Rich Paul has seen this movie before. And he doesn’t want the Boston Celtics to hit rewind.
The super-agent, who represents both LeBron James and Jayson Tatum, urged the Celtics front office to think long and hard before splitting up the Tatum-Jaylen Brown duo. On the “Game Over” podcast, Paul pointed to LeBron’s final season in Cleveland as a cautionary tale — specifically the trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston.
“I seen the effect that it had on LeBron when Kyrie was traded,” Paul said. “It’s only a problem because you don’t sit down and communicate. How can it be a problem when you making $300 million, and I’m making $300 million? What’s the problem? What color is your AMEX? Same color as mine. How the hell can it be a problem?”
The message was clear: two All-Stars making max money have no reason to demand a breakup unless ego gets in the way of a conversation. Brown and Tatum just won a championship together. They are both in their primes. And Paul thinks that should be the end of the discussion.
“Are you crazy? Do you know how hard it is to find a Jaylen Brown?” Paul added. “He’s not in this draft. He’s not in next year’s draft. He wasn’t in last year’s draft. It’s so difficult to find guys that compete and produce at the level that these guys do. Do you know how hard it is to win a championship? Just to get there.”
Brown averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists last season while shooting 46.7% from the field. He came off arguably the best year of his career, and the Celtics have two more seasons before either player’s supermax extension starts to get complicated. Paul believes the Celtics should see that as an opportunity, not a window to panic.
What about Giannis?
All of this comes as the Celtics reportedly ramp up interest in Giannis Antetokounmpo. According to Bucks reporter Gery Woelfel, Boston has “intensified” its efforts to land the two-time MVP — and the Celtics might be more willing to include Brown in a trade than earlier reports suggested.
“I was told a short time ago the Celtics have intensified their efforts to land Antetokounmpo,” Woelfel reported. “The source declined to get into the details. Another league source said he was told the Celtics were more receptive to moving star Jaylen Brown, although it’s unlikely he would wind up in Milwaukee but rather with a third team.”
Miami is still considered the frontrunner for Antetokounmpo, but Boston’s interest — and willingness to part with Brown — puts the rumor mill on notice. The draft is Tuesday, and that’s where the Bucks are expected to make a move.
But Paul’s warning is the kind of thing front offices ignore at their own risk. Trading a 27-year-old All-NBA wing for an older superstar, even one as dominant as Antetokounmpo, is a gamble. The Celtics already have the chemistry. They already have the ring. Breaking that up without a conversation would be, in Paul’s world, a mistake you can’t undo.
Leave a Comment