The next shoe

After more than 24 hours to digest the Celtics trading Jaylen Brown to the 76ers for Paul George and assets, it feels like this deal isn't done

First things first:

Thank you, Jaylen Brown, for 10 years of Celtics excellence. You were a phenomenal player who embraced his new community upon arrival. Your accomplishments will never be forgotten, and neither will your impact off the court.

And I feel for Paul George. You’re coming into a tough situation, getting traded for a player who was very popular on and off the court. You’re gonna be playing in his shadow, and everything you do will be hyper-scrutinized. You have an uphill battle to win over a lot of fans.

Now that that’s over with, let me get to the point:

This trade sucks. It sucks big time. This is a personal opinion because I invested 10 years in a player drafted by the Celtics that was everything you could hope for as a player, and was even more as a person. I’m loyal, to a fault, so I probably wouldn’t move a home grown talent, unless the return blew me away.

But when I remove the emotion from this transaction and try to see the bigger picture, it feels like this is just one step towards a bigger move.

It has to be, right? I mean, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens just sent a in his prime Brown for in decline George and four future draft picks. As if the return wasn’t bad enough, he handed Brown over to a hated, division rival. Why in the world would Stevens potentially make the Celtics’ opponent better?

For any franchise to win multiple championships, it has to adapt. It won’t be the exact same team from championship to championship. Usually, they’re built with a core, and that core is surrounded by the right complimentary pieces.

Boston had a core of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, which became the Jays. Together, they reached six Eastern Conference Finals, two NBA Finals, and won it all in 2023-24.

Brown’s personal resume was also impressive: all-rookie team, five-time all-star, two-time all-NBA, 2024 Eastern Conference Finals MVP, and 2024 NBA Finals MVP. It’s the kind of accomplishments you’d think would lead to playing his entire career with the team that drafted him.

But loyalty in sports is very one-sided. For whatever reason, Stevens was determined to trade Brown, regardless of the return. Getting George and some draft picks that might not be very valuable confirms that.

Was the relationship was fractured? I don’t know. All I can do is look at on the court and determine Stevens didn’t think he could win another ‘chip with the Jays, despite past results.

So Stevens exchanged Brown for George. The big difference between the two: style of play. Brown is physical, energetic. He liked attacking the rim and was expanding his midrange game, making it a reliable weapon. What he wasn’t was an excellent 3-point shooter (career .358). George isn’t the athlete he once was, but the man is elite from behind the arc (career .384).

So, for all the criticism of the Celtics’ three-centric offense that failed the team against the 76ers, and last year against the New York Knicks, and four years ago against the Miami Heat, it seems like Stevens and head coach Joe Mazzulla are gonna double-down on the analytically favored approach.

Adding Mitchell Robinson to clean the offensive glass further reinforces a bombs away approach. But if the addition by subtraction of Brown doesn’t achieve the right results, criticism will fall on Stevens.

But more should fall on head coach Joe Mazzulla, for not adjusting his offense to his roster last season. Jordan Walsh (.384 three-point percentage last season), Baylor Scheierman (.399), and Hugo Gonzalez (.362) aren’t Al Horford (.419 during the championship season), Jrue Holiday (.429), and Kristaps Porzingis (.375). It’s malpractice to not lean into their strengths and cast them mostly as spot-up shooters. An ultimatum to change should had been established after Mazzulla’s decision to start Scheierman, Ron Harper Jr. and Luka Garza in game seven of the playoff loss to the 76ers.

Instead, Mazzulla’s stubbornness wins out and he gets George. And in all honesty, I loved George as a 2010 NBA Draft prospect. He looked like an athletic Paul Pierce, except from Fresno State. And George had a killer midrange game.

But that was 16 years ago. This isn’t the same George that was one of the best players in the league. Right now, he’s might be just an expensive 3-and-D shooter.

The question is for how long. George is under contract for the 2026-27 season, with a player option for 2027-28. Will Stevens want George under contract for $56.5 million a year from now? If George exercises his player option, that would be a nice expiring contract to try to acquire a long-term running mate to pair with Tatum.

Because it doesn’t make sense if the idea is to maximize Tatum’s prime years by trading his elite peer for an aging veteran. It feels like a bridge move to keep the Celtics competitive until another elite player can be paired with Tatum. Out of all theories, this one makes the most sense.

Because building this season around Tatum and his reconstructed Achilles by adding the often injured George sounds risky. As much as I want to believe in medical science, Tatum is just a year and two months from his surgery. Playing heavy minutes might not be in his best long-term interests. As it is, he couldn’t finish the playoff series against the 76ers due to knee soreness.

And George is George. He played more than 60 games just once in his last seven seasons.

The 2026-27 Celtics is Tatum’s team now. I won’t call George Tatum’s sidekick, as side kicking could lead to another injury. Besides, it feels like it’s just a temporary union. Whether it’s at the trade deadline of after the season, I’m waiting to see if another shoe drops and George plus some draft picks get packaged for a younger all-star or superstar talent.

If another shoe does drop, it won’t be from Jaylen Brown’s 741 Performance line.

Follow @NE_Arena on Twitter for more analysis and engagement.