Things are "Different Here" for the Celtics. But after trading Brown, are they better?
Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP via Getty Images)
The Boston Celtics trading away Jaylen Brown certainly wasn’t the first time a major player was jettisoned out of town.
And it won’t be the last.
But the manner in which this deal was done has left many wondering … “What the hell are the Celtics doing?”
Why would a 29-year-old All-Star, coming off his best season and finishing among the top vote-getters for MVP, be traded away to a rival (Philadelphia) that knocked you out of the playoffs just a few weeks ago, in exchange for a 36-year-old veteran and a few draft picks for to-be-determined players who are likely enjoying the last summer before their senior season - in high school.
No matter how the Celtics will frame the trade to be about more than saving money, it’s impossible to ignore the financial benefits of moving on from Brown, or the intent of the team’s new owners who come from a financial world, the private equity firm world, where the end game - making a profit and not necessarily winning championships - always defines success.
And that is the state of the Boston Celtics now, a franchise whose commitment to doing what its predecessors have consistently done - produce championship contenders or at least have a clear plan building towards that - is in doubt now.
