As a storm of rumors, speculation, and eventual shock surrounded the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown-for-Paul George-and-picks trade, one question kept springing up:
Where was Jayson Tatum in all of this?
President of basketball operations Brad Stevens clarified that Tatum, the Celtics’ five-time All-NBA star, had no say behind the scenes regarding the future of his running partner for the past nine years.
“I have a real hard, fast rule: I don’t ask other guys about other guys, because it’s not - I won’t put them in that position. So, he had none,” Stevens told a crowded room during a long, measured press conference Monday evening.
Stevens has, to my memory, never publicly shared that rule. His intentions in facing the music following this unpopular trade appeared to be two-fold: reestablish the notion that the Celtics handled this trade with respect, and begin to explain the very nerdy, convoluted landscape his front office is exploring under the still-new collective bargaining agreement.
The Celtics dealt Brown and his supermax contract for a similarly-compensated, but older, George. They also received a highly conditioned 2028 first-round pick, 2031 first-round pick, and two-second rounders. Stevens sounded very high on the draft assets he collected in the trade.
He also sounded like he really wanted to keep his other star totally out of this whole thing.
When asked whether he spoke with Tatum since the trade, Stevens didn’t demur completely, (he didn't pull the old, “You’ll have to ask Jayson about that,” Belichick-style), but he didn’t shed a lot of light on their conversations, either.
“Jayson is a friend of Jaylen, right?” he said. “And so, we have not talked in great depth about that. I think that you know, again, I didn’t keep him in the loop. I didn’t’ talk to him the next day. I didn’t want to put that on him or anyone else that’s in the playing group. I know how little I sleep. I don’t – nobody else needs to feel that. And I think, ultimately, you know, when you put in the work and the sweat with somebody for nine year, there’s obviously going to be a great appreciate for that person.”
Brown and Tatum were drafted in back-to-back years and made the postseason every year they played together. As a duo, they reached five Eastern Conference Finals as well as two NBA Finals – one of which they won in 2024.
Now, for the first time in his career, Tatum will be flying relatively solo.
“I think Jayson and Jaylen have had a remarkable partnership where they complemented each other great and played with other great teammates, both that are here and not here, and it’ll just be on Jayson to continue to grow individually and accentuate that people that are around him. I mean, what they did together was awfully impressive.”
