"Jaylen Brown Is A Big Part Of Us" - Brad Stevens Had A Lot To Say In His First Appearance Since All The Giannis Trade Drama Went Down

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

While tonight is supposed to be about excitement and hope for the future where you stay up all night watching highlights of whoever your favorite team ended up selecting in the first round of the NBA Draft, for Celtics fans everywhere, that wasn't exactly the main focus. 

We can focus on their selection of Chris Cenac Jr later. First, all eyes and attention were on arguably the biggest story in the NBA. 

The Giannis Trade/Jaylen Brown situation.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the trade was finalized and our collective worlds were sort of turned upside down, all eyes were on Brad tonight, not for his Draft pick, but what the hell is going on with the future of this franchise. As fans we've had to deal with so much bullshit and "sources" and "reporting" from all sides, I think it's fair to suggest that Brad had some explaining to do. Even though you know deep down he's not going to tell the absolute truth and spill all the beans, it's the best we can do when it comes to at least getting him on record about a few things.

I will say, the man looked like he's been through hell. This was not some sort of happy cheery Brad Stevens. Given his last 48 hours, I can understand why. But overall, this was not a "happy" vibe to me, which usually Draft Night is. Does that mean anything? Who the hell knows, but it was definitely noticeable as soon as the presser started. 

What we did get were some interesting answers on some pretty important questions. 

Now, depending on what you may personally want to happen or what you personally may feel this situation really is, there's a few ways to interpret that clip.

On one hand, Brad talks about how important Jaylen is to the Celtics and that he looks at him as a part of their team. For those who want Jaylen to stay, that's something you focus on. At the same time, you also can't ignore the "obviously you never know" or "I don't want to predict the future" parts. Maybe that's Brad's way of not putting himself into a box should something crazy present itself over the next few months, maybe that was him telling us that he actually has deals lined up. In some ways, that one answer covered both bases, which is something I don't really know what to make of.

Another important piece of this whole equation is the communication aspect between Brad and Jaylen. To me, that's a crucial part of this whole thing. How much have they talked? I still can't get past the process of going in on Giannis and not closing the deal, knowing that your offer is getting out. Are you comfortable doing that because you've already talked to Jaylen?

“We had a couple of meetings earlier. End of May, also before he went back overseas… Spent a lot of time, just the two of us sitting down together. And then, like every offseason, in regular touch with his agent all the way through the last couple of days. Obviously, with all the rumor mill and all that stuff, and his name being splashed all over the place, that's not easy. But we certainly wanted to be as proactive and upfront with that as possible, and I thought we had really good, candid conversations.”

Brad can say "rumor mill" all he wants, but we know it was more than that. It was an offer. His name is being thrown around all over the place…..because Brad made the offer. That wasn't mindless speculation. That was a reported fact. And while this could certainly all be bullshit and those conversations could have been Jaylen and his agent raging, we'll never know. I just keep going back to the thought process of what we saw. Why are you not closing the deal if you didn't have some sort of idea how Jaylen was feeling? That could be either him being OK with everything or him already having told Brad he wants a trade. You don't run that risk unless you already know the deal in my opinion, whatever that deal actually is.

Perhaps what could be the most important thing Brad said during this entire presser, was his belief in the Jays' ability to win another title in Boston. He was pretty quick to answer that question definitively

Do I think Brad would come out and say "no" to a question like that? No chance, even if that's how he felt. But at the end of the day, this is the driving force of everything that may or may not happen this summer. It all comes down to whether or not Brad Stevens feels like the Tatum/Brown core is good enough to win a title. If not, then we'll see a trade. If so, then we'll probably see Brad go the route he talked about at the end of season presser where he talked about improving around the margins. 

It is also not lost on me how quickly Brad answered that question. He may truly believe that, but this also felt like a question he KNEW was coming and was prepared for, especially since he did not say anything close to that at his end of season presser. 

The second part of why this answer is important is the elephant in the room, which is the CBA and the 2nd apron and roster building with two 35% max guys. This is also an extremely important part of the formula.

If you listen to NBA Twitter, they would tell you in no way does Jaylen Brown provide enough value for 35% of the cap. Now compare that to how Brad answered that question. Pretty different stance, right? If Brad believes the play and production is worthy of having two max guys, then I wonder how much of that plays into the whole "trade for parts" angle that some prefer Brad to do. How he values Jaylen's production compared to his cap percentage is incredibly important, and that certainly was a little different from how many of his detractors view him.

So in the end, what did we learn?

Giphy Images.

I suppose it's in the eye of the beholder. If you want Jaylen to remain a Celtic, then Brad gave you enough ammo to latch onto. If you are someone who wants Jaylen traded, he also gave you some ammo to latch onto. In the end, despite a 15 minute presser, we're really in the same exact spot as we were a few hours ago. Nobody has any fucking idea. We just have to sit back and wait for a move or non-move or whatever. Rumors will continue to swirl, things will only heat up once we get to free agency next month, so the idea that Brad's presser put out all the fires would be a misrepresentation of what we got. It was more of a choose your own adventure sort of thing, which honestly is the last thing we need.

Oh yeah, and in terms of Chris Cenac Jr? Works for me. A high upside big is the type of swing I have no problem with the Celtics taking at #27. I can't wait to see him in Vegas next month, where I will undoubtedly fall in love the second he has an OREB putback immediately followed by a catch & shoot 3PM. I am ready.