Kendrick Perkins isn’t sugarcoating what he thinks the Jaylen Brown trade could mean for Boston.
On ESPN’s “NBA Today,” the former Celtics champion said the deal could follow the franchise for a very long time - and maybe in the worst possible way. Perkins was reacting to the blockbuster move that sent Brown to a rival team, a trade that has already drawn scrutiny from around the league. NESN’s Jake Mozarsky handed the Celtics a D+ for it, but Perkins went further.
“This is going to be tied to them in the history of the NBA for the simple fact that not only did you trade an All-NBA caliber player to a rival team, but now you know that was the deciding factor in landing arguably the greatest player to ever play the game that is still playing at an All-NBA level that possibly could go out to win the championship," said Perkins.
He didn’t stop there.
“If the 76ers go on to win the NBA championship with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, it will stain the Boston Celtics forever."
That possibility got a lot more real after 76ers president Mike Gansey said he reached out to LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, right after the Brown trade to gauge whether the four-time NBA champion would be interested in joining Philadelphia. Gansey said Paul told him the Brown move “changes some things.”
A few weeks later, James stunned the basketball world by saying he’ll spend what could be the final season(s) of his career in Philadelphia.
Brown alone already pushed the 76ers into the conversation as one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference next season. Add James to the mix, and Philadelphia suddenly has a much clearer path to chasing a title - even if nothing is guaranteed.
Calling it a permanent stain on Boston might go too far for a franchise with as much success as the Celtics, but this is the kind of trade people will be talking about for a long time.
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