Getty Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics.
Jaylen Brown’s name being mentioned in trade rumors reported by Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski, combined with his “Smh” tweet seemingly in response to those rumors, has made Boston Celtics fans a little uneasy. These recent rumors have fueled speculation that Brown will leave the team in two years much like Ray Allen did back in 2012.
The season before Allen left the Celtics to go join LeBron James and the Miami Heat, he had nearly been traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for OJ Mayo. The trade that almost was in 2012 made Allen feel unwanted, which was why he left Boston for Miami. Many fear that Brown will follow a similar path. According to Celtics Insider Jackie MacMullan, these situations are not comparable at all because the Celtics are not actively trying to trade Brown like they were with Allen.
“‘Oh my gosh, we don’t want Jaylen Brown, we want to trade him’ — that’s not what’s going on here,” MacMullan told NBC Sports Boston. “(The Celtics) did try to trade Ray Allen. They can deny it all they want.”
“In the end they didn’t, and then they were shocked when he was bruised enough to say, ‘I’m going to move on and go to the team that’s going to help beat you.’ Those are two different scenarios to me.”
To emphasize that the Celtics aren’t looking to trade Brown like they were with Allen, MacMullan made it clear that they were simply looking into what the Brooklyn Nets had in mind in a possible Kevin Durant trade.
“The Celtics aren’t actively trying to trade Jaylen Brown. One of the generational players, Kevin Durant, is available. You’d be a fool not to investigate it. (President of basketball operations) Brad Stevens isn’t doing his job if he doesn’t investigate it.”
In other words, the Celtics would only trade Brown if they could get someone like Durant for him.
MacMullan to the Worryers: ‘Stop It”
MacMullan also made it clear that trade rumors such as these wouldn’t bother someone like Jaylen Brown because trade rumors are not only part of the business, but being put in the same conversation as Durant is a compliment.
“This bit about, ‘Oh no! Maybe we’ve upset Jaylen Brown!’ Stop it. Absolutely stop it. He is an intelligent young man who should feel complimented that so many people are interested in him, and 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. That’s just the silliest bunch of stuff I’ve heard.”
MacMullan later stressed that the best route forward for both sides would be for Brown to get paid the maximum amount for his next contract.
“In a perfect scenario, the Celtics extend Jaylen Brown for the max they can extend him when the time comes. They move forward with a nucleus to me that looks like it had a very good shot.”
“Stop it. Absolutely stop it.”
Jackie MacMullan is not here for the ‘The Celtics have upset Jaylen Brown’ talk 🗣️
Despite the rumors, all indications are that Brown not only loves playing in Boston, but he’ll be ready to go when the 2022-23 season starts.
Brown ‘Loves it in Boston’
After the trade rumors came out involving Durant and Brown, Mark Murphy reporter that Brown loves playing for the Celtics and was looking forward to coming back to try again for a title.
“He loves it in Boston. He was two games away from a championship. He’s happy and looking forward to coming back. … Like Kawhi, AD and others on that level, he’s going to be included in every report because of who he is.”
Until any new reports from reliable reporters come out and say otherwise, it’s safe to presume that Brown is happy to play for the Celtics going forward.
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