Brad Stevens’ Blunt Response Opened Door To Stunning Jaylen Brown Trade originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia 76ers did not enter the offseason expecting Jaylen Brown to become available.
According to Bob Myers, Philadelphia’s pursuit of the former Boston Celtics star developed only after the Sixers learned there was a legitimate possibility that Brown could be moved. One brief response from Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told Myers everything he needed to know.
“What are you offering?”
That was how Stevens responded when Philadelphia inquired about Brown, according to Myers. For an NBA executive who has spent years studying the language used during trade negotiations, the message was unmistakable.
“When Brad Stevens responded with, ‘What are you offering?’ Then you knew that there was a shot,” Myers said, per NBA Courtside.
Brown ultimately was sent to Philadelphia for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. The deal ended Brown’s 10-year run with Boston and sent the 2024 NBA Finals MVP to one of the Celtics’ biggest Eastern Conference rivals.
Bob Myers Trusted Brad Stevens To Be HonestMyers explained that NBA executives quickly develop reputations for how they conduct trade discussions. Some provide misleading information. Others appear interested before quietly abandoning negotiations.
Bob Myers on how the Jaylen Brown trade went down to get him to Philadelphia:
“Jaylen Brown was not like we lost the Knicks and we’re going to go get Jaylen Brown. Like that’s not what happened. It just that’s not what happend. Then you start hearing there was a possibility and… pic.twitter.com/lZvetKjrm9
Stevens apparently does not operate that way.
“I think Brad Stevens is one of the most straight shooters in the league,” Myers said. “When you work in the NBA as an executive, you ultimately usually have at least one or two transactions with every other GM.”
That reputation gave Philadelphia confidence that its pursuit of Brown was not a waste of time.
Myers also pushed back against the idea that the Sixers immediately pivoted to Brown after missing another potential opportunity.
“Jaylen Brown was not like, ‘We lost the Knicks and we’re going to go get Jaylen Brown,’” Myers said. “That’s not what happened. Then you start hearing there was a possibility, and the job then became, ‘Is this a real thing with Jaylen Brown?’”
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It was real, although apparently just as surprising to Brown as it was to Celtics fans. Brown later said he threw his phone across the room after learning Boston had traded him, according to the New York Post. The five-time All-Star never requested a trade and had spent his entire career with the Celtics after Boston selected him third overall in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Boston received George, a top-16 protected 2028 first-round pick, an unprotected 2031 first-round selection and second-round picks in 2028 and 2030.
The trade’s long-term winner will not be determined for years. What Myers’ story reveals, however, is how quickly the possibility became real. One honest answer from Stevens was all Philadelphia needed to begin pursuing a Celtics cornerstone.
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