Marc Bertrand took Brad Stevens to task on Tuesday, questioning whether the Boston Celtics GM has been as sharp as his reputation suggests in the handling of Jaylen Brown. On Zolak & Bertrand, Bertrand asked, “Is Brad Stevens not as good a GM as everyone believed?” and then sharpened the criticism by saying, “Brad Stevens is not as good at his job as we thought he was.”
The timing matters because the criticism landed while the Celtics reportedly remain committed to trading Brown, turning a routine offseason debate into a public challenge to Stevens’ judgment. Stevens has long been viewed as one of the NBA’s better general managers, the kind of executive credited with shrewd deals and keeping the Celtics in contention for championships, which is why the pushback from a local radio host landed with more force than a passing complaint.
Bertrand’s point was not just that a move has not worked out. It was that the person making the calls may have been overrated all along. That is a sharper accusation than frustration over one transaction, because it goes after the standard by which Stevens has been judged for years. In that sense, the criticism was aimed at the entire arc of how the Celtics have handled Brown, not only the latest decision around him.
Still, the picture is not closed. There is plenty of time for Stevens to trade Brown for a hefty return or to repair the relationship if that is the path the Celtics choose. But Tuesday’s comments made the question harder to ignore: if Brown is moved, will it be seen as another example of Stevens’ touch, or as the moment one of the NBA’s most respected GMs was finally judged by a more unforgiving standard?
