The Celtics’ decision to move on from Jaylen Brown has already set off a wave of confusion, and Kendrick Perkins is not hiding where he stands.
Boston sent Brown, its longest-tenured player, to the Philadelphia 76ers in a deal that brought back Paul George and a bundle of draft picks. That move came a night after the Celtics pulled the plug on the Brown era, and it has left plenty of fans stunned. Perkins, a 2008 NBA champion with Boston, went after the front office hard during a morning appearance on SportsCentre.
"Well, it was one of the dumbest trades in NBA history. 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," Perkins declared.
Brown spent a decade in Boston and leaves as the franchise’s 10th all-time leading scorer. He also arrives in Philadelphia coming off a 2025-26 NBA MVP candidacy, which only added to the reaction around the deal.
In return, the Celtics got George plus two first-round picks and two second-round picks. The earliest of those selections is a 2028 first-round pick or swap, followed by an unprotected 2031 first-rounder.
Perkins wasn’t done there. He pointed to George’s recent availability issues and the age gap involved in the move.
"All of a sudden he got desperate. All of a sudden emotions and feelings got involved.
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, three seasons.
And now you get him at the age of 35, you play him alongside Jayson Tatum, who's just coming off Achilles injury, and there's no in-between with the Boston Celtics," Perkins added.
Boston’s roster picture still may not be settled. So far, the Celtics have re-signed Ron Harper Jr. and added Mike Conley and Mitchell Robinson, but the front office has not explained why it made the Brown trade in the first place.
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