Jaylen Brown on Marcus Smart trade: ‘Change isn’t always a bad thing’
It has only been a few weeks since the Boston Celtics traded away Marcus Smart, and the effects are starting to kick in. Superstar guard Jaylen Brown has finally come out of the shadows and sounded off on the trade of his former teammate.
As most NBA fans know, the Boston Celtics turned their city upside down when trading for Kristaps Porzingis. Not only fans, teammates, but even Smart felt the effects of leaving the city he once ruled. Now with Smart’s defensive skillset and energy, Brown and other Celtics will need to step up to make this team work.
“Definitely a lot of big changes,” Brown said, according to Mass Live. “Change is not always a bad thing. My brother and my teammate and one of my best friends is not on the team anymore. Everybody knows it. I learned so much from Marcus.
“Marcus has been somebody that’s, like, we butted heads at times, we fought, we did it all, we put each other in headlocks, etc. The journey won’t feel the same without him to be honest,” Brown added. “But it’s a part of life, it’s a part of what you do going forward and everything he’s instilled into this organization, everything he’s instilled into this community is still going to be with us, still carried with us. So we’re going to wish him well on his new journey. Obviously the city of Boston is going to feel the loss of his impact when he’s no longer here but we’ll be able to keep moving forward.”
For nine years, Smart was the motor behind the Celtics’ presence on the court. Without him will be a challenge, especially since one of the biggest things that the Celtics lacked for the past few seasons is leadership outside of Smart.
When the Celtics were down in big games, it seemed like they would give up. In their NBA Finals run two years ago, they fought back, but when that lead was taken away from them, they would just give up. Even last postseason, it happened too. Jayson Tatum seemed almost bored or uninterested when they were down by so much against the Miami Heat.
“I think what Kristaps can bring to us defensively and the additions some of our other guys can bring to us defensively,” Brown said. “I want to make sure that’s where we hang our hats this year and that starts with me, that starts with Jayson, that starts with guys, Rob. With Marcus gone, we don’t want our defensive identity to go out the door as well, so we have to really emphasize that at the start of training camp.”
Now with Porzingis on their team, the Celtics carry one of the best defensive front courts in the NBA. Robert Williams III is already one of the best, if not, the best shot blocker in the NBA. Add Porzingis, a big who can stretch the floor, game over. Maybe trading away Smart might not have been a complete blunder after all.
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