Getty Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
For now, it appears Kevin Durant will be staying with the Brooklyn Nets. The NBA superstar rescinded his trade request on August 23, 2022, which will presumably put all the Boston Celtics trade rumors involving Jaylen Brown, among others, to bed for the time being. After the Durant trade saga ended, NBA Insider Shams Charania went on The Rich Eisen Show, where he revealed that the Celtics had the best offer on the table and who would have been included.
“The best offer, I’m told, that the Nets had on the table was from the Celtics,” Charania said. “Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and a first-round pick.”
Charania went on to explain that what the Nets were asking for in return for someone with Durant’s pedigree made it unrealistic that a trade would get done with any party.
“You could say that they might have been even asking for something that they know was never going to be attainable anyway. But, at the end of the day, when you have a guy who’s a 12-time All-Star, two-time Finals MVP. (He’s) going to go down in the Hall of Fame as one of the top 15 best players ever, you have a high asking price. That price was never going to be met.”
What happened in the Monday meeting with #BrooklynNets brass, head coach Steve Nash and Kevin Durant?
@ShamsCharania took us inside the talks that led KD to stay in New York:
Clearly, the Nets did not think what the Celtics reportedly had to offer was good enough for Durant, and the Celtics weren’t going to bid any higher since they were considered to have the best one out there.
Once the rumors were put to bed, President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens gave an update on Brown’s status on the Celtics will be going forward.
Stevens’ Thoughts on Brown’s Future
Stevens went on the radio show, Merloni, Fauria, and Mego after Durant had taken back his trade request. On the show, Stevens was asked about the Celtics potentially offering Brown an extension, where he promptly said that they hope to keep him long-term.
“He is a huge core piece of what we’re doing and has been for six years now. We’re excited to hopefully put our best foot forward to have him here for a long time.”
Brad on potential to offer Jaylen extension in October: “He is a huge core piece of what we’re doing and has been for six years now. We’re excited to hopefully put our best foot forward to have him here for a long time.”
While many have speculated that these trade rumors could hurt Brown’s relationship with the team, there is a big difference between a player like Brown being traded for a player like Kevin Durant and Brown being traded for assets.
Stevens also added his thoughts on the trade rumors that had been going on involving Durant and Brown.
Stevens’ Says Trade Front Has Been Quiet
While on Merloni, Fauria and Mego, Stevens said that the Celtics haven’t been involved in many trade discussions ever since the team traded for Malcolm Brogdon.
”We’re excited to move forward with our team, and that’s really been our focus for a while. You say it’s been busy, and there’s been a lot of talk but it hasn’t been from me. Hopefully, it gave everyone something to talk about. It’s been pretty quiet on our front for a while now.”
Stevens also said that, while he couldn’t go into specifics, he made it a point that it’s his job to evaluate potential trades that could help the team.
“Listen, at the end of the day, I’m not going to go into any conversations that we had because I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Stevens said. “But my job is to know what costs are and then ultimately determine whether or not we want to be involved in any deal with any team around the league.”