BOSTON — With Jaylen Brown’s mindset becoming a major talking point throughout the NBA over the past 24 hours, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he met multiple times with the team’s five-time All-Star before his name popped up in trade rumors, and he tried to be as upfront as possible.
“Obviously, with all the rumor mill and all that stuff and his name being splashed all over the place, that’s not easy,” Stevens said Tuesday night. “But we certainly wanted to be as proactive and upfront as possible. I thought we had really good, candid conversations.”
Though Stevens preferred to keep private the content of those discussions, he stressed that he was honest with Brown before word leaked that the Celtics front office included him in a trade offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Before the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to send Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat in a blockbuster deal, the Celtics put forth a serious pursuit of the two-time MVP with a package headlined by Brown.
How the Heat pulled off a heist for Giannis
Esfandiar Baraheni
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Based on Stevens’ timeline, he and Brown spoke with each other well before the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes heated up over the past week. Stevens said he and Brown met late in May and also chatted again more recently before Brown left for a trip overseas.
“Spent a lot of time, just the two of us, sitting down together,” Stevens said. “Like every offseason, been in regular touch with his agent all the way through the last couple of days.”
Stevens said he was “empathetic” of Brown’s situation, adding that “it’s not fun” to see your name in trade talks. Outside of Boston, people around the league wondered how personally Brown would take it that the Celtics front office included him in an offer for Antetokounmpo. It’s not clear yet how much fallout Boston will face from the decision, which proved fruitless when the Bucks settled on Miami’s offer instead.
“I would say you would have to ask him,” Stevens said when asked whether he believes the trade rumors impacted the Celtics’ relationship with Brown.
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Stevens was also asked whether Brown, who recently said he would play in Boston for the next decade if it were up to him, still wants to stay with the Celtics.
“I’ll always keep our conversations private,” Stevens said. “I think it’s appropriate, regardless of what the content of those conversations are like. But what I said is really true: I don’t love the fact anytime it’s a big public thing. As you know, we try to keep things as close to the vest and quiet as possible. And at the same time, knowing that the rumor mill’s the rumor mill and there’s going to be a lot of noise out there, that’s why you try to also meet and be (as) upfront as possible. But yeah … I can’t say enough good things about Jaylen, but I certainly am empathetic towards probably what that’s felt like.”
Brown has been through similar situations. Shortly after reaching the 2022 NBA Finals, the Celtics explored moving him to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant. Based on the way Brown carried himself afterward, the emotions of the Celtics’ Durant pursuit never lingered. Brown and the team were able to move forward together on the same page.
Will they do it again? Stevens was asked directly whether Brown would be on the Celtics’ roster at the beginning of next season.
“Jaylen Brown is a big part of us,” Stevens said. “I’m never going to predict the future, but … the one thing I want to make very clear is how valued he’s always been. He’s been amazing. He’s been an amazing teammate. Great person to be around. Whether that run ends 10 years from now when he retires or before, there’s a lot to celebrate. We have a great relationship and an open relationship where we talk about everything. But I don’t want to predict the future. But I look at it as, ‘This is our team.’”
While questions swirled about Brown, the Celtics added to their team on the first night of the NBA Draft by selecting big man Chris Cenac Jr. with the 27th pick. Though Boston could use some immediate frontcourt help, Cenac is viewed as more of a long-term project. The Athletic’s draft expert, Sam Vecenie, believes the former Houston center is “probably entering the draft at least one year — if not two years — before he’s ready.” Even so, late in the first round, the Celtics considered Cenac’s upside worth the risk. Over recent years, they have a good track record of developing big men.
NBA Draft 2026: Winners and Losers from Round 1
Zach Harper and CJ Moore
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Stevens said Cenac has “a long way to go” but always plays hard.
“He’s just a good young player,” Stevens said. “Energetic, plays hard, excellent athlete, long. Fits a position of need — some things that we were a little short on this year from an athletic perspective — I think, with his size and his length. And when you play in the program he’s played for, he’s been taught well and been held to a high standard. I like that, and he will undoubtedly come here and be eager to jump into it. He’s a good worker, he’s a good person and he’s got a lot to learn, but we’re excited about starting that process with (him).”
For now, at least, the Celtics are continuing the process with Brown.
“I think there’s always going to have to be conversations,” Stevens said. “There’s always gonna have to be get-togethers, there’s always gonna have to be things that you talk about. I’m very certain that — again, it’s not easy to be in the national rumor mill. Again, I’m extremely understanding of that. So, yeah, there always has to be discussions. …
“That’s why I just try to be as upfront as possible and as candid as possible at the beginning, long before any talks begin, so that our guys understand that being here and being in the limelight, they’re gonna have a lot of attention on them regardless. And then, they also understand that there are things that are exaggerated at this time of the year and there are things that are real, so they’ve been through all that stuff and felt all that stuff. But it doesn’t mean it’s easy.”