The Boston Celtics didn’t set out to accept Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks for Jaylen Brown. They were apparently hoping the Philadelphia 76ers would give them five firsts and VJ Edgecombe.
You’re reading that correctly.
Speaking on SportsCenter, ESPN’s Shams Charania revealed that Philly initiated talks for Brown, and that Boston’s asking price was delusionally high.
“The Celtics had such a high bar on a deal,” Charania said. “They were thinking if you’re gonna trade us Paul George we need four firsts, five firsts. We need a player like a VJ Edgecombe. That was the bar that was set early. There were other teams around the league that might of stopped conversations or moved on to do other deals, but the Sixers stayed with it.”
If this report is true, new Sixers president Mike Gansey deserves a medal for his negotiating exploits. Celtics president Brad Stevens, meanwhile, has some questions to answer. Mainly: If that is what you wanted for Brown, why move him for a fraction-of-a-fraction of that asking price instead of just, ya know, keeping him?