Jaylen Brown never requested a trade from the Boston Celtics and his departure this offseason appears to have been driven by the front office. The Celtics moved forward with their trade of Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and two first round picks.
“I’m told Jaylen Brown has been disappointed and disrespected with the way the Celtics have handled this situation, particularly because he never requested a trade,” said Shams Charania.
Brown is ready to move on to a new start with the Sixers.
“I’m told he’s already spoken to the team’s cornerstone guard, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgcombe. They have had great early conversations during the first 24 hours after this trade.”
Charania went on to explain how the Celtics arrived at this place and why they didn’t try to wait out the current offers for them to improve in the future.
“Once the Celtics missed out on Giannis Antetokounmpo-for the fourth straight year Jaylen Brown was dangled in trade conversations,” said Charania. “My understanding was Jaylen Brown felt disrespected and the only way to recoup the relationship at that point was to give Jaylen Brown that two-year, $145 million extension in July.
“But all indications now are that the Celtics were not going to offer that. It then became about seeing what you could get on the trade market. The Celtics set a very high bar. They asked for four or five first round picks. But that price just was not met in the marketplace. As time went on as they aggressively shopped him among eight to 10 different teams, the valuation plummeted across the NBA.
“When I talked to teams today, they have wondered why didn’t the Celtics prolong this later into July? Later into the offseason. What made them pull the trigger now?
“My understanding in Boston is they felt this was the best it was going to get for Jaylen Brown.”
The Celtics offered Brown in trade talks for Kevin Durant with the Brooklyn Nets in 2022 and again last offseason when they ended up trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
Charania also reported that rival teams inquired with the Celtics on the potential of a trade for Jayson Tatum, but those calls were swiftly rebuffed.