Getty Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics
As the Boston Celtics have stuttered their way through the first few games of the Eastern Conference Finals, the media has begun to discuss the potential of Boston’s moving on from their current core.
As you would expect, Jaylen Brown‘s name has been floated as the potential casualty should the Celtics decide to make some large-scale changes to their current roster. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who was speaking on a May 22 episode of The Lowe Post podcast, Brown would command significant interest if the Celtics were to make him available for trade.
“There would be robust demand for Jaylen Brown from a lot of teams if Boston ever actually started making or listening or picking up the phone or whatever you do with your phone when you maybe investigate a trade,” Lowe said.
Brown, 26, was recently voted to the 2023 All-NBA second team, making him eligible for a supermax contract as a result – a contract that would see the Georgia native earn roughly $290 million over five years.
Jaylen Brown Calls Out Trade Discussions
When speaking to the media following the Celtics May 23 victory over the Miami Heat, Brown appeared to take a shot at all of the discussions surrounding a potential roster change for the Celtics.
“You start to hear all these stories come out about X Y and Z… 99% of them not true at all.”
Jaylen Brown alludes to reports coming out about the Celtics in the last few days 👀
“Obviously, we underperformed in the last three games, and you start to hear all these stories coming out about X, Y, and Z,” Brown said. “Who knows where they actually come from? And 99 percent of them aren’t true at all. So we wanted to stay together, and I think that was the emphasis last night, was make sure we was on the same page.”
In 17 playoff games so far, Brown is producing 22.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while shooting 50.3% from the field and 37.9% from the perimeter.
Furthermore, the Celtics will need Brown to continue playing at that level if they want to make history by coming back from 3-0 down to win the series and progress to the NBA Finals.
Jimmy Butler Expects Loss to Motivate Heat
During his own post-game press conference, Jimmy Butler noted how Miami’s first home loss of the postseason could galvanize the Heat’s roster and help them close out the series in game five.
“If anything, it’ll build momentum for us knowing that we have to play with a lot more energy. We have to play like our backs are against the wall, but I think all year long, we’ve been better whenever we’ve had to do things our way,” Butler said.
Butler is arguably the star of this years playoffs, having willed the Heat back to the Conference Finals after a tough regular season for the franchise. In 14 postseason games so far, Butler has amassed a statline of 29.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 53.5% from two-point range and 34.8% from deep.
The Celtics will face Miami in game five on Thursday, May 25, where they will be playing in front of their home crowd in the TD Garden – however, anything but a win will abruptly end their season, and the discussions about potentially rebuilding the team’s roster will quickly return.