financial freedom. However, while the amount of money Brown is earning is similar to George, the latter has a shorter contract that includes a player option as well.
"The reality in this era and in this day and age in the NBA, you could see it, obviously, with the last couple of champions and some of the teams that were at the very top of the league, when it was all said and done at the end of this year, is that you have to do a great job and you have to have the optionality to do a great job of building out depth that can hopefully replace the irreplaceable individual," Stevens said.
Brown, a five-time All-Star, may have simply been taking up too much space on the Celtics roster. And when it came to parting ways with him or star forward Jayson Tatum, the C's chose to trade Brown.
"If you have Jaylen Brown on your team, you should feature him," Stevens stated. "You should use all those possessions, and you should approach things that way. But I think the importance of depth, and then, obviously, we have to continue to work on ways to diversify our attack overall."
In many ways, Tatum is considered a more versatile player than Brown. He's a better passer and rebounder and is easy to match with other players. Yet, Brown was the centerpiece of an undermanned roster during the 2025-26 campaign and helped lead the Celtics to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference.
That must not have been enough to sway Stevens and company, who were reportedly thinking about dealing Brown last summer, too.
"I would say that it's a move to keep us at a very competitive level and give us optionality moving forward," Stevens described of the trade.
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Whether or not the Celtics benefit from such a controversial swap remains to be seen, as it could prove wise in the coming seasons if the aforementioned flexibility brings another star to Beantown or immediately blow up in their faces if Brown thrives and wins in Philly. Those are consequences Stevens and Celtics owner Bill Chisholm — who was sitting right beside his head decision-maker on Monday — must live with.
"I recognize that I have accountability and I'm accountable for it," Chisholm told reporters. "Brad's accountable to me for it, and his team's accountable to him, but the mandate here is to win, and we came to the conclusion...this was the best way for us to win."
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 focuses on two reasons for trading Jaylen Brown: Depth and optionality
Continue reading...
