The NBA community was caught off guard last night when news broke that the Celtics dealt former Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the 76ers in exchange for an injured Paul George, along with two first-round picks and two second-rounders.
This falls considerably short of what Boston had been signaling earlier, when they were reportedly asking for as many as four first-round picks for a player who finished in the top five of MVP voting.
Detroit either chose not to pursue this or was completely caught off guard, because that package is certainly one they could have matched to bring Brown in.
The analytics-driven front office which apparently includes Boston’s decision-makers—has soured on Brown in a hurry, and I can’t recall a player’s reputation shifting so sharply in such a short span. A few months ago, people were building MVP arguments around him, and now he’s being treated like dead weight? That doesn’t add up.
Boston clearly had some internal motivation for moving Brown, especially since he and Tatum have already captured a championship together and have kept the team near the top of the Eastern Conference for virtually his entire tenure.
It was a sudden split, but the Celtics must have had their logic. My sense is they weren’t willing to commit to paying Brown $60 million annually.
Philadelphia took advantage of the situation and, in doing so, put Detroit squarely in the spotlight.
The Pistons have been cautious to a fault.
What this trade really signals is that the 76ers believe the East is wide open and that one key addition could vault them to the top. That might prove true, and I suspect plenty of teams came to that same conclusion after watching the Knicks win it all.
Organizations like Philadelphia and Toronto are clearly pushing their chips in because they see a real opening.
Detroit, however, has yet to make any bold moves under Trajan Langdon. I’m not criticizing the turnaround from 14 wins to 60 over two seasons, but while other Eastern Conference teams are aggressively capitalizing on a perceived opportunity, the Pistons appear willing to wait for the ideal situation to materialize.
Detroit has been linked to nearly every trade rumor and free agent on the market, yet they’ve hesitated when it comes time to finalize a deal.
The offseason still has plenty of time left, and Langdon might have a major maneuver brewing, but so far the Pistons have been treading water at best while the rest of the East loads up.
Detroit won’t be facing the same conference they cruised through during the regular season, and they’ll need to add more pieces just to stay competitive.
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