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The Boston Celtics might not have to deal with Kevin Durant rumors anymore, but that doesn’t mean the entire saga didn’t cause some damage.
Well, that’s what SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell believes at least, as he recently listed the Celtics as one of the league’s biggest losers in the entire Durant fiasco – not because they didn’t acquire him via trade, but because it could have caused irreparable damage between the front office and Jaylen Brown.
“This isn’t the first time Brown has been mentioned in trade rumors, but it has only happened when the Celtics were going superstar hunting for Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, or Durant. It felt a little more real this time, though, especially after Brown was such a critical piece in the NBA Finals…Brown is under contract for two more seasons in Boston, and can then become a free agent. We’ll see if he lost any love for the Celtics after this whole ordeal,” O’Donnell wrote in his August 24 article.
Of course, with two years remaining on his current contract, the Celtics have plenty of time to mend any broken fences and prove to Brown that he can continue to challenge (and potentially win) an NBA championship while playing alongside Jayson Tatum.
Jackie MacMullen Believes Brown Will be Fine
During the heat of the trade rumors, Jackie MacMullen spoke to NBC Sports about whether she believed Brown would have felt insulted by being floated around as a trade piece by the Celtics.
“This bit about ‘Oh no, maybe we’ve upset Jaylen Brown’ – Stop it. Absolutely stop it! He’s an intelligent young man, who should feel complimented that so many people are interested in him. He also needs to understand that Jayson Tatum is the one and only untouchable. Jaylen Brown will be fine going forward if they never pull the trigger on this deal…In the perfect scenario, the Celtics extend Jaylen Brown for the max that they can extend him when the time comes, and they move forward with the nucleus they’ve built,” MacMullan said.
Hopefully, MacMullen is right, and Brown has seen this entire saga as nothing more than a major compliment – after all, the Celtics were discussing a deal for one of the best players on the planet, and it was Brown who was seen as the perfect trade piece to get the deal done.
Brad Stevens Feels an Open Dialogue is Best
When it comes to ensuring Brown remains content in his current situation, nobody has more influence than President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens. When it comes to contract negotiations, Stevens will be the one sitting on the opposite end of the table, so it’s in every bodies interest that both he and Brown continue to have a productive working relationship.
In an August 23 appearance on WEEI, Stevens discussed how he’s handled the entire Kevin Durant and Brooklyn Nets situation – and it all started by keeping an open dialogue with one of his franchise’s best players.
“Jaylen’s been through this from the standpoint … the noise has been around him for a long time — and big names, right? — over the years,” Stevens said.
It would seem that Stevens is of a similar train of thought to MacMullen, in that Brown has only ever been discussed in trade packages for a superstar – and hopefully, the Georgia native can see that is nothing other than a compliment to his growing skill set.
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