Boston Celtics president Brad Stevens addressed the Jaylen Brown trade for the first time Monday, defending the move as a means to increase the team's financial flexibility.
"It was a really hard call," Stevens said, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "I am not saying it was the right call. We wanted to stay good and wanted to add more optionality."
Brown had three years remaining on the five-year, $285-million supermax deal he signed with Boston in 2023. Jayson Tatum is guaranteed similar amounts over the next three seasons; he'll earn $58.4 million in 2026-27, while Brown will make $57.7 million. Stevens suggested that having both salaries on the Celtics' books would have made it difficult for the team to remain a contender with "where the league was heading," according to Youngmisuk.
"The path looked a little bit more challenging to me - I might be wrong - with 70% of our cap tied into two players," Stevens said.
Brown, whom Boston took third overall in the 2016 draft, spent a decade with the Celtics before being sent to Philadelphia for Paul George, two first-round picks, and a pair of second-rounders.
The 29-year-old scored a personal-best 28.7 points per game last season, helping keep the Celtics near the top of the Eastern Conference despite Tatum missing the majority of the season while recovering from Achilles surgery.
Brown said Thursday that although he's "disappointed" to leave Boston, he is "excited and grateful for the opportunity to join Philadelphia."
In contrast to Stevens, new Celtics owner Bill Chisholm said Monday that dealing Brown was "not about the money at all," according to Youngmisuk.
"This was trying to put together the right players and assets to win. ... I know people feel like there must be a smoking gun somewhere around the money," Chisholm added. "That is just not what this is about."
