Boston Celtics All-Star wing Jaylen Brown is motivated to return stronger next season after watching the New York Knicks capture the championship.
While reacting to the news of the Knicks winning the NBA title, Brown corrected the misconception that he reached his peak as a basketball player in the 2025-26 season, when he finished sixth in the MVP ballot and earned an All-NBA Second Team nod.
“Now we back to work…A lot of people think they’ve seen the best version of me. You stand corrected,” he said, via ClutchPoints’ Daniel Donabedian.
“You have not seen the best version of Jaylen Brown.”
Jaylen Brown Had Eyes on Knicks
In the lead-up to the playoffs, Brown said he and the Celtics were determined to avenge their loss to the Knicks in last year’s postseason.
“I said it felt like death to blow two 20-point leads,” Brown said in April while reflecting on the Celtics blowing big leads in Games 1 and 2 vs. the Knicks in 2025.
“This story’s a different year, we might match up with the Knicks again and we gotta be ready to slide…You gotta spin the block, you know what I mean? You gotta run it back. I’m lookin forward to the ‘Offs.”
The Knicks and Celtics were on a second-round collision course after Brown’s comments. While the Knicks kept their end of the bargain, the C’s were shockingly ousted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round after they blew a 3-1 series lead.
Will Celtics Trade Jaylen Brown?
Brown’s comments come at an interesting time, amid rumors that the Celtics could potentially pull off a trade for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as early as next week. The C’s could reportedly make the drastic call of trading Brown.
“From what I heard, they [Celtics] made an offer in the past week, a couple days before I mentioned it on Thursday,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons reported over the weekend.
“I think Boston’s going to get Giannis, and I think it will happen in the next week,” Simmons predicted.
Per insider Marc Stein, there is growing momentum that Giannis will land in Boston.
“I was going to write the two teams that keep coming up with Giannis are Miami and Boston… Bill Simmons was the first one to talk about Boston as a place that interests Giannis. And based on everything I’ve heard for the last 2-3 weeks, I think that was dead on.”
However, Brown is not likely to head to the Milwaukee Bucks, who are reportedly expected to start their rebuild process. The Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks and LA Clippers have emerged as potential suitors for Brown as part of a three-team Celtics trade involving Antetokounmpo, per multiple insiders.
The Bucks are expected to trade Antetokounmpo before the June 24 NBA Draft.
Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Sends Blunt Message After Knicks NBA Title Win