Life’s a Mitch!

How the Celtics are devastating their fanbase one deal at a time

Hey Morning Squad,

I’d like to begin with some greetings…

• For those of you who are here for the trading of our beloved Celtic Jaylen Brown, welcome.

• For those of you who are here for the signing of former Knicks Center Mitch Robinson, welcome.

• For the Philly fans who are here to collect your vials of Celtic tears, welcome.

• And for those of you here for the chaos—please take your seat at the front.

As most of you know, 29-year-old, Finals MVP and NBA Champion Jaylen Brown has been traded to the rival Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a 36-year-old injury-prone Paul George and 4 draft picks.

This news was so big it took the front page on ESPN while the WORLD CUP is going on, complete with a terrible AI image of Jaylen for the cover.

This trade really was the icing on what had already been a series of baffling moves by the Celtics. Signing a 38-year-old point guard (Mike Conley), a center that can’t shoot free throws (Mitch Robinson), but this one….

Look, I’ll dive into all the Celtics’ off-season moves in more detail on the CelticsHub. As a Celtics fan, I’m still trying to put the pieces together.

But today we have to talk about this Blockbuster trade. This isn’t just an NBA transaction; it feels personal.

Some Quick Background

This past year, Jaylen Brown carried the Celtics to the #2 seed, while his co-star recovered from a devastating injury. No one saw that coming. But in the playoffs, the Celtics lost in 7 games in the first round—also something we didn’t see coming.

After the season, it was clear the team needed to improve. However, Brown said this was his favorite year ever. He finished 6th in MVP voting and took a huge leadership role. But almost as quickly, the rumors began flying about him being traded.

This has become normal. Brown has been in trade rumors for each of the past 5 years.

But Shams reported early on July 1st shared that Brown had not requested a trade, and yet here we are.

And he wasn’t just traded, but traded to a rival.

My Reaction when I heard the news

I cannot begin to express how deeply shocked and saddened the Celtics community is by this trade.

Jaylen was the longest tenured Celtic still on the team. He was drafted by Boston in 2016 and spent his whole career embracing, celebrating, and ingratiating himself in the community.

He has taught at MIT, he’s done philanthropic work in the city, and he was embraced by legends like Bill Russell and reflected the brand of blue-collar toughness the Celtics have been known for.

And now his era in Boston has come to an end. After leading his team to the #2 seed, without Jayson Tatum. And after losing to this very Sixers squad, which defeated them in 7 games.

…oh wait, here come the tears….

I’m sorry, Jaylen Brown meant so much to the Celtics and provided us a memorable season when most fans thought there would be nothing worth rooting for.

We thought this would be a gap year, but he carried this team night after night and made many of us proud of the Celtics' never-quit attitude. He led young players who had never played major minutes and helped them become household names.

And now…he’s just gone.

When the trade was announced, I hopped online and began ranting about this…and I wasn’t alone.

Here’s what other fans and media have been yelling to anyone who would listen….

What happened after the trade

I joined other hoops fans on the NBA BIT YouTube stream as the chat flooded with what was ultimately the same opinion…

This was a bad trade!!!

Perhaps Brad Stevens, the GM for Boston, will be proven a genius sometime in 2030-something, but as of right now, I’m asking myself…

“Does Nico Harrison have a twin?”

For those of you who don’t know, Nico Harrison was the infamous GM who traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers for the older, more injury-prone Anthony Davis.

Does this sound familiar?

I’m not the only person who believes that this trade is as bad as the Luka trade. Worst, many believe the Celtics ownership, which is primarily a private equity group, is influencing these types of decisions.

And just like that, the Celtics have bolstered an opponent in their own conference, decreasing their own odds all on the backs of their own talented player. Now the Sixers starting lineup….Ughh, I’m getting nauseous even typing this…

But Philly’s starting lineup will include…

• Tyrese Maxey

• VJ Edgecombe

• Jaylen Brown

• Joel Embiid

And that might not be it.

This is a squad that could give teams like the NBA Champion Knicks some trouble. Meanwhile, the Celtics hope to be in the top 8 next season. Putting so much pressure on Jayson Tatum, hoping that he has no setbacks in his recovery.

I’m wondering what’s going on in his mind right now.

So What’s Next

As for me and most Celtics fans, we're still wrapping our minds around this.

Patiently waiting for the PR spin from the Celtics, the leaked reports from the news outlets, and the off-the-record comments from a player/executive from the Celtics.

We all know it’s coming. JB slander is on its way.

But I don’t care what gets said. Aside from him doing anything immoral or unethical, JB is a Celtic for life to me. He’s meant too much for the franchise.

Even if he, behind the scenes, demanded a trade, Celtics faithful would understand. As great as he’s been, he’s always been the piece the Celtics have been too open to trade.

Never once has Tatum been a serious consideration to be traded.

And I’m going to say this, and those who understand will…Jaylen Brown is a proud man.

If he demanded a trade after 5 years of constant trade rumors, even after he’d won at the highest level and elevated a young team, Celtics fans will understand.

So to all my Philly friends, you got a good one. Not gonna lie, I’ll be watching your games.

To the Knicks fans, I know you lost a fan staple in Mitch Robinson. He was a big part of your run, but I’m sure you’ll be fine. But if you are upset, make sure you hack him on the way out.

To the chaos lovers…Hope you tune in to Celtics content all summer. Apparently, that’s our social media strategy going forward.

So much is going on in the NBA.

As my fellow Substacker and Celtics fan, Lindsay Burke always says, the NBA is the No Blinking Association, so stay tuned.

We still have to find out where LeBron’s going…

Sleep with one eye open, ya’ll.

Have a great weekend, everyone!