“What happens to Jaylen Brown?” is a question that Boston Celtics fans are waking up to, after the Miami Heat successfully pulled off a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo in the wee hours of Monday night.
It turns out the Celtics may still have plans to part with their All-NBA wing, who was offered to the Milwaukee Bucks–along with two first-round picks–in a Giannis trade.
Per Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, there’s a leaguewide expectation that the Celtics will explore a trade for Brown after missing out on the “Greek Freak.”
“I would expect, from my conversations with people around the league, that Boston is going to continue trying to trade Jaylen Brown,” O’Connor said on a live stream moments after the Heat pulled off a Giannis trade, via podcaster Nick Cattles.
“…Giannis was simply Plan A. What is Plan B? I don’t know exactly. I would think that Boston is in on Trey Murphy.”
In a subsequent post, Cattles listed the LA Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets as teams rumored to have interest in a trade for the 29-year-old Brown.
Draft tomorrow night. Could be an interesting 18 hours or so.
Celtics Trade Offer for Giannis Revealed
Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the C’s were hesitant to part with second-year Spanish guard Hugo Gonzalez in their final offer to the Bucks. The Brad Stevens-led front office was also reluctant to include more than two first-round picks, even though they were armed with four future first-rounders, including the No. 28 pick in Tuesday’s Draft.
“The Bucks wanted more assets,” Charania told “SportsCenter” late on Monday.
“They wanted Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, more first-round picks and more swaps… End of the day, the Celtics were not willing to part with enough young players and assets to get a deal done,” added the insider.
Ultimately, the Bucks preferred the more pick-heavy package from the Heat, which also included promising young players like Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis, besides All-Star Tyler Herro. Milwaukee will also select No. 10 and No. 13 (via Heat) in Tuesday’s NBA Draft, kickstarting their rebuild in the post-Ginanis era.
Celtics Face Jaylen Brown Question
With Brown’s name being floated in the rumor mill, the Celtics may have trouble mending fences with their 10-year veteran after missing out on Antetokounmpo.
Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney reported Monday that the Celtics may have no option but to trade Brown — even if for a lesser accomplished player than Antetokounmpo.
“The Celtics might have gone down far enough on the road of trading Jaylen Brown now that there’s no going back,” an Eastern Conference exec said.
“I don’t know that you can put the toothpaste back in the tube there. … They have had him in trade talks before and some point, the player gets tired of that. Jaylen has given them the benefit of the doubt in the past. This might not be easy to bounce back from.”
Brown sent a message to people who “want me gone” from Boston via a Twitch stream on Monday. Some perceived the message as a shot at the Celtics front office.
“To all the people that’s doubted me, that want me to do this, or want me (traded), you’re turning me into a monster,” Brown said.
In the past, the Celtics have successfully mended fences with Jaylen Brown after offering him in deals for Kawhi Leonard (2018) and Kevin Durant (2022). However, this time the damage may be irreparable, given that Brown is coming off a career year.
Celtics Insider Drops Jaylen Brown Bombshell After Failed Giannis Trade