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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Jeff Smith

Brad Stevens ‘Secretly Happy’ Jayson Tatum's Pitch to Damian Lillard Didn’t Work, says Reporter

It’s always enticing when the idea of two or three NBA superstars teaming up gets tossed around. But more often than not, it’s either unrealistic, nearly impossible, or highly improbable. Prior to the Celtics signing Jaylen Brown to a record five-year, $304 million contract extension, they could have been a potential landing spot for Damian Lillard.

But after Brown’s new contract? The outlook on a possible Lillard trade went from very unlikely to almost impossible. After signing the extension, Boston can’t trade Brown for a full year, and as John Karalis of the Boston Sports Journal suggested, he believes Celtics president Brad Stevens is “secretly happy” that Jayson Tatum reaching out to Damian Lillard didn’t result in anything.

I bet Brad Stevens is secretly happy that Jayson Tatum’s recruitment of Damian Lillard didn’t work. How the hell was he going to match a $45 million salary with anything better than Miami without including Jaylen Brown?

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