Kendrick Perkins clearly believes Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics should think twice — and maybe three, four or five times — before trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Monday, citing sources, that the Celtics have engaged in conversations with the 76ers regarding Simmons, who has been the subject of trade rumors and has yet to play in a game for Philadelphia this season. Charania said any potential Simmons deal with Boston would have to include Brown.
This didn’t sit well with Perkins, who spent parts of eight seasons with the Celtics (2003-11). The former NBA center-turned-analyst went so far as to call the idea “beyond disturbing” from Boston’s standpoint.
“The thought of trading Jaylen Brown for Ben Simmons is beyond disturbing to me! Philly would definitely be the Winner in that trade. Good morning and Carry the hell on… ,” Perkins tweeted.
Fortunately for Perkins (and those Celtics fans opposed to a Brown-for-Simmons swap), MassLive’s Brian Robb and the Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy since have thrown cold water on Charania’s report.
Multiple league sources told Robb that Boston has no interest in trading Brown in the interim, while a league source told Murphy the report of the C’s discussing a Simmons trade with the Sixers is “untrue.”
The Celtics have struggled to start the 2021-22 NBA season, dropping six of their first 10 games, including Saturday night’s showdown against the Dallas Mavericks on a Luka Doncic buzzer-beater. Something might need to change for Boston to take the next step under first-year head coach Ime Udoka, but it’s hard to imagine the organization flipping Brown for Simmons.
Both players obviously are extremely talented. Serious questions surround Simmons’ motivation, though, while Brown has shown steady improvement since being selected third overall by Boston in 2016. The Celtics’ best course of action, in the end, might be to continue building around Brown and Jayson Tatum, unless another, better opportunity presents itself as Boston finds its way.
