The duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in Boston is officially over after nearly a decade together, after Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The move is seen as one of the biggest steals of the offseason for the 76ers, and now head coach Nick Nurse faces the challenge of maximizing the former Celtics star’s fit with the team and turning its championship potential into reality.
76ers’ Nick Nurse Makes Bold Jaylen Brown Assessment After Celtics Trade
With Brown’s acquisition, the 76ers are going all-in on their championship window, as they pair him with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. They also replaced the aging, injury-prone Paul George with a former NBA champion and Finals MVP.
The blockbuster move follows a dramatic postseason in which Brown and the Celtics squandered a 3-1 series lead against Philadelphia.
With Boston going 56-26 while Tatum missed significant time recovering from an Achilles injury, the Celtics decided to trade Brown amid organizational and financial considerations, despite his explosive season.
Nurse knows Brown well from years of coaching against him and believes the All-Star forward has continually elevated his game.
“Obviously, had a lot of battles against him,” Nurse said in an interview with Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “As everybody, you watch him get a lot better from year to year, and how much harder it became to game plan for him… that’s always when you’re going against the same guys. Just how much harder your job gets trying to stop them.”
“So, that’s a credit to him as far as his development of his game. He’s super competitive… a two-way player. He’s versatile…he’s right there, sitting in his prime. So it’s amazing that he’s going to be a Sixer.”
This past season, Brown produced what many considered the best regular-season campaign of his career, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. The 5-time All-Star has established himself as one of the league’s premier two-way assets.
Philadelphia believes Brown’s arrival gives the franchise another talent capable of helping end its long history of postseason disappointments.
Nurse expects that integrating Brown into the offensive schemes will improve as time goes on.
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“It rolled out pretty smoothly, the shot distribution, and where we were looking and all that kind of stuff,” Nurse said. “So it’ll be, obviously, a big part of our thought process on the offensive end. It is right now, and then it’ll take some polishing and massaging, and time probably is the biggest thing.”
Brown now has an opportunity to prove the Celtics made the wrong decision by trading him. Disappointed by Boston’s decision, he will quickly look to turn the tide against his former team once the next season tips off.
