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\u201cThe path looked a little bit more challenging to me,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cI might be wrong. I\u2019m not going to stand up there and be defensive about that. But the path looked a little bit more challenging with 70% of our (salary) cap, and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salary cap concerns<\/p>\n
Brown enters next season with more than about $185 million remaining on the then-record, five-year, $304 million contract he signed with Boston in July 2023. Had he stayed, the team would have to decide whether to give him a two-year extension of around another $140 million.<\/p>\n
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That, combined with the almost $190 million left on Jayson Tatum\u2019s $314 million deal, was deemed too much for the Celtics to carry and maintain roster flexibility.<\/p>\n
George will make $54 million this coming season, which combined with Jayson Tatum\u2019s $58 million will constitute about 70% of the Celtics\u2019 salary cap in 2026-27.<\/p>\n
With George having only one season and a player option remaining after that, Stevens said the future flexibility and draft compensation is what they value.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Chisholm was adamant that there was no directive from him about keeping the salary cap at a certain level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was all about basically trying to win, and really trusting in our process,\u201d Chisholm said.<\/p>\n
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Stevens says return gives flexibility<\/p>\n
Stevens also defended against a sentiment that the trade return, which includes two first-round picks and two second-round picks, was low.<\/p>\n
In George, the Celtics get back a six-time All-NBA and nine-time All-Star wing, but a player who has played 50 or more games just three times since 2019 (74 in 2023-24) due to various injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like Paul. Paul\u2019s a really good player,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cWe\u2019re not very far removed from all sitting, in our series against Philadelphia and watching Paul be a guy that could carry you…but also play a complementary role on both ends of the floor at the highest of levels.”<\/p>\n
Stevens says he, Brown had several discussions<\/p>\n
Stevens spent a fair portion of Monday\u2019s news conference pushing back on the suggestion by Brown that he was kept in the dark about the Celtics\u2019 plans.<\/p>\n
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In a statement posted on his social media platforms after the trade became public, Brown said he had mixed emotions after the 2024 NBA Finals MVP learned he was being dealt away from the only NBA team he\u2019s known.<\/p>\n
That night he took to the streaming platform Twitch to elaborate on what he described as a lack of communication at points during the trade process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t thrilled with how the conversation was facilitated. I did feel like it was a lack of respect,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAt one point it was fine, and then out of nowhere it just went left. I definitely think there\u2019s more to it.”<\/p>\n
Stevens said that he didn\u2019t feel the team\u2019s relationship with Brown was irreparable even after initially including Brown in a failed trade offer to Milwaukee for Giannis Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will say we had several talks. If he feels that way, then I\u2019m sorry about that,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n
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Jayson Tatum was not consulted<\/p>\n
Along with ending Brown\u2019s 10-year tenure in Boston, it also ends the nine-year partnership between Brown and Tatum, who played in seven conference finals and two NBA Finals together \u2013 ultimately propelling team to the 2024 title.<\/p>\n
Tatum celebrated the duo in an Instagram post in the days after Brown\u2019s trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom first round exits to winning a champ together and respect for you as a player and as a person,\u201d Tatum wrote.<\/p>\n
Stevens said Tatum was not consulted about the decision to ultimately trade Brown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how little I sleep. I don\u2019t think anybody else needs to feel that,\u201d Stevens said.<\/p>\n
AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/nba<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FILE – Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,3328,45,3164,94946,123,78,77,6,29496,526,678,207,3817,29494,73086,43296],"class_list":["post-780034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-76ers","tag-76ers","tag-basketball","tag-bill-chisholm","tag-boston","tag-brad-stevens","tag-brad-stevens-celtics-jaylen-brown-trade","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-nba","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-paul-george","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-philadelphia76ers","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-40791-ap-massachusetts-sports-only","tag-product-40809-ap-pennsylvania-sports-only"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116875721675174072","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}