u/LarBrd33

It's certainly not a likely scenario, but a potentially funny one. Maybe Philly immediately becomes "Jaylen's team" and he continues last season's trend of being "the man".

Brown averaged 28.7 points with .477/.347/.795 shooting (.573 TS%)

Obviously, being only behind Luka in usage (35.1%) and shot attempts (21.7 FGA) league wide leads to a lot of scoring opportunities.

Start with looking at Maxey who last season was only a hair behind Brown in shot attempts at #3 in the league 21.4. He averaged just a hair less points (28.3). .462/.367/.892. TS% of .588. Usage was 29.4%.

Bottom line is that Maxey scored about the same amount of points, but with higher shooting efficiency and that should make him the #1 option with Brown slotting in as the Robin to his Batman. Since Brown has reached stardom, we saw his Robin stats fluctuate from 20.3 ppg (2019-20) to 26.6 ppg (2023)

In 2024, when Brown was the 2nd option a team with Tatum (26.9 points - 19.3 FGA), Porzingis (20.1 points - 13.2 FGA), White (15.1 points - 11.5 FGA) and Holiday (12.5 points - 10FGA), he took 17.9 shots and on great efficiency (.499/.354 with .580 TS%) averaged 23 ppg. Usage was 28.3%

Embiid's health and Edgecombe's growth are obviously big factors here as well.

A big reason for Maxey's scoring explosion was that Embiid's last 3 seasons he's played 39, 19, and 38 games. Probably that trend continues. Embiid's usage the last 3 injury prone seasons = (33.6%, 34.2%, 38.7%). Embiid took 18.3 FGA last season. When last healthy, he was taking 19-22 shots per night on .655 TS% (higher than both Maxey and Brown). Is there a chance that Embiid puts together a stretch of healthy games and that actually knocks Brown to the Batgirl to Maxey/Embiid's Batman and Robin? We've never seen what 3rd option Jaylen Brown averages for field goal attempts.

Edgecombe is also one to keep an eye on. Behind Embiid, Maxey and George last season, his usage was only 20.1%. He averaged 16 points on .438/.354/.818 on 13.7 FGA and a.540 TS%. However, keep in mind he was only 20 years old and obviously has huge potential. Consider someone like Jayson Tatum who as a 20 year old averaged very similar stats (15.7 points on 13.1 FGA and .547 TS%). The next season he took a leap and averaged 23.4 points on 18.6 FGA with .567 TS%. Presumably Edgecombe will keep developing. Will he make a leap? At what point in Jaylen's 3 year contract does Edgecombe leapfrog him as a talent? Is there a small chance that Brown actually gets knocked down to the Alfred Pennyworth to Maxey/Embiid/Edgecombe's Batman/Robin/Batgirl?

Then of course the small tiny possibility they also add LeBron on his retirement tour. LeBron averaged 15 FGA last season with .594 TS%.

At some point, there's just too many mouths. Consider when in 2008 Boston formed a big 3. KG went from 17.6 FGA to 13.9 FGA, Pierce went from to 18.1 FGA to 13.7 FGA, and Ray went from to 21 FGA to 13.5 FGA and all of them averaged under 20ppg.

Again, perhaps Brown just takes over that offense, everyone else falls in line, and they flourish with Brown proving he's a legit MVP candidate. Or maybe, just maybe, he sees a big decrease in his offensive output. This could either be a positive thing with him willingly accepting a 3rd-4th banana role, or a source of conflict, but it's still a possibility.

Pritchard, on the other hand, may continue to just come off Boston's bench and continue his trend last season of averaging 17 ppg on 13.8 FGA with .464/.377/.890 and TS% of .584. Pritchard's usage had been behind Brown, White and also Simons and Tatum when they played at 21.5%. When Brown sat (only 10 game sample size where Boston won 8 games), we saw Pritchard's usage jump to 29% and his output increase to 25.2 points, 20 FGA with excellent 485/.444/.957 shooting splits. I think the big questions here is that with Brown out of the mix, does this elevate Pritchard's offensive role? Will he continue coming off the bench? Did Boston just see a similar sized Brunson win a title and gain confidence Payton is ready to take on the challenge of being Boston's 2nd option? If Tatum's recovery proves to be a problem and he misses more games, who is is more likely to get the keys to the offense in his absence - Pritchard or 36 year old George?

Is there a chance here that Payton Pritchard ends up averaging around 24 while Brown averages 22? Maybe not, but it's a fun thought exercise here. It's also fun to think of how the media/fans, who seemingly put more weight into bulk stats like PPG over advanced stats, will start to see these two players. On the extremely unlikely end, is there some hilarious outcome where Pritchard gets more all-nba votes than Brown?

TL;DR: Simple usage and shot attempt distribution could see an unlikely scenario where Philly has too many mouths to feed Brown his usual shot meals while Pritchard is eating well on the new look Boston.

You could also just say LeBron played more games as a Laker (542) than all-stars like Yao Ming (514) Bill Walton (468), Brandon Roy (326), Ralph Sampson (494), Arvydas Sabonis (522), or Andrew Bynum (465) played in their entire careers, but it's interesting comparing it to a modern player held in high esteem.

Including playoffs, LeBron played 542 games as a Laker. That's only 14 fewer games than Embiid has played in his entire career (556). Had he stayed with LA, Laker LeBron probably would have surpassed Embiid's games played this coming season.

However, it's interesting looking at LeBron's Laker-exclusive career and comparing it to Embiid.

Playoff series wins: Embiid = 6. Laker LeBron = 7

All-Star Teams: Embiid = 7. Laker LeBron = 8

First Team All-NBA: Embiid = 2. Laker LeBron 1

Second Team All-NBA: Embiid = 4. Laker LeBron = 2

Third Team All-NBA: Embiid = 0. Laker LeBron = 4

Total All-NBA = Embiid 6. Laker LeBron = 7

Conference Finals: Embiid = 0, Laker LeBron = 2

Championships: Embiid = 0. Laker LeBron = NBA Champion, NBA Cup Champion

MVPS: Embiid = 1 Regular Season MVP. Laker LeBron = NBA Finals MVP, NBA Cup MVP

People may think of LeBron's Laker tenure as the weakest of his 4 careers, but that's actually wildly impressive in isolation. A good question is if Laker LeBron and Embiid retired right now, would both be locks for the Hall of Fame?

this has been true for a couple seasons now where we had heard Boston had been targeting Jaren Jackson Jr (went for 3 firsts) and then Zubac (price ended up way too high). Then obviously we went after Giannis. Rumors last week that Boston was interested in Rudy Gobert.

And now we are hearing rumors Boston would take Evan Mobley for Brown.

On some level this makes total sense. All-defense bigs are hugely impactful and change the entire ceiling of a team. I use to say that an all-defense guard like smart can slow down an opposing guard, but an all-defense center can slow down an entire opposing team.

It’s also true that scoring is one of the easiest things to replace in this league. This is the main reason the Celtics have seen almost no drop off whatsoever in games Brown has missed (90-36 including 9-2 this season) is because when he is out they just have someone else step up and take shots instead - like Prichard averaging 26 points in games brown missed this year.

But you can’t just have someone “step up” and replace the impact of an all-defense big. In 2008, the core reason we were great was our dominant defense and that was anchored by an all defense big in Kevin Garnett (DPOY). The next season with him hurt, they were able to replace his lost scoring with the likes of Glen Davis (he averaged 16 points in the playoffs), but you simply can’t replace the impact of an all-defense big and the team barely made it out of the first round.

We also saw it in 2022 where Rob William’s evolution to all defense level big completely changed the trajectory of the team and we started steamrolling through the league. Unfortunately Rob’s body didn’t hold up and by the finals he was a shadow of himself.

The logic of chasing these guys makes sense. There are only so many options. Will be interesting to see if we succeed in landing one.

I think Brad is a competent GM who obviously made moves to help Boston get over the finish line once, but you have to acknowledge some things about his tenure.

1 - The team he inherited after the 2020-21 season had already been to the Conference Finals 3 times in the last 5 years

2 - The team already had a championship core in place built around 22 year old Jayson Tatum and 24 year old Jaylen Brown. Those two, especially Tatum, were on an obvious growth trajectory. Players of Tatum's caliber typically make the leap into superstardom around 23-25. As expected, the year after Brad took over as GM, Tatum, at age 23, had the first of 4 straight all-nba 1st team selections. Brown was still a couple years away from his first all-nba selection. Regardless of supporting cast, those two were going to have success moving forward.

3 - The team he inherited still had many of the tradeable assets stockpiled by Danny Ainge including recent lotto selections and valuable draft picks.

Quick Note on Brad's Draft record: Interestingly, Brad's tenure is marked by a streak of risk-aversion. Any young lotto talent or valuable pick he had, he traded away for sure thing vets. The highest draft picks he's made in his tenure are #28 (Hugo) and #30 (Baylor). Given both are late 1sts and showed signs of contributing this year, you can't be mad at either pick. Beyond that, the only notable pick he's made is Jordan Walsh at #38. If Brad keeps his pick this year (#27), it will be the highest selection he's ever made. We simply do not have any data to make a decision one way or another on whether Brad knows how to draft well given he's avoided keeping any higher picks.

Ranking Brad's Deals:

This is my quick ranking, but I will hear out arguments in the comments and may adjust this based on feedback.

#1 - Derrick White

• Celtics Acquire: Derrick White.
• Spurs Acquire: Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a 2022 1st-round pick (#25 overall - Blake Wesley), and a 2028 1st-round pick swap right (top-1 protected).

I think this is definitively Brad's greatest move. I don't think anyone will disagree with it. At the time, Richardson still seemed like a solid contributor (9.7 points on 44%/40%/86% shooting). 22 year old Langford was in the midst of his 3rd disappointing season after being selected 14th, but had showed minimal signs of developing. The 2022 1st was used by the Spurs on Blake Wesley. Just a few picks after Walter Kessler. 6 picks ahead of Andrew Nembhard. But ultimately it didn't result in anything major. That 2028 1st pick swap with the Spurs could sting, but more likely we'll both be towards the top of the standings and irrelevant. White, meanwhile, turned into one of the best guards in the league being a critical part of Boston's title. This season he was top 3 in plus minus and made first team all-defense. We've heard rumors about his trade value having increased. For instance, we were offered RJ Barrett and #9 last Summer. Home run trade and Brad's crowning achievement.

#2 - Kristaps Porzingis (and picks)

• Celtics Acquire: Kristaps Porziņģis (from WAS), a 2023 1st-round pick (#25 overall - Marcus Sasser, later traded), and a 2024 1st-round pick (via GS - top-4 protected).
• Grizzlies Acquire: Marcus Smart (from BOS).
• Wizards Acquire: Tyus Jones (from MEM), Danilo Gallinari (from BOS), Mike Muscala (from BOS), and a 2023 2nd-round pick (#35 overall - Julian Phillips).

Some might disagree with the ranking here. On the positive sides, Porzingis was a monster in the regular season and arguably our 2nd most important player when healthy. On the negatives side, he was more or less useless in two playoff runs and then salary dumped for nothing .He played a total of 7 games in our championship run (averaging 12 points) and was actively horrible the next playoff run (7 points on 31%/15% shooting), but he did show up for a few games against Dallas and contributed to our domination of that team. This deal cost us widely beloved Marcus Smart. That said, Smart was a bit overrated and had run his course in Boston. Porzingis, if healthy, was an obvious upgrade.

The key reason I rank this as high as I do is actually the draft picks. It remains insane that we got both Porzingis AND two 1st rounders out of it. The 2024 GS 1st was later used as part of the Holiday trade (will cover that below). The 2023 1st (#25) was used by Brad to continually trade down over the course of multiple seasons and essentially has turned into Jordan Walsh (#34 in 2023), Anton Watson (#54 pick in 2024 - waived), Amari WIlliams (#46 in 2025), Max Shulga (#57 in 2025), 2026 pick #40, 2027 2nd via Atlanta, 2027 2nd via Orlando.

#3 - Jrue Holiday

• Celtics Acquire: Jrue Holiday
• Trail Blazers Acquire: Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams III, a 2024 1st-round pick (the Golden State pick acquired in the Porziņģis trade), and a 2029 unprotected 1st-round pick (BOS own).

If not for the boatload of ongoing 2nd rounders acquired in the Smart/Zingis swap, I might have ranked this 2nd. Brogdon was coming off 6th man of the year, but is now retired. Rob Williams III looked like a defensive player of the year candidate, but has never gotten healthy. I knock this down primarily because of the draft compensation we gave up. It's important to note that the 2024 1st we gave up (acquired in the above Porzingis deal) ended up a lotto pick at 14th overall. It was used to select Bub Carrington. Just a pick before Kel'el Ware and Jared McCain. Also ahead of guys like Kyshawn George (#24) and Ajay Mitchell (#38) that we could have traded down for. That 2029 unprotected 1st also could end up stinging us, but most likely we'll remain a top team. Jrue proved to be a massive part of our title run. Especially in the Finals where he was a top 3 player. Though we have since salary dumped him (for Simons and then Vucevic), the 27 mil TPE generated by trading Simons could still prove to be an important part of our future.

#4 - Malcolm Brogdon

• Celtics Acquire: Malcolm Brogdon.
• Pacers Acquire: Aaron Nesmith, Daniel Theis, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, and a 2023 1st-round pick (#29 overall - Julian Strawther).

It was an important trade in the sense that Brogdon won 6th man of the year for a team that came a game away from making the Finals and then became a key piece of our Jrue trade, but I don't love we gave up Aaron Nesmith in the deal. Nesmith was just 2 years into his career after being selected 14th in the lotto. He had already displayed signs of being a sharp shooter. He's found a home in Indiana where he averaged double digits as a starter for a team that nearly won the title in 2025. (shooting splits of 51%/43%/91% that season). The 2023 1st (29th used on Strawther) has not amounted to much, but given what Brad has done with other late 1sts it presumably would have lead to multiple trades down for several 2nd rounders had we kept it.

#5 Al Horford

• Celtics Acquire: Al Horford, Moses Brown, and a 2023 2nd-round pick (later became Amari Bailey).
• Thunder Acquire: Kemba Walker, a 2021 1st-round pick (#16 overall - later used on Alperen Şengün), and a 2025 2nd-round pick (later became Kobe Sanders).

There's people who would rank this #1 and I understand why. Al Horford was a key part of our title team. The argument essentially goes that we wouldn't have won that title without Horford. I think in a bubble this makes sense. 37 year old Al was a bench player for that title team. Given Porzingis was injured, Horford ended up starting the bulk of that playoff run averaging 9.2 points, 7 rebounds on 48%/37% shooting. I love Al and his contributions were important. Certainly if the option was Al Horford or "Nothing", then having Al Horford is obviously better.

It also is pointed out frequently how Kemba Walker, despite coming off a season averaging 19 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds, was trash and we needed to get out from his contract. He was scheduled to make $36.0 million for the 2021–22 season, followed by a $37.7 million in 2022–23 season. Horford was a bit cheaper than that (making around 27 mil per season).

That said, had Boston just hung onto Walker, they had options. They could have just let him rot on the bench. They could have waive-stretched him. They could have waited a season and bought him out or used his large expiring contract in a trade. Having dead money on the books isn't great, but when the team didn't have cap space to utilize regardless (and Brown/Tatum still only making under 30 million each), it didn't really matter. What actually ended up happening was soon after the trade, Kemba agreed to a buyout with the Thunder and ended up giving up 20 million in the deal resulting in his dead money cap hit for the Thunder being $26 mil in 2021-22 and $27 mil in 2022-23.

Most importantly, Boston had to give up another lotto pick (#16) to make that deal and that pick ended up Alperen Sengun. It was also one pick ahead of Trey Murphy III. It was 4 picks ahead of Jalen Johnson. All three of those guys were significant contributors by 2023-24. Sengun, for instance, was already averaging 21 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.2 steals with 54% shooting as a 21 year old. So while I loved Horford, the truth is that it wasn't "horford vs nothing" in 2024. The question should have been, would Boston have still won the title had a budding star like 21 year old Sengun or 22 year old Jalen Johnson been coming off their bench on a rookie scale deal. Don't get me wrong, I love Horford and loved his contributions, but the reality is Brad gave up a significant asset for an ancient Horford and then let him walk for nothing soon after. For that reason, I rank that trade 5th.

....

That's pretty much all of his significant moves to date. How would you adjust the ranking?

Kinda obvious, but it's worth a trip down memory lane.

The Jordan/Pippen Bulls, like the Tatum/Brown Celtics, obviously had a lot of success together until Jordan briefly quit.

That 1993-94 season, Pippen stepped up as "the man" (with solid contributions from borderline stars like Horace Grant) and collectively they saw their team go from winning 57 games (with Jordan) to 55 wins (without Jordan). This mirrors Brown's season very well where he had gone 36-22 (50 win pace) without Tatum and then collectively they finished the season with 56 wins (just 5 less than the prior year where they won 61).

There were also strong signals at the time that Pippen felt like he was proving he didn't need to be in Jordan's shadow and that he the team had almost no drop-off with him at the helm. He had a career season, averaging 22 points (career high), 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals while inexplicably seeing his efficiency go up from the season prior (though just a bit worse than his peak a couple years earlier). This almost exactly mirrors Brown who made comments about showing the world what he had sacrificed and saw himself average a career high in points with his efficiency only being slightly worse than his peak a couple years earlier.

In Pippen's case, he made 1st team All-NBA. 3rd in MVP voting. In Brown's case, he made 2nd team All-NBA. 6th in MVP Voting.

However, the playoffs proved to be a disappointment. Pippen's Bulls swept through the first round, but then faced off against a 57 win 1st seed Knicks team. Pippen's Bulls took them to 7 games before the Knicks ended up winning and going to the Finals. But there was also an incident that damaged the relationship between Pippen and the Bulls when in game 3 he famously refused to re-enter the game after Phil Jackson drew up the final shot for Toni Kukoč instead of him. The media had a field day with this and it upset a lot of Bulls fans at the time who saw it as immature and selfish. Once again, this mirrors Brown very well where his team choked a 3-1 lead and then he embarrassingly said within hours of being eliminated that it was his "favorite season"... media went wild and obviously it upset a lot of Celtics fans who saw it as immature and selfish.

Heading into that Summer of 1994, the Bulls actually came very close to trading Pippen in the fall-out of that playoff series. The proposed deal reportedly would have sent Pippen (and a 1st) to Seattle for Shawn Kemp, Ricky Pierce and a lotto pick. What's especially interesting is that Seattle coach George Karl claimed Michael Jordan approved of the deal believing it made sense for both teams. Seattle ownership ultimately backed out killing the deal at the last minute.

Goes without saying, that mirrors this almost Brown/Giannis trade very well. Almost happened. Brad couldn't close the deal. Now we're asked wondering where the relationship will go from here.

Things remained cold between Pippen and Krause after that almost-trade and Pippen never regained his trust of management even acknowledging that he wanted to be traded.

But here's the good news for Boston fans... despite a frosty relationship between Pippen and the Bulls (even demanding a trade in 97), Pippen remained a professional, ultimately slotted back in as Jordan's sidekick, and they won 3 more titles together. Good news for the Celtics and Brown is that JB is under contract for 3 more years and is too much of a professional to let any frustration impact his efforts to help the Celtics win. Maybe like Pippen before him, he finds some success as a 2nd option in the aftermath of his flirtation with being "the man" and almost being traded.

It's right there in front of your face and pretty obvious.

The Jordan/Pippen Bulls, like the Tatum/Brown Celtics, obviously had a lot of success together until Jordan briefly quit.

That 1993-94 season, Pippen stepped up as "the man" (with solid contributions from borderline stars like Horace Grant) and collectively they saw their team go from winning 57 games (with Jordan) to 55 wins (without Jordan). This mirrors Brown's season very well where he had gone 36-22 (50 win pace) without Tatum and then collectively they finished the season with 56 wins (just 5 less than the prior year where they won 61).

There were also strong signals at the time that Pippen felt like he was proving he didn't need to be in Jordan's shadow and that he the team had almost no drop-off with him at the helm. He had a career season, averaging 22 points (career high), 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals while inexplicably seeing his efficiency go up from the season prior (though just a bit worse than his peak a couple years earlier). This almost exactly mirrors Brown who made comments about showing the world what he had sacrificed and saw himself average a career high in points with his efficiency only being slightly worse than his peak a couple years earlier.

In Pippen's case, he made 1st team All-NBA. 3rd in MVP voting. In Brown's case, he made 2nd team All-NBA. 6th in MVP Voting.

However, the playoffs proved to be a disappointment. Pippen's Bulls swept through the first round, but then faced off against a 57 win 1st seed Knicks team. Pippen's Bulls took them to 7 games before the Knicks ended up winning and going to the Finals. But there was also an incident that damaged the relationship between Pippen and the Bulls when in game 3 he famously refused to re-enter the game after Phil Jackson drew up the final shot for Toni Kukoč instead of him. The media had a field day with this and it upset a lot of Bulls fans at the time who saw it as immature and selfish. Once again, this mirrors Brown very well where his team choked a 3-1 lead and then he embarrassingly said within hours of being eliminated that it was his "favorite season"... media went wild and obviously it upset a lot of Celtics fans who saw it as immature and selfish.

Heading into that Summer of 1994, the Bulls actually came very close to trading Pippen in the fall-out of that playoff series. The proposed deal reportedly would have sent Pippen (and a 1st) to Seattle for Shawn Kemp, Ricky Pierce and a lotto pick. What's especially interesting is that Seattle coach George Karl claimed Michael Jordan approved of the deal believing it made sense for both teams. Seattle ownership ultimately backed out killing the deal at the last minute.

Goes without saying, that mirrors this almost Brown/Giannis trade very well. Almost happened. Brad couldn't close the deal. Now we're asked wondering where the relationship will go from here.

Things remained cold between Pippen and Krause after that almost-trade and Pippen never regained his trust of management even acknowledging that he wanted to be traded.

But here's the good news... despite a frosty relationship between Pippen and the Bulls (even demanding a trade in 97), Pippen remained a professional, ultimately slotted back in as Jordan's sidekick, and they won 3 more titles together. Good news for the Celtics and Brown is that JB is under contract for 3 more years and is too much of a professional to let any frustration impact his efforts to help the Celtics win. Here's hoping like Pippen before him, he finds championship success as a 2nd option in the aftermath of his flirtation with being "the man" and almost being traded.

They moved Brunson into the top 5. Giannis is at 7.

Derrick White is 35th. Pritchard is 70th.

The most interesting part of the Amick article was when it claimed what the Bucks would want from the Timberwolves, but claimed the Timberwolves wouldn't do it:

>"Bucks would want a package including Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Terrence Shannon Jr. and their two tradable first-round picks (No. 29 in this year’s draft and their 2033 pick). Yet considering McDaniels’ immense value alongside Edwards as an elite perimeter defender, as well as his impressive postseason performance, team sources say Minnesota has indicated that McDaniels is off limits."

Think about that trade hypothetical (McDaniels, Reid, late 1sts) and ask yourself how you'd feel if Boston was offered that for Jaylen Brown. My guess is you'd be very against it.

And this is why I've been saying for months that I don't necessarily believe Boston would have to give up Brown in a Giannis trade. Giannis is an expiring contract with all the leverage to select which team he wants to go to by saying he refuses to sign extensions elsewhere. Brown, on the other hand, has multiple years left on his contract and just made 2nd team All-NBA.

I want you to consider what the Clippers ended up getting for Zubac (Mathurin, the 5th pick, a future 1st) and ask yourself what Derrick White would fetch on the open market. Allegedly we were offered the 10th pick for him last Summer, but maybe you could get even more elsewhere? Then I want you to consider whether those assets + Hauser + Pritchard + multiple future picks beats whatever that Wolves offer is.

Would it beat Miami's offer built around Herro?

That's not to say that I think gutting the entire team to have Giannis + Tatum + Brown is the way to go, but I have a feeling that you could fetch more for Brown on the open market (literally every team could make an offer) so I've semi convinced myself you could get Giannis building a package around White and then sell Brown to the highest bidder to fill out the roster (like for instance a package from the Pelicans) with pieces that ideally compliment Tatum and Giannis.

When you compare Jaylen's lone 2nd team All-NBA seasons, they aren't remarkably different.

2022-23: 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.9 turnovers, 20.6 FGA, .581 TS%

2025-26: 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 3.6 turnovers, 21.7 FGA, .573 TS%

Pretty clear the difference comes down to usage. 30.7% in 2022-23 (14th in the league) while this season he was up to 35.1% (second only to Luka).

Even with the increased usage all it really meant was 1 more field goal attempt, 2 more points, slightly more assists, slightly more turnovers and slightly lower efficiency.

In 2022-23, he was 4th on his team in plus minus behind White, Tatum and Horford. This season he was 5th on his team in plus minus behind White, Queta, Pritchard and Hauser.

In 2022-23 he was 2nd in defensive rating behind Tatum at 111.4. This season he was 4th in defensive rating behind Queta, Walsh and Gonzalez at 112.7

Of course in 2022-23 he helped contribute to a 57 win team that made it to game 7 of the ECF. This season he lead his team to 36 wins without Tatum (team won 56 overall) and choked a 3-1 lead in the first round.

I understand why some would ignore the championship year in a conversation about his "best" season given the FMVP award choice was highly questionable. His "best" season likely was 2025-26, but it seems like it was only marginally better than 2022-23 which is probably a bit underrated.

Side note, to Brown's credit, adding another 2nd team selection to his resume is something Paul Pierce never did (Paul was 2nd team once, and 3rd team 3x) and regardless of what happens this Summer, you could argue Brown has accomplished more for the Celtics in 10 years than Pierce managed to in 15 which is worthy of celebration.

Wizards seem like they actually want to build around Trae young and Anthony Davis but both of them can flee in a year so they might have pressure to build a winner now so they don’t lose them. They just landed the #1 pick. Think they would build a package around it for a guy like Brown? Would Boston at all consider it? they have other intriguing guys like Alex Sarr

Ainge in Utah allegedly offered the 5th pick for Brown last summer. Not enough. I said in another thread that if you could get 3 of Lauri Markannen, Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, Jaren Jackson Jr and Utah’s pick, you’d have to consider it. Utah just ended up with the 2nd pick. Would anyone trade brown for 2nd pick and one more asset like JJJ?

that pacers trade seemed insane to me. I get zubac is solid but they tanked a whole season only for their top 5 pick to go to the clippers. I’d be so angry if Boston had done that.

Which one of these two unlikely seasons will be closest to your heart long-term?

2016-17 Isaiah Thomas:

• 28.9 points, 5.9 assists, 2.8 turnovers, 46.3%/37.9%/90.9%, 33.8mpg
• 51-25 record
• Eastern Conference Finals Exit

2025-26 Jaylen Brown:

• 28.7 points, 5.1 assists, 3.6 turnovers, 47.7%/34.7%/79.5%, 34.4mpg
• 47-24 record (36-22 without Tatum)
• Blown 3-1 lead in the first round

Isaiah's incredible year earned him 2nd Team All-NBA and a trade to Cleveland.

Brown's favorite season ever is likely earning him 1st Team (him or Cade) and increased Twitch following.

Nobody can ever take away the Jays 2024 title, but it’s also true it’s the one of the least respected titles in NBA history. Every salty NBA fan whined about Boston’s easy path. The most vocal were Knicks fans who spent an entire summer crying that they could have beat Boston had they been healthy.

Then last year they seemingly backed that up by having back to back 20 point comebacks and upsetting the Celtics.

The other most memorable one from the title run was having to sit there and watch Joel Embiid during the finals live broadcast literally claim that Boston only made the finals because “everyone” (including him) was hurt.

And now look. Embiid has cooked us two games in a row.

I genuinely think more rides on game 7 than just gap year humiliation. Historically fans will use this as further reason to discredit Boston’s easy path title and the legacies of Tatum and Brown as guys who constantly failed against inferior talent unless injuries paved a way for them.

However, the opposite is also true. If the gap year Celtics were able to beat Philly and follow it up by beating the Knicks, it completely erases the narrative and solidifies the legacies of the Jays. A lot riding on this game.