Brad Stevens has addressed the fallout from one of the biggest trades of the NBA offseason, publicly apologizing to Jaylen Brown after the former Celtics star said he felt disrespected during the process that ultimately sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers.If he feels that way, then Im sorry about that, Stevens said speaking to reporters in Boston on Monday. I am, genuinely, because hes a meaningful person in all of our lives and certainly mine. We had a lot of open discussions about here or elsewhere. And even I would say he and at least his agent were well aware of even teams that had the most cursory interest. So at least that was well-communicated or at least communicated. And so we tried to do that to the best of our abilities. As things get further down the line, its complicated to ultimately get it over the finish line with any deal. But Im sorry that he feels that way.Brown shared his side of the story during a recent Twitch stream, saying the communication broke down as trade talks intensified.The message was received, Brown said. I wasnt thrilled with the amount of respect that was shown throughout this process. I think there was a bit of lack of respect. I think it was fine at one point, then out of nowhere, things just went left. I think Brad (Stevens) is getting a lot of the criticism. I wasnt thrilled with the way he facilitated some of the conversations.Still, Stevens admitted the emotional side of the decision weighed heavily on him throughout negotiations.Related Article: Austin Reaves Eyes Lakers Title Push After Securing Max ContractI told him that if we were to ever trade Jaylen, that would be a really sad day for me personally, Stevens said. The emotions that all of us have felt and the consternation that weve all felt have been tied a lot less to the moments of highlights in a game. But a lot more of meaningfulness to fans, meaningfulness to the people in our building and just a meaningfulness of relationships.READ MORE: Draymond Green on LeBron James Impact Beyond Basketball
