Former Celtics Champion Blasts Brad Stevens for Jaylen Brown Trade: 'One of the Dumbest Trades in NBA History'
Former Celtics Champion Blasts Brad Stevens for Jaylen Brown Trade: ‘One of the Dumbest Trades in NBA History’ originally appeared on NESN.
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After the Celtics pulled the plug on the Jaylen Brown era, a lot of fans are still scratching their heads. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens got Paul George and some picks to send the Celtics’ longest-tenured player to the 76ers.
Boston fans will be glad to know that they are not the only ones who are puzzled by this transaction. Kendrick Perkins berated management for giving the 2024 NBA Finals MVP to one of the team’s biggest rivals.
JAYLEN BROWN TRADE GRADES:Celtics’ return package falls flat
Kendrick Perkins blasts Celtics for Jaylen Brown trade
The ESPN analyst was clearly livid during a recent appearance on “SportsCenter.” The 2008 NBA champion directed his anger toward the Celtics’ front office, specifically Stevens.
“Well, it was one of the dumbest trades in NBA history,” Perkins said. “[76ers executives] Mike Gansey, Jameer Nelson, Bob Myers, they should be serving breakfast in bed to Brad Stevens. I’m talking about cut-up fruit, seedless grapes, mint tea, toast with strawberry jam because they finessed the hell out of him.”
Kendrick Perkins goes OFF on Brad Stevens and the Celtics for trading Jaylen Brown:
“It was one of the dumbest trades in NBA history… they finessed the hell out of him.” 😳 pic.twitter.com/C290IXXjNA
— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) July 2, 2026
Brown, the longest-tenured Celtics player who donned the iconic green jersey for a decade, was traded to the 76ers for George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. The earliest of these draft selections is a 2028 first-round pick or swap followed by an unprotected 2031 first-rounder.
It was not hard to see that there was a sudden upheaval from Celtics fans given that Brown ranks 10th on the franchise’s all-time scoring list and is coming off the best individual season of his career. Meanwhile, George has not been an NBA All-Star since the 2023-24 season, and he has played a total of 78 games in his last two seasons with the Sixers.
“All of a sudden [Stevens] got desperate. All of a sudden emotions and feelings got involved,” Perkins said. “And all of a sudden, when you get your feelings involved and it gets involved with business, stupid stuff like this happens.
“Paul George hasn’t been reliable and basically available consistently over the last two to three seasons. And now you get him at the age of 35, you play him alongside Jayson Tatum, who’s just coming off an Achilles injury, and there’s no in-between with the Boston Celtics.”
It’s unclear whether Stevens and the Celtics plan to make another trade this summer. For now, their major offseason moves include re-signing Neemias Queta along with getting Mike Conley and Mitchell Robinson in free agency.
