Zach Lowe argued Jaylen Brown's salary was at least 50% of the reason for his trade, while Bill Simmons attributed 45% to the contract and 40% to self-awareness issues.
Snapshot · The Bill Simmons Podcast
Zach Lowe argued Jaylen Brown's salary was at least 50% of the reason for his trade, while Bill Simmons attributed 45% to the contract and 40% to self-awareness issues.
Where this was said
At 43:03 · chapter starts 34:04
A listener question asking whether the Jaylen Brown trade belongs on the Mount Rushmore of malpractice deals opens Simmons' best list segment of the episode. The definitive 'oh no' trades: the Luka Doncic trade (the clear number one, 'different species of horrible'), Barkley to Phoenix for Hornacek, Lang, and Tim Perry ('immediately calling Joe House'), Harden to Houston, Philadelphia trading the 1986 number 1 pick for Roy Hinson and $750,000, Portland dealing Moses Malone for $232,000 and one pick only for Buffalo to flip him for two number 1s six days later, and the Utah Jazz trading the 1982 number 3 pick (Dominique Wilkins) for John Drew and $750,000. Zach Lowe correctly notes the Jaylen Brown trade isn't comparable to the Luka deal in magnitude. Conspiracy Bill gets multiple entries: the Kawhi-to-Toronto theory (Adam Silver secretly orchestrating the trade to punish the Clippers' Aspiration scheme involvement), and the idea that Ballmer buying the Seahawks and selling the Clippers would provide cover for a quiet punishment. Listeners also get the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding fake-out, the Brad Stevens Godfather Part III analogy, and a very credible theory about Celtics clearing space for Cooper Flagg in 2028.
Bill Simmons revealed he was coming out of anesthesia when his wife broke the Jaylen Brown trade news to him. He literally could not process it. Zach Lowe adds that multiple NBA executives called him that day asking 'Is Bill okay?' — and their reactions upon finding out where Simmons was were described as the most gleeful laughing he'd ever heard from grizzled veteran league men.
The Celtics went on a run to win 56 games in the 2024-25 regular season despite a shaky start, which makes the decision to trade Jaylen Brown even more debated.
Simmons puts Jaylen Brown's blame pie at 45% salary, 40% self-awareness and role questions, and the rest on analytics. Lowe goes higher on contract — at least 50%. The on-off metrics don't tell the full story when a player carries 37-minute loads, guards the best player every night, and plays hurt all season.
Zach Lowe estimated Jamal Murray's salary at approximately $50-57 million per year, raising the question of whether Denver would face similar trade-value concerns as Boston did with Jaylen Brown.
Paul George has made 8 All-Star teams and averaged 21-6-4 for his career with 39% from three, a resume Bill Simmons tried to use to justify the Celtics' trade.
Erling Haaland is the first striker Bill Simmons has ever watched who genuinely reminds him of a dominant basketball big man. Early '90s Shaq on bodies, Hakeem on footwork, young Shawn Kemp on headers — and then the Michael Myers post-goal face. He is making Norway a tournament dark horse.
The speaker built his audience over 3 years of consistent content creation before launching any product.
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Algrow added exactly 480 new paying customers in its most recent month, demonstrating strong ongoing growth.
Sam's Stripe dashboard showed over £10,000 in revenue in the last four weeks, equivalent to roughly $13,000–$14,000 USD.
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