The Boston Celtics answered questions about trading Jaylen Brown for the first time on Monday, July 6.

Last week, on Wednesday, July 1, the Celtics traded Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. In exchange, they received Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.

President of basketball operations Brad Stevens and majority governor Bill Chisholm spoke publicly during a 45-minute question-and-answer session with reporters at the Auerbach Center, just hours after the NBA league office made the trade official.

Stevens explained his rationale for the deal, and Chisholm discussed the ownership group’s involvement in the decision.​

Here’s the latest from the Celtics’ front office on questions surrounding roster construction and spending.

Brad Stevens’ Team Decided to Trade Jaylen Brown

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the Celtics’ decision to trade Brown was: whose idea was it?

According to Stevens and Chisholm’s answers, Boston’s regular decision-makers were responsible for deciding that it was Brown’s time to go.

“Brad and his team came with a recommendation; this is the way we’re gonna win,” Chisholm explained on Monday. “I looked at it, and I had the same reaction; I was like ‘wow.’ This is the fan in me, like really tough.”

Chisholm said the package was hard for him to stomach at first, but he eventually came around to it.

“We came to the conclusion; they convinced me that this is the best way for us to win. I got there, but it was hard. It was really hard.”

DuringChisholm’s introductory press conference as governor back in August 2025, following the finalization of the Celtics’ $6.1 billion sale to Chisholm’s investor group, he expressed faith in Boston’s front office infrastructure and even referenced a “new owner curse” as a reason that he wanted to leave basketball decisions to Stevens and his team.

“The way the decisions have been made here to date, that’s what you’re going to see going forward as well,” Chisholm said in the press conference last August. “Those basketball decisions — Brad [Stevens] is driving that.”

The Celtics are still Stevens’ franchise, at least as far as they are willing to let the public know. So what was his motivation for trading Brown?

Why Did the Celtics Trade Jaylen Brown?

When Stevens was asked about whether he believed in Brown and Jayson Tatum as a championship duo during hisexit interview in April, he responded “yes” before the question was over.

As he watched the NBA playoffs unfold from there and watched their rival, the New York Knicks, win the 2026 Finals, Stevens admitted to reflecting on Boston’s path back to championship aspirations.

“When I looked at our team, looked at where the league is heading, looked at the way we’ve finished the past couple of years, and also looked at the unbelievable way we’ve played in the regular season the past couple of years, the path looked more difficult to me with 70 percent of our cap and such a high percentage of our usage tied into two players.”

Stevens later noted that when Boston won the 2024 NBA Finals, Tatum and Brown accounted for only 47 percent of the salary cap.

George will cost only $3.6 million less than Brown for 2026-27. However, should George pick up his $56.6 million player option for 2027-28, as he is expected to, he will be an expensive, expiring contract that Boston could package with picks to go big-game hunting for top targets.

Stevens made clear he does not want Brown and George compared one-to-one as players. Instead, he believes George can be an impactful player for them in a complementary role, helping them remain competitive next season while adding two potential high-value draft picks.

While Stevens’ explanation of his thought process was insightful into the basketball reasons the Celtics settled on the trade they executed, Chisholm’s comments are the most relevant to answering the Boston fanbase’s biggest questions about how ownership is conducting business.

Ownership Distrust in Boston

Chisholm and his investment group inherit a Boston fanbase that does not give ownership the benefit of the doubt.

Years of skepticism surrounding the Red Sox and Bruins have left many fans questioning whether ownership groups are truly willing to prioritize championships over ownership spending. Similar concerns have followed the Celtics since Chisholm’s group agreed to purchase the franchise, particularly given the involvement of the private equity firm Sixth Street Partners LLC. There is a fear among fans that the firm could hold leverage over Chisholm, Stevens, and the Celtics if they try to outspend a theoretical budget.

Asked whether Boston’s trades of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and now Brown were primarily salary dumps, Chisholm rejected that characterization, insisting each move was made for basketball reasons and with the franchise’s long-term championship outlook in mind.

“I don’t agree with the premise that they were salary-based,” Chisholm said. “Every decision that was made prior was a basketball decision. We would’ve gutted the team for the future had we not done those things. The second apron is real. Those were not about money; those were basketball decisions. I put this one in the same category as well.”

More importantly, Chisholm acknowledged that words alone won’t convince fans.

“I know there’s some people who feel like, ‘Oh, there must be a smoking gun somewhere on the money,’ but that’s just not what this is about,” Chisholm said. “I can say it, and I’ll keep saying it, but I’ll also prove it to you when the time comes… It’s fine to keep asking the question, because I know we have to prove it, and we will.”

Bill Chisholm Says “The Mandate Is To Win” From Ownership

Trading the No. 1 player in regular season and postseason wins since entering the league is not a typical win-now move. However, Chisholm holds that winning championships remains the Celtics’ top priority.

“This was all about trying to win. I think trusting our process — I think we have the best front office in the NBA,” Chisholm said. “They put in their work, and they came to the conclusion that this is the best way for us to win. That’s the mandate: to win. We’ll spend whatever it takes to do that.”

As the Celtics have navigated the current CBA, which has required roster deconstruction, the front office has maintained that winning championships is still their guiding principle.

Last August, Chisholm explained what his directive to Stevens is regarding championship contention.

“My high-level direction to Brad and the team is: let’s do whatever we can to win championships and raise banners, and raise as many as we can in the near term, but also in the medium- to long-term as well. The flexibility that Brad talks about is paramount to doing that.”

The Jury Is Still Out on Celtics Ownership

There are still significant questions surrounding the Celtics’ long-term direction. Chisholm and his ownership group have outlined their philosophy, but the decisions that follow will ultimately determine whether fans believe it.

Bill Chisholm couldn’t have expected to win fans over on Monday, either on the ownership group or on the Brown deal. He used the opportunity to touch base with fans, and he still intends to earn their trust.

If future opportunities to improve the roster are met with the spending that Chisholm says the Celtics’ ownership has no problem doing, his words from Monday’s press conference will prove true about ownership’s commitment. If they aren’t, it will be remembered as a public-relations cover-up rather than the truth.

Two years is simply not a large enough sample size to draw conclusions about how the Celtics’ new ownership group plans to act.

For now, Chisholm has said what fans want to hear if the Celtics are serious about putting together the best possible championship contender in the near future. The next few years will determine whether they can believe him.

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