Apparently, the only possibility of the Boston Celtics trading Jaylen Brown anytime soon is one that has already been dead and buried for several weeks now — that being in a swap for Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant.
MassLive’s Brian Robb, in answering a reader’s question in his latest Boston Celtics Mailbag, said that the Cs likely would have only considered dealing away the 2016 NBA draft’s No. 3 overall pick in order to bring on the 2x NBA Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018:
"“The only possibility of a Jaylen Brown trade this year came and went with the Kevin Durant trade demand. The only way I see Brown getting moved at some point before his contract expires is if the team does not think he is re-signing in the summer of 2024. I’ve gotten no indication that is a consideration at this point.”"
Durant had requested a trade at the end of June from the Nets, giving the team an ultimatum that they either move the 33-year-old or fire their head coach (Steve Nash) and their general manager (Sean Marks). Marks recently commented on what was discussed when the organization’s top figureheads met with KD and his agent last month:
"“Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday. We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.”"
The Boston Celtics and Jaylen are under the microscope after the KD trade rumors
Now that popular trade target Donovan Mitchell has finally found himself a new home–after being rumored for so long to land with a big market franchise he ended up in Cleveland–the Boston Celtics and Jaylen Brown will be under the microscope.
They certainly won’t be alone. Kevin Durant’s name will be right back on the trade market if the Nets struggle out of the gates, and the Washington Wizards proving unable to be one of the top six teams in the season’s early going could have them considering dangling Bradley Beal in a deal as well.
Because there has been a (false) narrative about Brown and Jayson Tatum being unable to play together for so long, the vultures will be circling the Cs until there’s either an extension or a blockbuster trade.