One Team’s GM Admitted Their Offer for Jaylen Brown Wasn’t Good Enough

The Jaylen Brown trade is still weird. We know that. But what we didn’t know until now is that at least one team that tried to get him is kicking themselves for not trying harder.

According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, a front office executive from a team that made an offer for Brown told him they were honestly stunned when the deal went down. Not because the Celtics got too much. The opposite, actually. They were shocked because they realized their own offer was weak.

Brown landed with the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George and future draft picks. That package got it done. And apparently a few other teams thought they could have topped it if they’d just offered more.

Mannix said the exec told him: “Talked to one team that absolutely made an offer for Jaylen Brown to Boston, a good team. I talked to them after the deal was consummated with Philadelphia and they were stunned. Mostly because they knew their offer wasn’t very good.”

So which team was it? Nobody’s saying. But the Charlotte Hornets were one of the known bidders, and their offer reportedly fell short. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported that Charlotte threw together a package that included Miles Bridges (before he got shipped to Phoenix), Naz Reid, and some draft capital. The Celtics shot that down. Boston wanted Brandon Miller and more than three first-round picks. The Hornets weren’t going that far, so they moved on — sending Bridges to the Suns and fielding calls on Reid from other teams.

Was Charlotte the team that admitted their offer stunk? Could be. But there were definitely other teams circling. The Celtics had leverage and they used it.

The real question now is whether Boston can actually justify moving Brown. Paul George is 34, and he’s had his share of injury issues. Brown is 27 and just entering his prime. If the Celtics don’t win big this season, this trade is going to look like a short-sighted gamble. But if it works — if George stays healthy and the picks turn into something useful — people will remember it differently.

For now, the trade is a bet on the present over the future. And one anonymous GM is probably still sitting in their office wondering why they didn’t push a little harder.