Getty Boston Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum on the court during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Despite the fact that the Chicago Bulls have logged an 8-4 record — and boasted the NBA‘s top defense, conceding just 110.0 points per 100 possessions — since signing Patrick Beverley, huge questions about the team’s long-term future remain.
For all its big moments, the DeMar DeRozan–Zach LaVine-Nikola Vucevic core is a cut below championship quality at best. Meanwhile, the one player who somehow made it all work — point guard Lonzo Ball — may never recover from his ongoing knee problems.
With that being the case, even the most ardent supporters of the Bulls and chief decision-maker Arturas Karnisovas are wondering whether there’s a big move out there to shake things up and give Chicago a real shot at another big-time winner.
To that end, one league executive told Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney that the team could be in the mix for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown during the summer of 2024, assuming he doesn’t sign an extension keeping him in Beantown.
Bulls Could Swoop In on Celtics’ Jaylen Brown in the Event That He Enters Free Agency
Brown opened up a big can of worms when he gave The Ringer’s Logan Murdock a shockingly non-committal answer about spending his career in Boston recently.
“If it’s your whole career, it’s your whole career. If it’s not, it’s not,” Brown said. “Some of the greatest players of all time haven’t finished with their organization. Michael Jordan retired a Wizard.”
Fast-forward to now and an Eastern Conference GM tells Deveney that the Bulls will undoubtedly put their best foot forward in bringing Brown — or another player of his caliber — in when their books are looking cleaner next summer.
“The Bulls are really searching for answers but they’re going to have to wait,” the Eastern Conference GM said. “They’re locked into the team they have but they’re also being protective of that cap space going forward — they’ll have a lot in 2024. They will want to be in the mix on anyone they can get in free agency. [Jaylen] Brown and LaVine, that makes more sense than LaVine and DeRozan.”
In 61 appearances for the Cs this season, Brown has averaged a career-high 26.7 points and 6.9 rebounds to go along with 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals per contest.
Brown Attempted to Soften the Blow of His Recent Comments
While it was Brown’s own words that got the hoops blogosphere talking about his future, the two-time All-Star clearly hasn’t enjoyed the ink he has been getting as a result of making them. So, following the Celtics’ 132-109 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, he attempted to walk them back.
“I feel great, on a 50-win team right now, which you can’t take for granted [the Kings game] was the 50th win,” Brown said, via NBC Sports Boston. “Right now, I’m focused on helping lead my team for another playoff run. In terms of speculation etc., I can’t speculate on anything above what I’m doing right now.
“I think sometimes when people write articles, they get taken out of context at times, especially when writers have agendas or whatever. For me personally, thinking about clarifying things that have been recently said. But other than that, I’m focused on my team. I’m focused on playing basketball and focused on winning games.”
Brown is currently slated to be an unrestricted free agent after next season.