Brad Stevens Elected Not To Pull The Trigger On A Trade For Giannis, So What The Hell Happens Now?
Winslow Townson. Getty Images.Believe in Brad Stevens.
That is a mantra that has defined Celtics basketball for over 13 years.
In the early stages, it was believing in Brad as a coach who was making the jump from college to the big leagues. Remember, that wasn't a guaranteed success at the time. In fact, there were more conversations around why a move like that wouldn't work given the NBA's history of that type of jump. Outside of Year 1 (tank), Brad never missed the playoffs, won at least 48 games in 5 of his 8 seasons and we learned pretty quickly that there was nothing to worry about in that department. Brad showed he's one of the best basketball coaches on planet Earth, regardless of level (354-282).
When it came time to replace Danny Ainge as the boss and orchestrator of this franchise, the man now responsible for building a championship caliber team, there were plenty of reasons to be nervous/skeptical about that transition. Brad had never worked in a front office before, we had no idea how that would go. All we could do was believe in Brad Stevens.
As an executive, he wasted no time. Remember how quickly he flipped Kemba for Horford after he took the job? From that moment, the Celts have never won fewer than 51 games. They've made ECF and Finals runs with not only 2 different coaches, but wildly different iterations of the roster. No team in the NBA has more wins and playoff wins, Finals appearances, or titles since Brad moved upstairs. Just like with his coaching, he quickly showed there was nothing to worry about when it came to his ability to lead this franchise to glory.
Well now, in the summer of 2026 after not landing Giannis, Brad Stevens (and the Celtics) face their biggest challenge yet.
Belief is something that I don't think only exists when the team does what you want or what you think is smart. You either believe in Brad Stevens or you don't. You either trust in his decision making, or you don't. This doesn't mean he can't ever be wrong or make a mistake, but the sense I got last night was that pre-Giannis decision, when it looked like Giannis was headed to Boston, there was that belief in Brad. But then, once we learned Giannis was not coming, there was an immediate switch up that Brad is an idiot, the Celtics are doomed, their title contention window is over etc. That feels juuuuuuust a little dramatic for me. I think it's totally fair and rational to be disappointed that Giannis isn't a Celtic, but I go back to the original point. Do you believe in Brad or not? Maybe the answer to that question is no, which is your right. I would just point to the pretty big sample size of why it makes sense to trust and believe in Brad Stevens when it comes to the success of the Boston Celtics.
But at the same time, there's no denying the position that Brad Stevens and the Celtics now find themselves in isn't exactly ideal, and a lot of that is rooted in the unknown for us on the outside. What we do know is why Brad walked away
You may agree or disagree with that decision after learning that the ask was for a little more than just Hugo being thrown in, but what matters is that Brad Stevens decided that was too steep a price. As fans we don't give a shit about the ancillary pieces, but it's Brad's job to care. There's nothing wrong with having a line in the sand, and it's Brad's job to establish where that line is.
But now that the trade is done, what the hell happens now?
When all of this first started, my stance on the Celts approach was that I believed Bill Simmons. I believe the Celts made an offer and I believed Jaylen Brown was involved. In looking at the Celts salary structure, there were really only 2 ways this trade could happen, and logic told you that it was by offering Jaylen.
At that point, I was of the belief that if you are not only getting involved, but also putting Jaylen Brown on the table, then you've reached the point of no return. That's a deal you have to close. If you weren't prepared to do whatever it took to close that deal, then why even get involved in the first place? Something about that doesn't really add up to me, knowing what could happen if that deal fell through. The team obviously didn't feel that same type of urgency, so my question is why?
Which brings us to the biggest part of all of this: Jaylen Brown's future. Here's what we don't know
1. Was there any communication between Brad and Jaylen during this process?
2. If so, was he OK with either outcome?
3. If not, is he fucking livid and the relationship is ruined for good?
4. Is the reason Brad felt OK pulling out of the Giannis deal was because they have a Plan B deal lined up?
We may never know the actual truth to some of those questions, but my guess is that, depending on what happens the rest of this summer, we'll have a pretty good idea.
But what I can't get past is just the overall process. It just seems pretty unlike everything we've come to learn about how this front office operates that they would go into this entire trade discussion and not have talked through a scenario of what happens should the deal fall through. When deciding to meet the Bucks' asking price or not, I cannot imagine nobody in that room thought
"OK, so what happens if we don't close this deal?"
They know the Jaylen offer is getting out. They know what the reaction and fallout of that would be. And I'm to believe none of that was considered before making a decision? Considering what they decided to do, that's where I go back to my 4 questions above. If there was communication between the team and Jaylen and there's nothing for them to worry about, then their actions make sense. If they know he's pissed so they made sure that there's a different deal lined up as a backup plan, same thing. I just refuse to believe that Brad Stevens and the front office did not consider a world where the trade didn't go through and the reported offer got out before pulling out of the trade discussions. They aren't stupid, so there's obviously a reason they felt OK with the outcome. What that reason is, we can't exactly answer on June 23rd (unless we somehow get a Shams bomb before this blog gets posted).
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We know the Jays are a championship-caliber duo. We also know that the overall roster as constructed is not a championship caliber roster. Those things were true before the Giannis trade stuff and are still true after. Say they never got involved in the Giannis sweepstakes, those were problems Brad and the team were still going to have to address this summer, so in that regard nothing changes. They still have the tools to address their issues, and it goes back to believing in Brad Stevens. There's no reason to think he's not capable of building a championship caliber roster, we've seen him do it.
But make no mistake, this is essentially a crossroads for both Brad and the franchise.
You don't want to overpay for Giannis? OK, well then it's time to show us what the plan is instead, knowing that you cannot continue to waste the prime years of your superstar players. Your window is open NOW. How you handle the rest of this summer could very well determine the next 10+ years of Celtics basketball. And while some may be upset at last night's outcome, I still trust Brad Stevens more than anyone on Earth to make that decision.