Most of the conversation around the Celtics trading Jaylen Brown to the 76ers has been about cap sheets and roster construction. But Derrick White kept it human.
White was in Las Vegas for Summer League on Friday when he shared what he told Brown after the deal went down. It wasn’t about basketball. It was a thank you.
“I reached out to JB, tell him, ‘Thank you for everything you did for me and just know how much you mean to me,’” White said, via CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell.
White arrived in Boston in February 2022, and Brown was already established as the team’s two-way engine. White was the complementary piece, the guy who could guard three positions and hit a corner three. But Brown’s presence — the work ethic, the playoff intensity — helped push White into the starting lineup full-time during the 2022-23 season. By the time the Celtics won it all in 2024, White was a core part of that rotation.
So yeah, the trade stings on a personal level. But the Celtics front office saw the math. The second apron restrictions made it nearly impossible to keep this group together long-term. Brown’s max extension would have locked Boston into a tax hell that even the league’s richest ownership group wasn’t willing to stomach. So they moved him to Philly, of all places, and took back a package of picks and expiring contracts.
Is Boston worse now? Probably. But not dead. White is still one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and the Celtics still have Jayson Tatum — assuming he returns to the form everyone expects after last season’s dip. The supporting cast is thinner, but the system Brad Stevens built doesn’t disappear overnight.
And for what it’s worth, White doesn’t sound bitter. He sounds grateful. That’s rare in a business that usually leaves players feeling used up and shipped out.
Brown starts fresh in Philadelphia, where the pressure to win is immediate. Embiid isn’t getting any younger, and the Sixers have been one bounce away from disaster for years. Meanwhile, White will keep doing what he does — defending at an elite level, hitting timely shots, and being the kind of teammate who sends a text when the game moves on.
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