76ers Felt They Were 'Long Shot' in Jaylen Brown Trade Sweepstakes, New NBA Rumors Reveal

The Philadelphia 76ers reportedly doubted their ability to trade for a key piece of their bid to sign LeBron James before all the pieces fell into place earlier this offseason.

The Sixers saw themselves as a "long shot" to acquire Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics before finalizing a trade for him in July, The Athletic's Tony Jones reported Tuesday.

Brown then reportedly played a role in recruiting James to sign a two-year deal with the Sixers later that month.

According to Jones, there was a change in dynamics surrounding Brown's availability when reports surfaced the Celtics had put him on the trade block in a failed bid for former Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Even with those reports seemingly putting pressure on the Celtics to move on from Brown, Jones reported the Sixers saw themselves as an underdog in part because "conventional wisdom" suggested the Western Conference as a more likely landing spot than within the division.

The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski recently reported on CLNS' Celtics Daily the Minnesota Timberwolves had "real discussions" with the Celtics about a potential Brown trade earlier this offseason.

The Wolves instead finalized a deal with the Charlotte Hornets for LaMelo Ball while the Sixers agreed to send Brown to a division rival in exchange for Paul George and four draft picks, including a pair of first-rounders.

Krawczynski reported the Wolves had found the Celtics' asking price for Brown too high and that the team was "happy with the LaMelo fit a little bit more than they would have been with the Jaylen fit."

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said after the Brown trade his team had agreed to the deal because the Sixers' first-rounders represented "two potential premium assets."

Brown is now preparing to make his regular-season Sixers debut Oct. 20 at the New York Knicks before reuniting with Jayson Tatum and the rest of his former teammates in a Nov. 10 matchup against the visiting Celtics.