"His Frustration Lies Deeply In The Organization That We Don't Have The Details To" - Tracy McGrady Made Some Pretty Serious Accusations That Jaylen Brown Is Reportedly At Odds With The Celtics Organization
Jonathan Bachman. Getty Images.Ever since the Celts failed to win Game 7 on their home floor to officially blow a 3-1 series lead and lose in the first round of a playoff run that had championship expectations, we officially moved into the offseason drama/rumors/sources/trade machine part of the NBA calendar. This is not where you ever want to be, especially in the first week of May, but it's our reality. When you underperform and get bounced early in the playoffs, this is the shit you get to focus on while other fanbases can still put their energy towards actually basketball. I miss those days.
Immediately following Game 7, there was the now infamous Jaylen Brown stream. The shots at Embiid and the ref agenda stuff were a pretty bad look, the favorite season stuff coming right after the Celts became the first team in franchise history to blow a 3-1 series lead was in poor taste, even if I somewhat can see his angle there. Between what they proved during the year, mentoring the young guys, I get all that. It's just not what I want to hear right after a pretty poor series all things considered and a horrific 3-1 collapse.
You would think after all that stuff ran through the media cycle yesterday that would be the end of it, but you forget. When you're a team that is now in the drama/rumors/sources/trade machine hell, it doesn't stop, it continues to build. This is why it's better to be playing basketball at this time of year, because when you're not and you become a topic of discussion for all the wrong reasons, more fuel gets thrown into the fire.
Enter Tracy McGrady
“his frustration lies deeply in the organization that we don’t have the details to… There’s just been a lot of stuff that I’ve been hearing, just going on with the Boston organization with JB.”
First and foremost, I think it would be naive to simply ignore these comments or try and frame it as something without substance. While TMac is a talking head, he's a very important figure in JB's camp so to speak, They work out together, TMac is a well-known Jaylen advocate, he's even credited as the reason Jaylen didn't ask out in previous seasons, when he may have been considering it. They are obviously close. So when someone who you know is close to a player is saying stuff like this, I can't imagine it's completely made up and without any substance.
At the same time, this quote coming off the heels of what Jaylen himself just said on his stream, is a little confusing. What is there to be frustrated about within the organization? Contract wise, they couldn't offer more than the supermax, which he got. This year, he had the #1 role and the full support of the organization. Jaylen himself said it was his favorite year, so what's the frustration?
This is where part of me is side-eyeing it a little bit, and frankly, I find it really annoying when people do stuff like this. Say it with your chest. You know what you're doing is going to cause a stir, so stand on it. If you are saying Jaylen is frustrated with the Celtics organization, say why. To throw that type of molotov cocktail but keep it so vague like that is pretty fucked up, and it leaves open the possibility that this is all a bunch of bullshit. I'm not saying that's what I believe, but I find it so weak where if you're trying to say something, just say it! If you are speaking for Jaylen Brown in this instance, then say it. All this does is cause more drama and rumors and gets an already on edge fanbase even more on edge.
Could there have been frustrations with how the Celts cut money? I'm not sure why that would be a source of frustration, that's how life has to operate in the NBA with this new CBA. They had to get under the aprons. So is it more trading Simons for Vuc to get under the tax as well? That seems kind of silly to me that a move like that would be such a source of frustration for Jaylen Brown. The move didn't work out, but the logic was sound. It cleaned up their books to help improve the team and addressed a positional need. It just didn't work out like we all hoped for a variety of reasons.
What I do think it could mean is something that Jaylen touched on quickly during his stream. In the clip about how this was his favorite season, he mentioned how he wished the Celts played more like they did during the year. I took that as going 10 deep, using the young guys like Walsh (who Jaylen is mentoring) that had so much success during the year, only to never see him in the playoffs. I could see that being a source of frustration for Jaylen, and I would agree with him. That was very frustrating, especially when you see how the Celts lost to the Sixers. If that's what this is, then it's hard to disagree.
With this all also coming on the heels of more Giannis rumors, it's hard to know how to feel. Is this more of the same we've seen in previous summer and is all just media smoke? Or, is this the beginning of the end? You could tell me it's either option and I could see it. What I do kind of wish would happen is if Jaylen would hop back on his stream and address this. We know he sees it, it's everywhere. Part of that stream has always been being open and honest about shit that's gone on during the year, so I'd like to see some clarification with this. Will we get it? Probably not.
During Brad Stevens' presser today, he gave this comment which makes this all even more confusing
Is this a lie? Who knows. But it does have my brain in a complete pretzel.
All in all, I hate pretty much everything that has happened since Game 4 and the Celts up 3-1. It's been absolutely nothing but disaster at every turn. The Celts played like shit, they kept losing at home, Tatum got hurt, they lost another Game 7 on their home floor, Mazzulla coached like a dickhead, Jaylen hopped on a stream pulling some loser shit, and now TMac is throwing gasoline on the fire.
If they just closed out Game 5, none of this even happens. God dammit.