- 22 hours ago
Was there a DISCONNECT communication wise between Celtics and Jaylen Brown? Was Jaylen Brown "in the loop" with the negotiations? Is there a 'piece missing' to this blockbuster Celtics' trade puzzle?
Criticism of Brad Stevens too quiet? Did Celtics rush the deal? How does the national media feel about the Jaylen Brown trade? Is Brad Stevens getting a pass due to accolades and 'Executive of the Year' award?
Criticism of Brad Stevens too quiet? Did Celtics rush the deal? How does the national media feel about the Jaylen Brown trade? Is Brad Stevens getting a pass due to accolades and 'Executive of the Year' award?
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00:00Meggo, you had some more information on Brown and the communication with the team, correct?
00:06Yes, this is from The Athletic.
00:08And I think that it was notable to me, and I know we talked to John Corrales on Friday,
00:15who's covered the team for a really long time.
00:17When you heard that from Jalen Brown, that he didn't like the way that Brad Stevens kind of informed him
00:23and it went down,
00:24you go, that's really strange because Brad Stevens has a reputation of being thoroughly transparent with guys,
00:31with maybe the exception of Marcus Smart, because when they made that trade that brought Porzingis here,
00:35it was truly at the 11th hour.
00:37So The Athletic had this detail.
00:39They said, though team sources said they kept Brown in the loop throughout the whole process of trade negotiations
00:49and that he wasn't surprised by any of the news that became public,
00:54he took offense to the way they approached the situation.
00:57While live streaming Thursday night, Brown said he wasn't thrilled with the amount of respect he was shown during the
01:02process.
01:03I'm big on respect and actions speak louder than words.
01:07I just, I don't understand the disconnect there.
01:10Once again, there's a piece missing with everything that we're getting around this trade.
01:16So the Celtics kept him in the loop.
01:18He wasn't surprised when any of the news became public and then that he was traded,
01:23but he took offense to the way in which they approached trading him.
01:27And he went to the facility and used his key card and was surprised that he couldn't get into the
01:33building.
01:34So I think that comment was more in jest.
01:37Like you and I talked about this on Friday.
01:39You know how that reads to people.
01:40Yeah, that it that like they didn't even tell him and he showed up to go to work and oh,
01:45I don't I don't work here anymore.
01:46Apparently I got fired.
01:47I don't even get to go collect my things.
01:49This is the quote.
01:50They kept Brown in the loop throughout the whole process of trade negotiations and that he wasn't surprised by any
01:58of the news that became public.
02:01Does that sound like he was just out there and looks and sees it on Twitter or something from Shams?
02:10No, he would know that it's coming.
02:11Well, at least unless unless they were very open about the process of trying to acquire Giannis.
02:18And then after that, they may have like not necessarily ghosted him, but kind of not necessarily been super communicative
02:28in their efforts to continue trading him.
02:30But like every step of the trade negotiations.
02:33So but again, like I think this is this is the Celtics clearly putting something out after Brown talking on
02:39his stream.
02:39Right. They're like, no, no, no.
02:41Hold on a second.
02:41We were very much communicating with you throughout the entire process.
02:45This came out Saturday morning.
02:47Yeah.
02:47Stream dropped Friday night.
02:48Correct.
02:49So this is a Thursday night.
02:50I'm sorry.
02:50Thursday night.
02:51We talked about it on Friday.
02:52So this came out Friday.
02:54Yeah.
02:54And so this is clearly the Celtics trying to kind of repolish that image a little bit like, no, no,
02:59no.
02:59We communicated with you the entire time, Jalen.
03:02This isn't totally on us.
03:03You knew we were going to trade you.
03:04There are some other really interesting tidbits in this contributing.
03:08This is from the report, quote, contributing to concerns about the situation.
03:12The Celtics believe that Brown went off script too often during playoff games as Boston threw blue a three to
03:20one first round lead to Philadelphia, according to a league source.
03:24Over the final three games of that series, the Celtics were outscored by 57 points with Brown on the court,
03:30though he scored 33 points in a game seven loss.
03:33He shot 12 for 27 from the field and finished the series with more turnovers than assists.
03:40Afterward, despite the loss, he stated how much he appreciated the style the Celtics played in that game, which was
03:46played without Tatum on the court.
03:48This quote is the first time that I heard Missoula in any of this, and I'm not saying that Missoula
03:54is the source and turn around and say that.
03:55I'm not saying that at all, but I'm saying that there was a disconnect, if you believe this detail, between
04:01Jalen's out there freestyling and the plan that they had going into that game.
04:06If you remember that game, very few people liked the starting lineup of that game seven.
04:12Yep.
04:13Our guy, Ron Harper Jr. with the contract extension.
04:16But it doesn't sound like it was just that game.
04:20It says he went off the script too often during playoff games.
04:24That is very interesting to me.
04:26Yeah.
04:26I mean, it's the same.
04:27Remember, we had the same issue with Jamie Collins when he was dealt from New England.
04:31Everybody's like, what is going on?
04:32And they're like, yeah, he played two off script.
04:34He just kind of freestyled, freelanced as much as he wanted to.
04:37If that's the case with Jalen Brown, it is clearly, you're right, a disconnect between the way in which Joe
04:42Missoula wants to run the offense and the way in which Jalen Brown wanted to run the offense.
04:46And evidence of kind of who they traded Jalen Brown for on top of acquiring Mitchell Robinson.
04:53Like, it seems like they are leaning harder into the way in which they want to play offense and not
04:58the way in which Jalen wants to play offense.
04:59And that, to me, is one of the bigger reasons probably why they made this trade.
05:03Now, I can't speak to why it was so rushed, why they had to get it done right away, but
05:08Paul George, as we've talked about previously, much more of a catch-and-shoot guy when he is on the
05:12court.
05:13He was pretty good in the playoffs for the 76ers.
05:16He was very good when he was with the Clippers.
05:19Like, this is a guy who will shoot way more threes than Jalen did.
05:23And this is a guy that very much fits into the Missoula style of play than Jalen does.
05:27And so maybe that's kind of the driving force behind this.
05:31But, I mean, you'd still think they would have gotten some kind of a better return.
05:34Right.
05:34There's no world in which you can look player to player of two Supermax contracts and say that Paul George
05:41is the better option than Jalen Brown.
05:43There's just no world.
05:44But are they looking at this and saying, man, Jalen took over the team this entire year that worked in
05:51the regular season, but when we were trying to play the style that they wanted to play in the playoffs,
05:56Jalen just couldn't stick to that.
05:58No.
05:59And got frustrated and wanted to do his thing.
06:01And quite honestly, there is a side of me that goes, well, I really wanted them to make adjustments midway
06:08through that series that they weren't making.
06:09So I'm not saying that Jalen Brown was wrong, but I can understand why the team would have a problem
06:14with him just going out there and doing his own thing if they're going into the game having a whole,
06:18like, word, this is our literal playbook.
06:20We're all on the same page except for you.
06:22And all those people who hate the way in which the Celtics have played basketball over the last few years,
06:26just get ready.
06:27Like, they're going to full throttle into this.
06:30Let's go to John in the car.
06:32Wants to talk about Jalen Brown.
06:33Where's my mouse?
06:34There it is.
06:34John, what's up?
06:37Hi, guys.
06:38Good morning.
06:38Good morning.
06:39Good weekend, as well.
06:42So Brad Stevens, if I remember correctly, said we need more dunks.
06:46And they went out and traded for a guy that shoots more threes.
06:50And when I look at the trade for what it is, and my question, Megan, if you're going to that
06:55thing, would be I hope the owner's there.
06:58Because I would ask the owner, other than the economic relief you're getting for trading Jalen Brown,
07:06what benefit do you really think you're getting player-wise from Paul George to Jalen Brown?
07:13Because that, to me, is why this whole thing was done, because this team became the Red Sox.
07:18And it's that simple.
07:20As far as Jalen Brown goes, I know this is a different world, and I get that, but you are
07:30an employee, my friend, and that is it.
07:32They don't owe you a thing other than your paycheck, and you got everyone, and you cashed everyone.
07:38So maybe they felt like you weren't playing ball for them the way they wanted you to play ball.
07:42Well, that's their prerogative.
07:44It's their team.
07:45You got everything you were entitled to, as far as I'm concerned.
07:48Because if this team had any balls, they would have traded Tatum and get rid of that idiot coach,
07:53because your return would have been much better.
07:55And you would have got, well, quite frankly, they would have saved more money.
07:58So clearly, there is a disconnect that nobody wants to talk about over there with Jalen Brown.
08:03Everybody is hoping they tiptoe through the tulips, and it gets forgotten about eventually.
08:08But at some point in time, for a player like that to get moved, there had to be something that
08:16both sides don't want to talk about
08:18for it to actually come to fruition to get $0.30 on the dollar.
08:23All right, John, thanks for the call.
08:24Can I bring something up?
08:25Go for it.
08:26And I hesitate to do this, because, again, all I have heard on this trade is,
08:31it sucks, it sucks, it sucks, it's the worst trade in sports history.
08:34It's Babe Ruth.
08:37The market dictated what this trade was.
08:41Yeah, they definitely didn't turn down a better trade offer.
08:44Like, if there was a better offer out there, they would have taken it.
08:47And as you said, from the national perspective, I do think that that PERC has given Stevens and the partnership
08:55group,
08:56the ownership group, grief.
08:57But if you're looking at it from outside of Boston, like you step outside of our backyard,
09:03this is the reigning executive of the year.
09:06This is the reigning coach of the year.
09:09And the entire market, the rest of the league, at least, hey, I don't know if it's just analytically or
09:15otherwise,
09:16is saying that contract is too rich for Jalen Brown.
09:20Like, that is what the court of public opinion in basketball outside of your backyard is telling you.
09:25Well, where was he?
09:26They're telling you that they value your front office and they value your coach,
09:29and they don't value this player as much as the contract was.
09:32But here locally, everybody loves Jalen Brown, and he was here for 10 years and won a championship
09:37and was a finals MVP and is coming off his best season.
09:40So that's really hard to swallow that other side.
09:43Like, nobody is really talking about that, though, because everybody's just sitting here going,
09:46the trade sucks and we hate it.
09:48Yeah, and I think fans are blinded by that a little bit.
09:51And, I mean, when you look back, where was he in the ringer rankings?
09:55Wasn't he like 14th?
09:56I believe so, but Tatum was right above at 13.
09:59Yeah, Tatum was like 13.
10:00It's not like they had Tatum 4.
10:01But even, no, no, no, but I'm just saying, like, from a national perspective,
10:05so the ringer had him at 14, and I would say they're even a little Boston slanted
10:08because obviously Bill Simmons is there.
10:10But I think if you look at it even more nationally,
10:13I wouldn't be shocked if some people had him ranked even a little lower.
10:16And then if you're talking about giving a guy who's ranked somewhere between 15 and 18
10:20a max deal worth $60 million a year,
10:24teams are looking at that like, that's not great value.
10:27I'm getting one of the lowest ranked, like, top two guys on a team at max, max money.
10:33I don't think that's a great way to spend money.
10:35And that's probably why the return wasn't so good.
10:37Like, ultimately, that's what it was.
10:38I think on its face what frustrates fans about it is that you took the Paul George contract back.
10:44And we could talk about the flexibility that ultimately might give you if you're going to get back
10:50into the second apron territory, which is a question, and a question that should be asked this afternoon.
10:55Definitely.
10:55Are you guys opposed to going back in the second apron in the next couple of years?
10:59Like, that's what everybody's wondering.
11:02If this is a move that sucks in the short term, but it gives you flexibility to then dive back
11:08in after this season,
11:10you have to take a leap of faith if you're a Celtics fan to believe that.
11:14But the immediate return, I think, of a 36-year-old who's coming off the two years that he had
11:20with Philly
11:20is what the hardest part for fans to swallow is.
11:23Meggo, your lead this morning was about Jalen Brown and the trade to the 76ers.
11:30I wanted to kind of reset your lead a little bit this morning and the comments that you had read
11:37for us
11:38from The Athletic on the Jalen Brown trade after his comments on his Twitch stream saying that he would have
11:44liked
11:44the communication to be better with Brad Stevens and the Celtics organization.
11:49And then The Athletic had a bit of a retort, I guess, from the Celtics' point of view.
11:56Correct?
11:56Yes.
11:57The Athletic wrote this the day after the Twitch stream.
12:01Said team sources said they kept, and again, these are team sources, so it's inside the building.
12:05They're speaking for themselves.
12:07Said they kept Brown in the loop throughout the whole process of trade negotiations
12:12and that he wasn't surprised by any of the news that became public.
12:16He took offense to the way they approached the situation.
12:20While live streaming Thursday night, Brown said he wasn't thrilled with the amount of respect shown during the process.
12:25Another nugget that came out of this that we haven't talked about yet,
12:29that I do think sheds a little bit more light on things, is, quote,
12:32another team with widely reported interest, the Trail Blazers, did not join the chase.
12:37This, I think, was after initial conversations where the Celtics were saying that they wanted multiple, multiple first-round picks.
12:44A Blazers team source said the Blazers were never enamored with Brown,
12:49even before Boston made it known he was available on the trade market.
12:53Two factors went into the Blazers' disinterest.
12:56Their analytics viewed him as a negative player, and the Celtics' asking price was too high.
13:03Quote,
13:04We were never aggressively looking to trade for him, a team source said, and particularly not at their price.
13:12As for the notion that Boston should have waited and perhaps revisited a deal down the road,
13:18if they couldn't mend fences with Brown, and the possibility of the star making a formal trade request
13:29was seen by rival execs as the sort of thing that would put more duress on the Celtics.
13:35Yeah, it's crazy to me that the Blazers had no interest in Brown at that price
13:40and then ended up acquiring John Morant, a guy who has historically had some issues in staying off the court
13:48because of his off-court dealings with the whole gun situation and everything like that.
13:54And so to think that then the Jalen Brown price was way too high,
13:58they didn't think he was as good as other people did and as the Celtics did apparently,
14:03I think is a really interesting point because we heard something very similar
14:07when the Timberwolves acquired LaMelo Ball and they were like,
14:10yeah, we just valued LaMelo Ball more than Jalen Brown,
14:13which is at the time we all thought was nuts,
14:15but it seems more and more like teams just don't feel like that Jalen Brown contract is an albatross.
14:21Well, doesn't it kind of give you,
14:23and when you see what happened with Philadelphia being the team that he landed with,
14:27doesn't it tell you that teams around the league look at Jalen Brown and they don't see him as a
14:31one?
14:32100%.
14:32Because if you see him as a one and somebody that you're going to build your team around,
14:36he's going to go to a team like the Hawks.
14:38Yeah.
14:39That would completely make sense.
14:41But what the market, as far as we know so far,
14:45is demonstrating is that front offices see him as a two or a three,
14:48and they don't want a two or a three on that contract.
14:51No.
14:52And that's the difference.
14:53Is Ja Moran is such a distressed asset that you're taking a chance,
14:57but it's like really how big of a chance is it?
14:58He's not on a super max like this.
15:00This would be taking a chance, hoping that Jalen matches the biggest season of his career,
15:07and Philadelphia is the team that did that because they wanted to salarate down Paul George,
15:13and the Celtics felt like they needed to move off this contract to give themselves the flexibility afterwards.
15:19So, I mean, that's really what it comes down to from my perspective.
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