If this is how it ends — the shock over its suddenness and the divisiveness already emerging between fans ahead of the seemingly inevitable Jaylen Brown trade this summer could spark decades of debate.
Some of that could become resolved with answers in the near and long-term. But for now we’re left with: why?
A Jaylen Brown-for-Giannis Antetokounmpo swap, while itself an agonizing decision, would’ve at least garnered some understanding and patience from fans. Let’s see how it goes. For the die-hard
Celtics fans, no Brown departure would come without enormous pain. For those more focused on the team’s success and appreciating Antetokounmpo’s all-time credentials, a trade would’ve symbolized new hope after a disappointing playoff loss.
But Giannis never came and, by most accounts, Brown will still leave this offseason. Brad Stevens, at times, spoke in the past tense about his gratitude toward the superstar he coached and helped develop from 2016-2021. When asked if Brown will be on the team next fall, Stevens left the door open to anything happening. And since, reports of the Celtics and numerous teams engaging in trade talks followed with limited push-back from the team. Brian Windhorst went as far as to state it plainly: the Celtics will trade Brown this offs.
“Jaylen Brown is a big part of us,” Stevens said last week. “The one thing I want to make very clear is how valued he’s always been. He’s been amazing. He’s been an amazing teammate. Great person to be around. Whether that run ends 10 years from now when he retires or before, there’s a lot to celebrate. We have a great relationship and an open relationship where we talk about everything. But I don’t want to predict the future.”
It’s unclear for what, exactly. As of Sunday, Michael Scotto cited the Nets, Blazers, Nuggets, Clippers, Hornets, Hornets and Hawks as teams that expressed interest. Many moved on. The Timberwolves and Celtics reportedly discussed a deal that would’ve sent Naz Reid and Rudy Gobert to Boston. Minnesota went with LaMelo Ball. Shams Charania pointed toward a Portland team I’ve also heard has had interest in Brown going back to the first Damian Lillard era there. Yet MassLive indicated Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan are off the table, to varying degrees. The Cavs haven’t shown interest in the Evan Mobley swap that Chris Mannix proposed.
Really? Jaylen’s available and the Celtics can’t dream of Clingan, Reid, or a Jalen Duren sign-and-trade? And Boston, given that market, hasn’t settled on simply retaining Brown with three years left on his contract?
We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, and it’s clear the Antetokounmpo letdown and the perception of a disgruntled Brown following his near-ousting opened the floodgates of suitors hoping to land him for a minimal price. The Celtics counteracted that with their demand of four first-rounders, conveyed by Charania. Even if they land that, however, it’s hard to imagine the Celtics standing in a better position today with the players discussed and attainable in all these hypothetical deals. I thought someone put it well last week — Brown and Tatum have at least a punter’s chance at a title in this parity era. The returns we’re talking about would give Boston no chance.
Yet, again, we haven’t heard strong indication that Boston could simply settle to reuniting Brown and Tatum for 2026-27, a combination Stevens has long believed gives the Celtics a shot. Beyond that, Brown’s efficiency scoring inside the arc and getting to the free throw line more often would fit into Stevens’ desire to see more rim pressure from his offense.
The roster around them certainly deteriorated in recent years, to the point where Brown and Derrick White are the only paths to upgrading, or acquiring the assets to do so in the near future. That’s where the team deserves some criticism for a string of roster moves aimed at recovering the maximum salary and luxury tax relief, rather than the best basketball return. The Celtics have nothing to show for Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday and Anfernee Simons, while Al Horford and Luke Kornet left in free agency.
Brown becoming the best option left to upgrade isn’t a good reason to trade him.
That’s where the Celtics stand, in a bad position of leverage despite Brown’s heroics in 2025-26. His MVP-caliber season should have positioned him at the peak of his value, whether to Boston or others. Nobody appears fixated on building around him. His exorbitant contract and new restrictive cap penalties certainly play a role in that. Even Antetokounmpo didn’t return one of the league’s most promising young players, depending on your feelings about Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakučionis. Teams don’t want to move cost-controlled ascending players who could become stars in the near future. Especially with extension talks opening for Brown on July 26, potentially worth two-years and more than $140 million beginning in his mid-30s.
That’s a possible factor here, especially if the Celtics want to get ahead of that. ClutchPoints reported last week that Brown did not ask out of Boston, and Brown’s made no indication as much through limited-to-no commentary throughout the saga. In fact, shortly after the Celtics lost in the playoffs, Brown expressed a desire to play in Boston for the next decade. He’s made his love for the city known. Though, it’s certainly possible that all sides, through the candid talks between Brown, his agent and Boston last week, reached the conclusion of a break-up as the best path forward. That would tie together some of the questions we have regarding how this unfolded.
Many still wonder why, according to reports, Hugo González, Baylor Scheierman and more first-round picks became the hang-up in an Antetokounmpo deal. That headline put all of the team’s young players in a difficult position following promising steps in their careers. Could Boston at least have parted with some of them, especially knowing what uncertainty would follow with Brown? They also could’ve never entered Antetokounmpo talks knowing that Milwaukee could ask for that much.
If the Celtics simply pursued Antetokounmpo as one of numerous outlets to just move on from Brown, not additional players, that outcome becomes more understandable. It’s unclear, in that case, how they didn’t have alternative Brown trades prepared.
The Celtics might have misjudged Brown’s market, at least relative to their perceived value of him. And thus the increasingly toxic conversation surrounding him reached a new high following Bobby Marks’ note of where one analytics guy ranked Brown. Perhaps that debate yesterday, and the struggle to find value for Brown, serves as some reminder that Brown’s skillset, however flawed, might fit the Boston Celtics best. Through his ability to share responsibilities with Tatum, the knowledge of Boston’s staff to get the best out of him and his own motivation that he’s admitted has stemmed, in part, from slights he’s felt right within the building.
This could be the next one in an everlasting cycle if no trade pans out this offseason, certainly a possibility if low-ball offers continue. Still, this feels different from past Brown trade sagas. The Celtics, at least according to the reporting, have moved with more urgency to find the next possible destination than they have to indicate that they’re focused on moving forward in tandem with Brown. Of course, they might’ve already decided they’re past that point, which would leave a Brown departure all the more hard to swallow. And difficult to understand.
The question we’ll all ask, regardless of the outcome into July: how did it get to this point with one of the greatest players in franchise history? From Finals MVP to proof of performance as a top option to the centerpiece of an Antetokounmpo trade to … bring back whatever the best combination of future assets is?
I’ve never been more perplexed across my years covering this franchise.
“I’ll always keep our conversations private,” Stevens said. “Regardless of what the content of those conversations are like. I don’t love the fact anytime it’s a big public thing. As you know, we try to keep things as close the vest and quiet as possible, at the same time, knowing that the rumor mill is the rumor mill, and there is going to be a lot of noise out there. That’s why you also try to meet and be as upfront as possible. I can’t say enough good things about Jaylen, but I certainly am empathetic toward what that’s probably felt like.”
