It’s Year 7 of the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown partnership, but this season has a bit more oomph than the last six.
Not only has President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens given the Jays the keys to the kingdom, he’s effectively rid the Celtics of any potential pretenders to the throne narrative. Marcus Smart was a Celtics icon and Grant Williams, Robert Williams, and Malcolm Brogdon were valued contributors. They’re gone, and now the buck stops with JB and JT.
Even so, Jaylen made sure to emphasize that he would always be grateful that he got to play with the players the team lost in order to reload the roster—referring specifically to Smart and Williams III, two players he had spent nearly his whole career with.