{"id":2008048,"date":"2026-06-24T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2008048"},"modified":"2026-06-24T09:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:00:34","slug":"celtics-brad-stevens-honest-with-jaylen-brown-before-news-of-giannis-interest-leaked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2008048","title":{"rendered":"Celtics\u2019 Brad Stevens honest with Jaylen Brown before news of Giannis interest leaked"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"Article_ContentContainer__jBNW3 article-content-container bodytext1\">\n<p>BOSTON \u2014 With Jaylen Brown\u2019s 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\u2019s five-time All-Star before his name popped up in trade rumors, and he tried to be as upfront as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, with all the rumor mill and all that stuff and his name being splashed all over the place, that\u2019s not easy,\u201d Stevens said Tuesday night. \u201cBut we certainly wanted to be as proactive and upfront as possible. I thought we had really good, candid conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid1\" data-position=\"mid1\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7010756\/2026\/06\/22\/giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-trade-bucks-heat\/\">Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat<\/a> in a blockbuster deal, the Celtics put forth a serious pursuit of the two-time MVP with a package headlined by Brown.<\/p>\n<div data-ath-video-stream=\"sHGJop76tgRYNLN\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_Root__QeM_i\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_VideoWidth__XjNKI VideoHost_Portrait__XBaJC\">\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Root__AGckL\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Title__npf3B\">How the Heat pulled off a heist for Giannis<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Authors__jxyYV\">Esfandiar Baraheni<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_VideoWrapper__Xgp47\">{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;VideoObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;How the Heat pulled off a heist for Giannis&#8221;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;Esfandiar Baraheni breaks down the trade the sends Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat. &#8220;,&#8221;uploadDate&#8221;:&#8221;2026-06-23T17:20:09.711Z&#8221;,&#8221;duration&#8221;:&#8221;PT3M&#8221;,&#8221;thumbnailUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/doZ6wafq4S1i.0000000.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/sHGJop76tgRYNLN\/doZ6wafq4S1i\/doZ6wafq4S1i.m3u8&#8243;,&#8221;transcript&#8221;:&#8221;Did you notice the Miami Heat pulled off a heist to get Giannis Anntokopo? The full haul that the Milwaukee Bucks got for the former two-time MVP sounds like a lot. Tyler Hero, Jae Haquez, Kahalel Ware, Casperis Yakohoni, three first-round picks, including the 13th pick in the 2026 draft, one pick swap, and a second-round pick for Giannis and Bobby Portis. From the Bucks&#8217; perspective, none of these players are good enough to be your franchise cornerstone. The hometown kid hero is expiring contract that they either have to resign or trade for more assets down the road. The big piece of the pie here for the Bucks are the picks that they got. And while those picks have a chance to be good, it&#8217;s hard to bet against the team that just acquired Giannis and rarely, if ever, tanks. The Heat have had just 4 lottery picks in the last 15 seasons. Pat Riley and the Heat organization never throw the towel in, and so those picks, even that far away, might not have. As much value as they would if they were from a different organization. And to further that point, the Bucks don&#8217;t control their picks from 2027 to 2030, which makes this trade even more confusing for a team that just made a rebuilding move. Not having talent, not controlling your future picks, it&#8217;s a dangerous position to be in if you&#8217;re the Bucks, even if you feel like there are a lot of pieces in this trade. And for the Miami Heat, this is them definitively. choosing a direction. After trading Jimmy Butler, the Heat had been stuck in limbo in the middle of the Eastern Conference. And now with Bam Adebayo and Giannis, they have a core worthy of building a championship roster around. It&#8217;s not a perfect team. The Heat still need to re-sign Norm Powell this summer and try to add shooting and ball handling to a team that doesn&#8217;t have much money to work with. And while the addition of Portis gives them some assurance in the front court, their lack of depth is jarring, and in many ways, they The Heat will have to try and build out their roster from scratch, but they can do that with a player that can lead them to a championship at the center of it all. Giannis. Amid all the trade rumors, what has been lost is just how good of a player Giannis Antetokopo is when he&#8217;s healthy. He was top five in MVP voting from 2019 to 2025 and has averaged 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists for the last eight seasons. Those type of players don&#8217;t just grow on. Breeze. And while it&#8217;s true that the 31-year-old has dealt with injuries the last few seasons and is entering the second half of his career, betting on Giannis instead of toiling in mediocrity is well worth the risk for the Miami Heat. It won&#8217;t be easy. It might not even get them to that elusive championship, but the Miami Heat got substantially better after this trade by getting one of the best players in the world without giving up anything of true consequence. That is as big of a win as you can get.&#8221;,&#8221;ineligibleRegion&#8221;:[&#8220;BI&#8221;,&#8221;BY&#8221;,&#8221;CD&#8221;,&#8221;CF&#8221;,&#8221;CU&#8221;,&#8221;IQ&#8221;,&#8221;IR&#8221;,&#8221;KP&#8221;,&#8221;LB&#8221;,&#8221;LY&#8221;,&#8221;ML&#8221;,&#8221;NI&#8221;,&#8221;RU&#8221;,&#8221;SD&#8221;,&#8221;SO&#8221;,&#8221;SS&#8221;,&#8221;SY&#8221;,&#8221;UA&#8221;,&#8221;VE&#8221;,&#8221;YE&#8221;,&#8221;ZW&#8221;],&#8221;publisher&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;NewsMediaOrganization&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/&#8221;,&#8221;foundingDate&#8221;:&#8221;2016-01-25&#8243;,&#8221;logo&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ImageObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;creditText&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;height&#8221;:&#8221;60&#8243;,&#8221;width&#8221;:&#8221;435&#8243;},&#8221;publishingPrinciples&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/&#8221;,&#8221;sameAs&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic&#8221;},&#8221;author&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Person&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Esfandiar Baraheni&#8221;}]}<\/p>\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_root__AKv5b\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16;max-height:min(100%)\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_inner__86C_2\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9 \/ 16\">\n<div class=\"VideoStreamPlayer_GridStack__2H0p2\"><video preload=\"none\"><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Based on Stevens\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpent a lot of time, just the two of us, sitting down together,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cLike every offseason, been in regular touch with his agent all the way through the last couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stevens said he was \u201cempathetic\u201d of Brown\u2019s situation, adding that \u201cit\u2019s not fun\u201d 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\u2019s not clear yet how much fallout Boston will face from the decision, which proved fruitless when the Bucks settled on Miami\u2019s offer instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would say you would have to ask him,\u201d Stevens said when asked whether he believes the trade rumors impacted the Celtics\u2019 relationship with Brown.<\/p>\n<p id=\"article-pickem\">\n<div id=\"top-league-content-root\"><\/div>\n<p>    {&#8220;endpoint&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql&#8221;}<\/p>\n<p>Stevens was also asked whether Brown, who recently said he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7259744\/2026\/05\/06\/jaylen-brown-stream-twitch-celtics-brad-stevens\/\">would play in Boston for the next decade<\/a> if it were up to him, still wants to stay with the Celtics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll always keep our conversations private,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cI think it\u2019s appropriate, regardless of what the content of those conversations are like. But what I said is really true: I don\u2019t love the fact anytime it\u2019s 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\u2019s the rumor mill and there\u2019s going to be a lot of noise out there, that\u2019s why you try to also meet and be (as) upfront as possible. But yeah \u2026 I can\u2019t say enough good things about Jaylen, but I certainly am empathetic towards probably what that\u2019s felt like.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid2\" data-position=\"mid2\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>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\u2019 Durant pursuit never lingered. Brown and the team were able to move forward together on the same page.<\/p>\n<p>Will they do it again? Stevens was asked directly whether Brown would be on the Celtics\u2019 roster at the beginning of next season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJaylen Brown is a big part of us,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cI\u2019m never going to predict the future, but \u2026 the one thing I want to make very clear is how valued he\u2019s always been. He\u2019s been amazing. He\u2019s been an amazing teammate. Great person to be around. Whether that run ends 10 years from now when he retires or before, there\u2019s a lot to celebrate. We have a great relationship and an open relationship where we talk about everything. But I don\u2019t want to predict the future. But I look at it as, \u2018This is our team.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While questions swirled about Brown, the Celtics added to their team on the first night of the NBA Draft by selecting big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/interactive\/nba-draft-guide-2026\/player\/chris-cenac-jr.-houston-big\/\">Chris Cenac Jr. with the 27th pick<\/a>. Though Boston could use some immediate frontcourt help, Cenac is viewed as more of a long-term project. <em>The Athletic<\/em>\u2019s draft expert, Sam Vecenie, believes the former Houston center is \u201cprobably entering the draft at least one year \u2014 if not two years \u2014 before he\u2019s ready.\u201d Even so, late in the first round, the Celtics considered Cenac\u2019s upside worth the risk. Over recent years, they have a good track record of developing big men.<\/p>\n<div data-ath-video-stream=\"5fW9TN3N3QHNx6e\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_Root__QeM_i\">\n<div class=\"VideoHost_VideoWidth__XjNKI\">\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Root__AGckL\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Title__npf3B\">NBA Draft 2026: Winners and Losers from Round 1<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_Authors__jxyYV\">Zach Harper and CJ Moore<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"VideoTitleFrame_VideoWrapper__Xgp47\">{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;VideoObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/5fW9TN3N3QHNx6e\/&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/5fW9TN3N3QHNx6e\/&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;NBA Draft 2026: Winners and Losers from Round 1&#8243;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;The NBA Daily crew share their winners and losers from the 2026 NBA Draft, including the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.&#8221;,&#8221;uploadDate&#8221;:&#8221;2026-06-24T04:26:16.193Z&#8221;,&#8221;duration&#8221;:&#8221;PT1M25S&#8221;,&#8221;thumbnailUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/5fW9TN3N3QHNx6e\/bJjEUidWVahR.0000000.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/5fW9TN3N3QHNx6e\/bJjEUidWVahR\/bJjEUidWVahR.m3u8&#8243;,&#8221;transcript&#8221;:&#8221;Winners of this draft, losers of this draft, really quick reactionary stuff for me, if you can. I mean, yeah, Spurs won this draft, right? Spurs, yeah, even if with the acquaint, uh, acquaintance knee operation needs to come, they filled needs with great, great efficiency. Loser this draft. Is there a loser? I don&#8217;t love the way. Andrew Schleck reacted to a lot of this Thunder stuff, so I, I, I don&#8217;t know that the Thunder lost, but I feel like his spirit lost a little. Andrew Schleck is one of the losers of this, yeah, just his spirit, just his spirit, yeah, the Grizzlies getting both, uh, getting Camboozer to fall to them, which is probably a dream scenario for them. And then picking up Bennett Sturtz. I like that for them. Um, I could see them being a, a winner. Thunder, Thunder got Bennett. Oh, the Thunder, they got, they got Kareem. Lopez, that&#8217;s right. OK, no, they&#8217;re no longer, uh, they&#8217;re no longer the winners. They&#8217;re back to losers. Golly, all these trades. Hornet, Hornets had a great, great draft too. Yeah, I didn&#8217;t like what the, what the Hornets did. Uh, I like the, the 76ers being able to get Pylon at 22. I&#8217;m gonna go ahead and say the Washington Wizards are NBA draft because they got the #1 pick, uh, and they now have someone to build around. Honestly, any of the top 4 teams are winners of this draft.&#8221;,&#8221;ineligibleRegion&#8221;:[&#8220;BI&#8221;,&#8221;BY&#8221;,&#8221;CD&#8221;,&#8221;CF&#8221;,&#8221;CU&#8221;,&#8221;IQ&#8221;,&#8221;IR&#8221;,&#8221;KP&#8221;,&#8221;LB&#8221;,&#8221;LY&#8221;,&#8221;ML&#8221;,&#8221;NI&#8221;,&#8221;RU&#8221;,&#8221;SD&#8221;,&#8221;SO&#8221;,&#8221;SS&#8221;,&#8221;SY&#8221;,&#8221;UA&#8221;,&#8221;VE&#8221;,&#8221;YE&#8221;,&#8221;ZW&#8221;],&#8221;publisher&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;NewsMediaOrganization&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/&#8221;,&#8221;foundingDate&#8221;:&#8221;2016-01-25&#8243;,&#8221;logo&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ImageObject&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;contentUrl&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png&#8221;,&#8221;creditText&#8221;:&#8221;The Athletic&#8221;,&#8221;height&#8221;:&#8221;60&#8243;,&#8221;width&#8221;:&#8221;435&#8243;},&#8221;publishingPrinciples&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/&#8221;,&#8221;sameAs&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic&#8221;},&#8221;author&#8221;:[{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Person&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Zach Harper and CJ Moore&#8221;}]}<\/p>\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_root__AKv5b\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16 \/ 9;max-height:min(100%)\">\n<div class=\"AspectRatioBox_inner__86C_2\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16 \/ 9\">\n<div class=\"VideoStreamPlayer_GridStack__2H0p2\"><video preload=\"none\"><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Stevens said Cenac has \u201ca long way to go\u201d but always plays hard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s just a good young player,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cEnergetic, plays hard, excellent athlete, long. Fits a position of need \u2014 some things that we were a little short on this year from an athletic perspective \u2014 I think, with his size and his length. And when you play in the program he\u2019s played for, he\u2019s 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\u2019s a good worker, he\u2019s a good person and he\u2019s got a lot to learn, but we\u2019re excited about starting that process with (him).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For now, at least, the Celtics are continuing the process with Brown.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid3\" data-position=\"mid3\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think there\u2019s always going to have to be conversations,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cThere\u2019s always gonna have to be get-togethers, there\u2019s always gonna have to be things that you talk about. I\u2019m very certain that \u2014 again, it\u2019s not easy to be in the national rumor mill. Again, I\u2019m extremely understanding of that. So, yeah, there always has to be discussions. \u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s 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\u2019re 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\u2019ve been through all that stuff and felt all that stuff. But it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BOSTON \u2014 With Jaylen Brown\u2019s 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\u2019s five-time All-Star before his name popped up in trade rumors, and he tried to be as upfront as possible. \u201cObviously, with all the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2008048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2008048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2008048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2008048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2008048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}