CAMBRIDGE — Jaylen Brown is now the longest-tenured member of the Celtics after Marcus Smart was traded away last month.
That distinction along with a new five-year supermax extension will carry plenty of pressure for the All-Star guard entering next season. Amid the positive vibes of Brown’s contract extension signing at MIT on Wednesday afternoon, there was some reflection about some of the big changes awaiting Brown and the Celtics next season, including the absence of Smart on the roster.
“Definitely a lot of big changes,” Brown said. “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.
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“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. 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.”
The Celtics were able to bring aboard Kristaps Porzingis and a pair of first-round picks in exchange for a three-team deal that sent Smart to the Grizzlies. The shift in personnel should raise the Celtics offensive upside as they look to get back towards the NBA Finals. However, Brown is focused on maintaining the identity that Smart helped create in Boston over the past nine years.
“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.”
