Now a crucial part of a Celtics team vying for a championship, Jaylen Brown recalls seeing club owner Wyc Grousbeck get booed by fans on draft night in 2016 when Boston used the No. 3 pick to select and keep Brown rather than using it in a trade for Jimmy Butler or another established star.
“(Wyc) had to defend, like, ‘This is who we’re going with. You guys just gonna have to live with it.’ And I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ These guys have never seen me play before or, you know, I haven’t even got the opportunity,” Brown said, per Michael Pina of SI.com.
As Pina writes, Brown’s development into an All-Star-caliber player has been a major part of the Celtics’ return to the NBA Finals. And at age 25, the standout swingman isn’t necessarily a finished product, meaning his best could be yet to come.
“I think the organization has known the type of ability that I’ve had for a long time; even when casual fans thought they were crazy for not trading me for X, Y and Z, Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens knew,” Brown said. “They seen me every single day, knew what I was capable of. Not to say I’m anywhere close to those guys yet, but I’m continuing to work and I’m excited that we’re here in the Finals now, going through this journey.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer confirms a report which stated the Sixers have explored trades involving the No. 23 pick in the draft and Danny Green‘s expiring contract, explaining why such a move would make sense for the club.
- Eric Koreen of The Athletic explores what an ideal offseason for the Raptors might look like, laying out a scenario in which the team re-signs Chris Boucher and Thaddeus Young, drafts Wendell Moore at No. 33, brings in Malik Monk using the mid-level exception, and locks up Fred VanVleet to a long-term extension.
- In a separate story for The Athletic, Koreen wonders whether Raptors wing OG Anunoby‘s career path will look more like Jerami Grant‘s or Andrew Wiggins‘. As Koreen writes, Grant left a three-and-D role in Denver for a starring role on a lottery team in Detroit, while former No. 1 overall pick Wiggins has thrived in a complementary role in Golden State, earning an All-Star nod and helping bring the team within one win of a title.
Well if the Celtics did trade for Jimmy Butler they’d probably have made the finals sooner based on how Jimmy has played. Him and Tatum would be pretty lethal. IF it even panned out that they still got Tatum after that trade.
Yea I don’t get the article spinning that like the fans were wrong lmao. Brown has been a superstar this year but Butler has been a superstar his whole career. I’d still make that swap today.
If he wants to prove the fans wrong tomorrow is his chance it’s time to stop hiding in the corner and putting this team on ur back clearly Tatum isn’t willing to right now that’s y we have you
Just add this to the file that includes Donnie Walsh getting booed for selecting Reggie Miller instead of Steve Alford. Many other examples throughout NBA history.
OG’s going nowhere. He’s best 2-way player for Raps. Most likely player out is Achiuwa..to Spurs for Poehl. Most likely signing is Monk, Delon Wright or Gary Harris.
Jaylen still cant dribble.
His handling has improved tremendously over the past few years… Your statement was correct when he came out of college, but that’s not the case now.
Maybe Brown can handle better but he has no moves. Basically a atraight-line leaper. The only stats that improved sonce last year is RS on-off and playoff assists, reflecting more of a team orientation after his (barely) allstar year. Turnovers have gone up as he drives into situations that are not really open… anticipated, even drawn.
This scratch-the-surface, bestisyettocome stuff is nonsense, a writer patronizing his source. He’s at his peak now. A good one, but Butler would have been better, if that trade was a possible thing.
I doubt a Butler trade was an option in 2016. The Bulls were young & a little over .500 & Rose was healthy & they were not stagnated or fighting yet. Amirite?
I don’t understand why Pompey keeps hyping this trade of green and 23 for a wing. I don’t think he knows the new trade rules. Greens salary has no guaranteed money left so he will count for exactly $0 for salary matching purposes. The Sixers could guarantee his salary and then trade him, but any team that takes that contract on would want the first just for eating the salary for a guy that won’t play next year…they wouldn’t add a rotational wing on top