The Celtics’ blockbuster decision to send Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers wasn’t just about what Boston gave up. It was also about what the move might unlock.
On Wednesday afternoon, the deal became official: Brown, a former NBA Finals MVP, was traded to Philadelphia for Paul George, a pair of first-round picks, and a pair of second-round picks. Plenty of people around the league have questioned whether that was enough coming back for one of the NBA’s top players.
But inside Boston’s thinking, there’s another layer to the move, and it centers on Payton Pritchard.
The former Oregon Ducks star has steadily grown into one of the Celtics’ most valuable pieces over the past couple of seasons, and now the path ahead looks clearer. With more minutes available, Boston appears to believe Pritchard is ready for a much bigger jump.
NBA reporter Tom Haberstroh said the Celtics expect Pritchard to make a "Jalen Brunson-like" ascension now that Brown is gone.
"The Celtics trading [Jaylen] Brown is a bet that [Payton] Pritchard is their in-house version of New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, a diminutive player who didn’t fully show his talents until Luka Dončić was out of the picture.”
Brunson’s rise is the blueprint Boston is betting on. After playing in Dončić’s shadow with the Dallas Mavericks, he landed with the New York Knicks and then powered one of the most remarkable postseason runs in league history, helping deliver the Knicks their first NBA Championship since 1973.
During that playoff run, Brunson averaged 28.4 points, 6.1 assists, and 3.2 rebounds, and he took home NBA Finals MVP in a runaway.
That’s the level of leap the Celtics are hoping Pritchard can make. It’s a big ask, no question. But it also helps explain why Boston made the trade and why the team seems so confident about what comes next.
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Dakorien Moore has already given Oregon a glimpse of what that ceiling can look like, even while dealing with a knee injury, while Josh Conerly Jr. turned his time in Eugene into a far bigger payoff. On the other end of the spectrum, names like Elijah Rushing, Jurrion Dickey and Justin Flowe remind you how quickly a top billing can fade if the fit, health or circumstances never quite line up. For Oregon, the bigger question is not whether it can keep signing blue-chip talent, but which of those players will actually become the kind of difference-makers the rankings promise. [Read more 🡒]