What Is Going On With Jaylen Brown?

All right, let's talk about the story that we're here to talk about, which is what is going on in Boston with Jalen Brown and what is going on in Boston with the Celtics.

To recap what has been a very weird week.

The Celtics on Saturday get eliminated by the seventy-Sixers in the first round.

On Sunday, Jalen Brown goes on his Twitch stream and Among other things, declares that this was his favorite season.

He also criticizes Joel Embiid for flopping and has a bunch of other things to say.

Like not, this really had, was, was kind of just airing some stuff out on his uh Twitch stream.

On Tuesday, Tracy McGrady, NBC analyst, former NBA player, friend of Jalen Brown, goes on his podcast and he says like, there are issues between Jalen Brown and the Boston Celtics.

On Wednesday, Brad Stevens basically said, I haven't heard anything about that.

So he talked to Jalen Brown and He said nothing came from that.

Now, Jalen on Thursday, uh, I think it was Thursday, went on back on his Twitch stream, tried to clean some of this up, said he had no issue with the Celtics, wanted to be a Celtic for the next 10 years.

But here we are again, ET talking about Jalen Brown and his future with the Celtics.

It seems like we've been doing this since his rookie year, you know, as we've been putting him in trade rumors for Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, for Kevin Durant.

Uh, year after year, we're talking about the future of Jalen Brown.

So what have you made of everything that's going on this week, from Jalen's comments on his stream to T-Max comments, everything that we've seen over the last week.

I'm think, I wanna play devil's advocate for Jalen, and I said this the other day, uh, on a different show, and I was just like, I've had friends in high places and franchise players, when you talk to them, you're like, man, they're so high up that like, I don't think they always see that, like, you know, the, the field a little bit, you know.

And sometimes too, when guys win so much, it starts meaning something else to you.

You and I have never gone to 7 straight Eastern Conference Finals or won an NBA championship, you know what I'm saying?

So I think sometimes when you get so used to winning and so used to certain things, you might take for granted how, how dope it is, but I think also too, Jalen's probably like, for himself personally, it might have been a a a a game, like a personal game, because he's able to see himself, how he's able to lead the team, how he's able to do a lot of things for the first time.

He's like, yo, this is my, my favorite season personally because I wasn't playing Robin.

That was cool.

I don't think that's all for him to say that.

I think It only looks crazy because there's always just been history of him and Jason.

Can they play together?

Who's going first?

Is there trade rumors?

Is there this and a third?

And I guess when you respond to like the Tracy McGrady situation, I, I don't, I don't know where he got it from.

I don't know what was said, but I, I'm gonna harp on Jalen jumping on and being like, hey, I want to be a Celtic for the next 10 years.

Period.

Point blank.

Like, if, if you didn't mean no harm, no foul by it, and we put the spotlight on you.

Is, is, is, is, then that's what, that's what it is and we move forward.

That's, that's how I feel.

What do you think?

Uh, I didn't have any issue with Jalen saying it was his favorite season because he said that before during the year and as every player wants to compete for championships, but if you know anything about Jalen Brown and about the Celtics in the last 10 years that he's been there.

The idea that he could spend the year being the number one option and showing that he could do it was very appealing to him.

And he worked hard in the offseason, got himself into shape, and had the kind of year that reinforced that.

He's, he's going to be all NBA first team.

He's probably gonna be top 5 in MVP.

Like he had a spectacular year.

So him saying it was his favorite year, I, I wasn't, I didn't read too much into that because I've heard some of that before.

It's the T Mac comments.

Raise my antenna.

Tracy McGrady is not a hot take artist.

Never has been.

He's not.

He's just not.

You work with him on the NBC set.

Like he's not a hot take guy.

Like he's not, he's not Kendrick Perkins, you know.

He's not throwing stuff out there, um, to, to stir the pot when he says stuff like this that, and I wanna get his quote right so I don't misquote him.

I've got him here, um.

He said that Brown's frustration quote lies deeply in the organization.

When he says stuff like that.

I know his relationship with Jalen Brown.

Jalen Brown was on that podcast, you know, earlier in the season, I think before Jayson Tatum came back.

He actually told, I think he told him and Vince Carter when Jason Tatum was going to come back, so he confirmed it.

So there's a relationship there.

So Tracy's not getting that from nowhere.

He's not just pulling that out of thin air.

Um, the idea that Jalen is frustrated is also not shocking either because go back to his draft night.

His draft night, the Celtics had that party at TD Garden.

I think it was Wick Grossbeck that got up and revealed the pick, and the pick got booed.

It got booed by a bunch of fans that wanted either the team to trade the pick to get Jimmy Butler or to use the pick to get Chris Dunn, shows what they know, um.

So it gets, it gets booed from literally that, no, next year Jayson Tatum gets drafted, he's anointed as the, the favorite son, and every year after that.

We were talking about trading Jalen Brown, first for Anthony Davis.

That was a couple of years of that.

Then Kawhi Leonard is available and in 2022, it was Kevin Durant that was on the open market.

Now, I had reported at the time and I did it again in my newsletter this week, that in 2022, That pissed off Jalen Brown.

Like that was the year that he helped lead that team to the finals.

And, you know, within weeks, he's back in trade rumors this time for Kevin Durant.

That one pissed off Jalen Brown.

Uh, so his frustration, I think, is Understandable.

I just found it really interesting that Tracy McGrady would choose to air that out in that way.

Like that told me a little bit of something.

Now, you couple that, Evan, with the fact that this summer, There are, there's gonna be a lot of movement.

There's gonna be some aggressive teams out there.

Look, Giannis Tentokopo is gonna go.

We know that.

You know, we saw Jimmy Haslam, the co-owner of the Bucks, basically say that Giannis, the situation would be resolved before the draft.

So, in the next 2 months, there's going to be a resolution for Giannis Tentokopo.

One team is going to get him.

There's probably gonna be 5 or 6 other teams that try to get him, but come up short.

Those teams might look around and say, well, we've got these picks.

We've got these young players.

Maybe Boston wants to deal Jalen Brown.

Maybe we can trade the stuff that we were gonna trade for Giannis to Boston for Jalen Brown.

Now, I'm not talking about flipping Giannis for Jalen Brown.

I think, I think that would be a catastrophe for Boston.

That is the worst idea that I can think of.

You're trading a All NBA star in Jalen Brown, who has shown you he can play opposite Jayson Tatum, who has shown you that he can win a championship.

For a guy who is supremely talented, might be a better player, but is coming off multiple years of injuries, calf injuries, soft tissue injuries.

Who is gonna be looking for a brand new max contract, that would be a mess.

But there could be a situation out there where a team might have a bunch of extra stuff like 3 or 4 players, a couple of draft picks that maybe they say Jalen Brown is a potential difference maker for our team and we'll talk to Boston about that.

3 or 4 teams that kick the tires on the Celtics that way.

I put Atlanta on that list.

I mean, I reported today, like the Hawks and the Celtics, they did talk about Jalen Brown last offseason.

They did.

Um, It didn't go anywhere.

Um, Atlanta at that time was very leery of Jalen's contract, which was, I think at that point, the richest contract in NBA history, and he had yet to prove that he could be what he proved he was this year.

And the Celtics were never looking just to offload Jalen Brown, but the Celtics were going through a lot of machinations last summer where it's like, we're, we're, we're moving Christa Porzingis, we're letting Al Horford go, we're trading Drew Holiday.

They were tearing that thing down.

So they had a conversation with the Hawks about Jalen Brown.

Could that conversation Be revisited.

Like the Hawks, they could use a Jalen Brown.

They've got some stuff in Zachary Resohea and Dyson Daniels and some draft capital they could potentially move.

Not dollar for dollar value.

I see you're kind of shaking your head there.

Not dollar for dollar value for Jalen Brown, but that's the kind of thing that maybe could lead to a conversation.

My, the bottom line is that I believe there will be conversations about Jalen Brown in Boston.

I don't think the door is closed.

I don't think they're ready to run this thing back with Jayson Tatum.

I think there are gonna be conversations.

Who knows where they go.

Look, every conversation the subs have had about Jalen Brown since 2018 has gone nowhere.

They have not traded him at any point in time, but I think there will be conversations this summer about Jalen Brown.

That is my educated guess on this situation.

And that's a great guess as well.

And as a GM when you're calling and you're trying to go into like an arms war, I'm calling for Jalen.

You understand what I'm saying?

I think everybody's going to call for a top 10 player in the world, especially a guy that can affect your, your whole organization in a different way just with his presence.

I think one thing, just knowing Brad, he loves ballers.

So I know he might yield a call, he might talk here or there, but hey man, you're not gonna find, you can send me 3 or 4 people.

They're not going to be like Jalen Brown, you know, and I think Brad likes killers.

Like you said prior to, Jalen Brown has already proven he can play alongside Jayson Tatum.

I think one thing that occurs is going to have to come from The individuals themselves and just be like, hey, let me, let me gauge it.

I've said this prior, I've played in a lot of teams, and Boston is one of one NBA teams where it feels like a franchise.

You're playing for one of those places, you know what I mean?

On top of the fact, when it comes down to it being like you you you have You have a great team already, you have a great coaching staff, you have a great culture.

You might go the rest of your career looking for a Jayson Tatum type player to accompany you, to assist you.

You understand what I'm saying?

And then when we sit there, it's like you already got finals MVP, you already got the Bill Russell Award, they gave you the richest contract in history.

Like, when we sit here in so many words, like, I don't never knock him in for being ambitious and wanting more and more and more, but there's no more to be had, except for going to go get more championship rings with what you got, because no matter what, as great as Jalen is, he's gonna be looking for a Jason.

Like, so then what do you want to do?

Are you're not gonna be happy until you play a D Wade role and be like, I got LeBron coming over here and I let him have my team, or am I just working together with another killer?

Like I always said, man, if you don't fight over females, man, then, then you can get along.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Like, you're not tripping.

Like, yeah, I don't think Jason, no, no Tony Braxton type situation.

Yeah, yeah, like that's what I'm like y'all ain't fighting over females.

What, what, like what's the problem?

Like y'all both wavy.

Y'all both know y'all are good, and I think this conversation, which is why like they're, they're very, like, you know this, they're very different guys.

Like they don't, I like they don't hang out on the road that often, but they don't have to.

Like they don't like Jason's like a Jason's kind of the prototypical young player, right?

And I say that not in a bad way .

He's just a young guy.

He's out of the.

The Road he's, he's living his life as a 20-something like Jalen Brown is much more involved.

Like he goes on the road to LA and he's hosting an event in Beverly Hills or he's doing like a march somewhere.

Like that's just they're, they're very different types of people, which I think is kind of a good thing.

Like you're not, it's amazing.

And what you've been around the second they come in, this is what I notice all the time when they see each other, they know each other's in the room, they come up and they acknowledge each other.

That's uh, that's it.

Like when you think about Clay and Steph, you never saw Clay and Steph in no banana boat.

Like, do you understand what I'm saying?

Like they, who knows if they ever even hung out?

Like, do you know what I'm saying?

Like you've never seen no features talking about how they're buddy buddy and da da da da.

It don't matter, you know what I'm saying?

I just think, I think the number one thing is your gratitude.

Seeing the whole space and comprehending like, yo, for my legacy and things I really care about winning and and making my life easier, how am I gonna be able to go up against OKC or the Spurs and make it out to the East for the next 3 or 4 years and continue its dominance like I want to continue it.

Because no matter what, I kid you not, you don't want to go up against Jayson Tatum.

No, at all.

And, and, and, and one thing we're saying about the situation, we gotta give Tatum credit for, he never says nothing.

And like when we're talking about recently, and I said the other day, like, Tatum's coming back with 25, 13, and like 8, like 13, 4 like dominance.

Like, even a year when he's averaging 28, he had 4 or 5 other killers with him.

Like he could sit back and be like, yo, I could have been average 40 and been on an MVP award list and all this.

I'm splitting everything.

I guarantee you do not want to go up against a Jayson Tatum or Brad Stevens' mind and building a team.

Good fucking luck.

Yeah, I think it's a separate conversation.

I think the organization kind of did Tatum wrong by the way they Handle his return like 40 minutes it's it's Monday morning quarterbacking, but like what the hell is he doing playing 39 minutes and 40 minutes in his last two regular season games?

Like what is the point of that now?

I understand that like Brad Stevens talked about this like they wanna ramp him up.

They wanna get him ready to play a heavy workload, but hey, Giannis Tentakumpo or not Giannis, Victor Wimbayama had a calf injury in November.

He averaged less than 30 minutes per game for the rest of the season.

Right?

Like LaMelo Ball, he dealt with injuries the past couple of years.

He played less than 30 minutes per game on the entire season.

Like, why coming back from a ruptured Achilles is Tatum playing that many minutes?

That was a, that was an organizational mistake.

That's not a Joe Missoula thing.

That's an organizational mistake to have played in that because you're never gonna convince me that one thing didn't have something to do with the other.

Like the problem he had in the left knee didn't have something to do with the issues he's long had with the right.

Like it's all interconnected, you're compensating for stuff.

That was a mistake there.

Yeah, and also, I mean, you're not lying, even then he's running 28, 29, like, don't nobody wanna play 39 minutes unless it's action.

Like, do you know what I mean?

Like, I don't even know if you want your franchises playing more than 33, you know what I mean?

33, 34, like.

Like, talk about it every year.

Guys get gassed out.

Yeah, and then it's just when you sit there, man, if you're nice, man, you should get your work done around 32, champ.

Like you're playing 75 minutes of, uh, 75% of the game.

I'm running most of, most of the stuff for you, like.

Like a rock out, like, and, and I'm not even saying so much Tatum, it's just like, hey bro, we're not, and if, if you need an extra 8 minutes to score to get from 24 to 28.

It ain't worth it, but no, I thought, I thought that was crazy.

I would never play none of my players 40 minutes for no reason.

So the, the easiest thing for the Celtics to do is to use their flexibility to get bigger, right?

Like that was the problem in the playoffs, like Vusovich.

Your boy turned out to be unplayable.

No, man, they were, you played with them.

He was your teammate, yeah, but, but they had like a hard on for him for like almost a decade.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like I remember them calling me and being like, Hey, hey, can you get him like to, to, to do this to do it.

I'm like, bro, I like I met the man once for 8 months.

Bro, like, you know what I mean?

And he didn't fully hate me, hate me.

You know what I'm saying?

But I think like so much time has passed, he's like, I guess I'll be friends with Evan, like, you know, but you're absolutely right.

They need a real, real big.

Kada Kada is great backup.

Love my guy Luca Garza, bro, but like, We're trying to win some shit, baby.

Like Chris, you, you, you could hit the bat, you know, you know what I mean?

You could have been the third big like we like you, you feel what I'm saying like we went up against Joe Allen B with fucking Luca Gar oh my God, Luca Garza.

Luca, they're, they're well positioned to make a run at one of those guys.

They're 12 million below the luxury tax.

They're 21 million below the first apron.

They're 34 million below the second apron.

They have 5 trade exceptions, including one that's valued at $27.

7 million.

They've got 6 first-round picks over the next 7 years.

So, as long as ownership is willing to spend, which may be another conversation, like they're in a good position to go get a big that can flesh out that lineup.

The question I have though as we move forward, do they have to change their style of play?

Like this is a, a big talking point coming out of that series against Philadelphia.

They are a 3-point happy team.

They have been ever since Joe Missoula got there.

Um, but in the first round against Philadelphia, they shot 46 threes per game.

In the entire 46, averaged 46 threes per game.

In the 23, 24 playoffs or 24 playoffs, they averaged 40 threes per game.

That was on a team that was better equipped to play that style of play.

You fast forward 2 years, they're shooting 46 threes per game.

In the four losses that they had, they shot 28% from three point range.

Like, That's a series.

That's the ballgame right there.

So, like, this was posed to Brad Stevens repeatedly.

He kind of sort of agreed with the concept that you do need to change, but if you're Joe Missoula, do you have to change next year?

Do you have to become a team that is more, uh, effective inside the three-point line?

You know, off the top of my head, to be completely honest with you.

I just know in basketball, I believe that the, the way of basketball, the flow of basketball changes like every 5 to 6 years.

You understand what I'm saying?

And I feel as though You know, in the early start of the turn of like the decade, like obviously a 3 point shot, so even what Steph Curry and everybody was doing was unbelievable.

Like I said, but the game has evolved so much.

What has become now in a sense of like 3-point shooting.

Like, now those same players are becoming taller, more lengthier, and the defenders are starting to get better.

So now we're sitting there, I feel like you're coming down to, you know, especially versus the, you look at the Celtics when they struggle versus Sixers, who are they going up against?

They're going up against Kelly Oubre, they're going up against, uh, uh, Paul George, they're going up against.

Versus Bona, tons of guys, Quentin Grimes, a lot of guys that could switch up and guard.

The only person that was kind of a liability was Joel Embiid because he doesn't play up to the ball.

But I think when it comes down to it as well as trying to find easier ways to control the game, especially with how Jason and Jalen go.

Jalen is going to go get his mid-range shot regardless, you know.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

And then when we sit there as well with Jason, as he comes back and he keeps healing, and you want him to play him at certain paces in less than 35, 36 minutes, whatever occurs, you need to start figuring out ways for him to get ISOs, for him to get clear size, for him to get, you know, the ball in the sweet spot as opposed to just coming down.

And trying to operate from 25 26 ft.

But in the same instance, you're going to control the game because now you're putting defense on your heels and you're having a better chance of getting to the line, controlling the game, and getting guys in foul trouble, and Jason and them are good enough to do that.

Yeah, um, I think it takes both a change in personnel, maybe some more players that are Uh, able to create at the rim, go to the basket, but more than anything, it's a philosophy.

Like I don't have a problem with corner 3s, like driving kick 3s.

Those are good shots.

Like if you're open in the corner 3, you take the shot.

Simple as that.

They've had success with that.

My problem is like these contested 3s, early shot clock 3s, uh, transition 3s.

Like you don't, who the hell are you?

It's arrogant, bro.

It's like that's an impossible, yeah, impossible shot.

Yeah, it's just kind of lazy too.

Like just it look go hard, man.

Like in contact, going to the basket, like you gotta embrace the tough stuff.

Like, look, Oklahoma City did not to keep making the comparison there, but like they're an inside the three-point line team, you know, I know they make a lot of 3s, but Shay goes to the basket a lot.

Chet scores a lot at the rim, um.

I, I, I think their shot selection sucked this , uh, this postseason, and that's kind of indicative of the way it's been trending the last couple of years.

I think they've got to.

Be more focused on getting to the rim.

Don't settle for as many 3-point shots.

Get that number down.

They should be right around the number they were 2 years ago.

403s per game, which is still an outlandish number by modern standards.

But if you can get around 403s per game, cut 6 off, go to the basket, get to the free throw line, do a little bit more.

I think they'll be a more effective offensive team.

I do it a more, a more a team that's better prepared for the playoffs because the game slows down in the playoffs.

It gets more physical in the playoffs.

You can't just rely on getting hot from behind the three-point line.

That's, that fundamentally has to change.

Maybe that means like, look, Joe Missoula is fine.

He's probably gonna win coach of the Year.

I mean, good luck finding to give him that damn award.

He's probably gonna be like in a retreat in, you know, God knows where, like figuring out what he's gonna do next season, but Like maybe you add someone to the staff, like over the years there have been some really good minds on that staff.

Maybe you add someone, uh, to it, and you know, the Charles Lee role, so to speak, after they lost Charles.

But, you know, that's, that to me has got to change next year.

That, that's the step they gotta take.

Yeah, but you gotta buy into it, like you said, it has to be a mentality and then also too, you like the personnel.

I feel like they, they do have a decent amount of personnel in the sense of like you got the young kid Hugo Gonzalez.

He's more of a physical player, obviously trying to.

Yeah, I like him a lot too, and I think his physicality can really match before, and he's still young enough before you get him on that wave of being like, yo, you only can play if you shoot 7 threes per game.

We have moments, I love Baylor Shireman.

This game is definitely dope, but you don't want, like, he can shoot a little bit, but you don't like, I, I go to games sometimes , I'm like, damn, bro, like, they just came down and shot 3 times for 20 seconds on the clock, and I'm like, Back in the old days, I don't give a hell what they're telling you.

Baylor, you don't shoot none of that shit unless we need, unless it's from the corner or we really need it.

You know what I mean?

And I, and I feel as though The same way I feel as though when you're searching for shooters and there's very few 3&D guys all around, like, you had to play Sam Hauser more than you needed to.

You understand what I'm saying?

And you had to figure out ways to be like, instead of dominating those minutes with Sam, even though he showed he's a pretty good defender, you sacrifice what you could have because Sam could man, Sam could space the floor and do what he needed to do, but he played a lot of minutes and started a lot in a situation where you're really trying to win and Sam could be an 8th guy, like.

That's your 4th or 5th or you're, you know what I mean?

And, and there, and I feel like his shooting mattered so much, and it's like, hey, now we're in a, in, in a, in a Missoula offense and system, that's premium, but anywhere else that's really trying to win, I feel as though Houser would have been 10th or 11th guy and not making a name for himself.

You know what I mean, because 3-point line, 3-point line.

Yeah, and I don't, I don't, to put a button on it, I don't want to overreact too much to the loss because ultimately nobody thought the Celtics would be here, right?

Like we had them pegged like 40-ish wins.

They win 56, the number 2 seed.

Jalen's an MVP candidate, you know, Dirk White's an all NBA candidate.

Uh, they had a, they had a great year.

It's just like this, this postseason exposed their flaws.

They have flaws in their front court.

They've got flaws in their style of play and To get to the level they were 2 years ago, they've got to address those flaws.

Um, there's no doubt about it.