“He Never Asked Out”: Shams Charania Reveals Jaylen Brown’s Loyalty to Celtics After They Trade Him to 76ers

Another blockbuster trade took place this summer between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. After the Celtics decided to put him on the trade market, Jaylen Brown quickly found a new home in Philly. Despite everyone's awareness that Boston would test Brown's trade value, nobody anticipated the front office would follow through.

To make matters worse for Brown, NBA insider Shams Charania reported that he never asked to be traded. Brown has helped the Celtics restore their glory in the Eastern Conference for the past 10 seasons. Despite his loyalty, Boston shockingly let him go for Paul George and a few draft picks.

"For the Celtics, where this had come down to is they tried to trade for Giannis (Antetokounmpo)," Charania said. "They offered Jaylen Brown and two unprotected first-round picks for Giannis. They missed out. But ever since then, they didn't just stop the conversations there. They continued to have trade talks, and by today, they were actively shopping Jaylen Brown around the league, trying to get teams' best offers.

"My understanding is Jaylen Brown, through all of this, never requested a trade," Charania continued. "He never asked out of Boston. This was all the Celtics."

According to The Athletic's Tony Jones, Brown had fallen out of favor with Celtics president Brad Stevens.

"He’s also polarizing, thoughtful, well-spoken, outspoken, expensive, and had apparently fallen so out of favor with Brad Stevens and the rest of Boston’s front office that he was traded for relative pennies on the dollar," Jones wrote.

With $183 million remaining in his contract, paying Brown in the next three seasons will indeed be quite expensive for the Celtics. However, it's quite bizarre why they would easily get rid of the five-time All-Star.

During Jayson Tatum's absence from the lineup last season, Brown led the Celtics to second place in the Eastern Conference. Despite lacking his All-Star duo for the majority of the season, Brown proved that he was capable of carrying Boston.

With JB no longer with the Celtics, it'll be interesting to see what the new trio of him, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey can accomplish. On paper, it seems that the 76ers won the trade, given how George had consistently been missing from the lineup due to injuries.

NBA Insider Dumbfounded By Celtics Decision to Trade Jaylen Brown

While many see Jayson Tatum as the face of the Boston Celtics, many argue that Jaylen Brown is the team's best player. In 2024, the Celtics climbed the mountaintop for the first time since 2008 as they secured an NBA championship. Brown was named the Finals MVP. It's also worth noting that Brown finished in sixth place among the MVP candidates last season.

Given Brown's value to the team, trading him to the Philadelphia 76ers is quite questionable. NBA insider Noah Buono is quite upset about the trade and graded the deal with low marks.

"This is unbelievable," Buono said on CBS Sports. "I don't know what Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics are thinking. Who trades their Finals MVP in the heart of their prime to the rival that just eliminated you from the playoffs? ... This is just a massive loss for the Boston Celtics. ... It's unfathomable that this is how the Celtics would do this. ... Everything about it is an F grade."

Knowing how Brown likes to prove his critics wrong, it wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly emerged as the 76ers' top guy.