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On Monday, July 25, the Boston Celtics were listed as primary trade candidates for Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
It started with an early-morning tweet from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and was later followed up by The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Within those reports, Jaylen Brown was listed as Boston’s most tradeable asset for a player of Durant’s magnitude.
Still, for Brown, this isn’t the first time his name has been floated in trade rumors for a superstar and probably won’t be the last. And, during a July 25 segment on NBC Sports Boston, Charania shed some light on the Georgia native’s current commitment to being with the Celtics.
Charania said when asked about Brown’s current situation with the Celtics:
He’s under contract with the Celtics for two more years, and I haven’t heard anything about any displeasure he’s had with the organization overall. Over these last two-three years, I think you’ve seen a lot of growth within the organization. When it comes to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, just a couple of years ago in the bubble, they had some very testy moments.
For them to go from that to being a couple of wins away from a championship, speaks a lot for the growth of the organization. … I haven’t heard of any significant displeasure from Jaylen Brown, or any specific requests from his side, as of right now.
Brown has two years remaining on his current $106 million deal and can become an unrestricted free agent during the summer of 2024 unless he agrees to an extension with the Celtics.
Brooklyn Has Significant Asking Price for Durant
According to a July 25 report in The Athletic from Charania, the Celtics did make an official trade offer for Durant, but the Nets countered, ramping up the asking price as a result.
Originally, Charania reported the Celtics offered a deal consisting of Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and draft picks, but the Nets came back asking for Brown, Marcus Smart, an additional role player and picks. As such, the Celtics have not gone back to the negotiating table, yet.
Charania wrote on July 25:
The Celtics offered Brown, guard Derrick White and a draft pick to the Nets for Durant, sources said. The proposal was rejected, and Brooklyn has asked Boston — in any proposal — to include Brown, Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, draft picks, and potentially one more rotation player, those sources added. Currently, the Celtics are less inclined to include Smart along with multiple other player or pick assets, but the franchise is mulling over next steps on how to approach discussions.
As of right now, the Celtics have emerged as a serious possibility as a landing spot for Durant. They have tremendous interest in bringing him and view him as a piece that could take them over that final hurdle. Although there is work to be done, there is a deal to be had that would suffice the Nets’ overwhelming ask.
Brown Drops Cryptic Tweet in Response to Trade Rumors
Shortly after the trade rumors surfaced, Brown took to Twitter to cryptically share his thoughts, tweeting, “Smh.”
That tweet came just a month after Brown sent Celtics Twitter into a frenzy, as on Sunday, June 26, the Celtics star liked a tweet about how he is being disrespected by Celtics fans – which began a whole new line of rumors about how he was unhappy in Boston.
Of course, no one outside of the Celtics organization will know Brown’s stance on the current trade rumors, or his plans once his current contract expires. But for now, Charania’s report that Brown is happy in Boston is the best anybody could hope for.
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