Sixers' Persistent Calls To Celtics Led To Jaylen Brown

Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey credits a persistent calling strategy for finally landing Jaylen Brown in a trade with the Boston Celtics. The approach was honed during Gansey's tenure as general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers under owner Dan Gilbert.

Gansey said Gilbert would routinely press his front office staff on whether they had exhausted every possible avenue when pursuing a player. This mindset of dogged follow-up was directly applied to Philadelphia's pursuit of Brown. The Sixers knew they were not Boston's first choice for a trade partner but continued reaching out regardless.

The Long Game Pays Off

"There were some trades that we've done that were two years in the making, simply because we kept calling," Gansey told the source. "We kept checking in, and in the end we came away with that person." Sources indicated the Celtics' initial preferred path involved moving Brown as part of a broader effort to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo. Philadelphia maintained contact throughout this period.

The dynamics shifted when Boston lost out on Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat. Brown's name had already surfaced publicly in trade talks, reaching a point where Boston felt compelled to move him. Even then, sources said Philadelphia viewed itself as a long shot, given the conventional wisdom that Boston would prefer trading an All-NBA player to a Western Conference team rather than a divisional rival.

Seizing The Opportunity

As Brown's trade market softened, the Sixers remained engaged. The franchise ultimately decided not to lose the deal over the inclusion of a Los Angeles Clippers' 2028 first-round pick. Gansey described a process that intensified over a couple of weeks after initial interest was expressed.

"We just kind of stayed in the mix, and the next thing you know, we were at the five-yard line," Gansey said. "We just kept banging the drum and expressing interest." The final agreement delivered the All-Star wing to Philadelphia.

Foundation For A Major Offseason

The acquisition of Brown became the foundational move for the Sixers' subsequent and successful pursuit of LeBron James. This one-two punch has set the stage for what is described as one of the most significant offseasons in the history of the Philadelphia franchise. The entire sequence was triggered by a philosophy of relentless phone calls and a refusal to exit the conversation.