Wow, the NBA offseason has been a wild ride over the last couple of days. With free agency kicking off and trade season underway, we have already seen some big dominoes fall. LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves, Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Heat, Kawhi Leonard back to Toronto, and most recently, the Jaylen Brown trade that sent him to Philadelphia.
All this hectic moving of stars has definitely shaken up the landscape for the next year, and it just goes to show that a lot can change in just one offseason. Teams are always looking to improve and find ways to get to the NBA finals, and at this rate, it only takes one bad playoff performance to make their minds up. That’s what happened in Boston, as we just saw all of this unfold. With two disappointing exits, they realized this iteration of the team could no longer compete for championships.
Regardless of how you feel about the value the Celtics saw in this deal, they needed to move off Brown for whatever reason and focus on their new path to bring a championship back to Boston. That said, many Suns fans are furious that they did not get in on the deal.
Well, to put it lightly, they never had a chance, and for multiple reasons.
As many of you know, I am a Massachusetts native who writes about the Suns. The Celtics are my home team, and I’ve spent most of my life, besides my college years, in this state. Even if I still have a heart that beats purple and orange, my love for the green and gold will never fade.
From what it seems, the value of Brown around the league was very low. At first, Celtics general manager Brad Stevens was looking for upwards of 4-5 first-round picks for Jaylen. When offers for that were unavailable, it was said he went back to those teams and made the best offer he could. This shows the Celtics’ valuation of Brown was higher than the league’s.
That simply suggests Phoenix could have had a chance, but with what? They had already traded their most valuable draft asset, the 2033 first-round pick, for Miles Bridges this past Sunday. They could have expanded on this deal, since it hasn’t been made league official, but who is to say the Celtics wanted Bridges, Grayson Allen, or Royce O’Neale? Who is to say the Hornets wanted to lose any of those guys, either?
Even with their other draft capital, like the picks they opened up or the 2029 one, those were not nearly as valuable as the ones Philly was willing to give up. The 2029 first-round pick they got back is the worst of the four teams, and it’s going to be a bottom-10 selection. Why would Boston entertain that when they could get a lottery pick in the Clippers swap from 2028?
Then you look at what else the Suns have to trade: it’s just Jalen Green. Green, who is still young and has some potential, could be a nice fit to reset around, but does Boston feel confident in that? When he suited up in Boston this year, he had 21 points on 8-of-20 shooting and 1-of-7 from three with seven rebounds and one assist. Obviously, that is one game, but the sample size does not look good for Boston in that regard.
You also add that Green is looking for a new extension and is playing for it. With him being younger, you could be excited by that, but then have to deal with the fact that you either pay him or lose him for nothing. With George at least, even if he opts into that $50+ million free payday next year, it’s an expiring tradable.
With Brad Stevens, you never know what is up his sleeve, so never say never. But it seemed too far away for Phoenix to reach. Boston would have asked for the young assets in Khaman Malauch and Rasheer Fleming, and then it would have gone further back than it would have gone forward.
That does not mean, though, that the Suns can’t get aggressive at any moment. Even if the roster is full now with Luke Kennard signing going into the year, we could see some shakeups with weird fits. It will be a challenge for Jordan Ott, but the challenge will not be trying to fit in Jaylen Brown, one that would have been worth it if they had the ammo.
