If Moses Brown is going to have a breakout season in 2021-22 it's going to be with the Mavericks, not the Celtics.
The 7-foot-2 center originally game over to the Celtics along with Al Horford in exchange for Kemba Walker, the No. 16 overall pick and a 2023 second-rounder.
Brown, who played for UCLA in college, went undrafted in the 2019 draft. He played for the Rockets in the summer league before signing with the Trail Blazers. After bouncing back-and-forth between them and their G-League team in 2019, he eventually signed a two-way contract with the Thunder in December of 2020.
Last season, Brown appeared in 43 games, making 32 starts, while averaging 8.6 points and 8.9 rebounds. His best game was actually his last as in the season finale against the Clippers he had career-highs of 24 points and seven blocks, while also adding 18 rebounds. Celtics fans might remember him for having 19 rebounds -- in the first half -- in a March game against Boston.
Appearing on WEEI following the June trade, The Stadium's Jeff Goodman was skeptical of Brown taking the next step.
"So you’ve swapped one bad contract for another. The other one is not nearly as bad and you traded away a first-round pick for Moses Brown, who I never really liked, to be honest," Goodman said. "I know he went nuts against the Celtics, but I think he’s long and soft. I’ve seen him since he was about 15 years old. I think Boston will eat him up. I just don’t see him being mentally tough enough to handle Boston. Could he be a rotation big? Sure. He looks the part. But, again, for Oklahoma City somebody had to put up numbers. Somebody had to get rebounds. They missed enough shots."
For more on the player the Celtics are getting back, Richardson, click here.