New Jaylen Brown Trade Rumors on Celtics' Plans After Missing Out on Giannis Blockbuster Deal

After missing out on Giannis Antetokounmpo, there are plenty of questions surrounding the Boston Celtics.

That is especially the case when it comes to Jaylen Brown's future.

"A domino effect, Jaylen Brown and two unprotected first-round picks was the Celtics' offer," ESPN's Shams Charania reported Tuesday during coverage of the 2026 NBA draft. "Boston was the other finalist for Giannis before Miami got him. They wanted Giannis in Boston, but now they deal with the fallout. There are going to be more conversations there that they're going to have.

"The Celtics have been aggressive also today, in taking calls, in making calls, listening in on potential offers for Jaylen Brown. So what's his future?"

Frankly, it may be somewhat awkward for the Celtics if they decide to bring Brown back next season after shopping him.

Still, Antetokounmpo is a generational player and someone who could have elevated the team's championship ceiling. Pairing the future Hall of Famer with Jayson Tatum would have given Boston one of the best one-two punches in the entire league and perhaps put it on top of the Eastern Conference pecking order.

Instead, it has to decide whether it wants to keep the Brown and Tatum tandem together and perhaps chase another championship with the latter now healthy.

Tatum missed the majority of the 2025-26 campaign as he recovered from his Achilles injury, which elevated Brown into the role of go-to option. He responded as an All-NBA Second-Team selection who finished sixth in the league in MVP voting.

Still, the Celtics lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, and it is fair to question the team's overall ceiling compared to the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs or even New York Knicks.

Then there is also Brown's contract, which runs through the 2028-29 campaign and features a $65 million cap hit that last season. While he is one of the best players in the league, that is still quite a deal to have on the books for a number of seasons.

Trading him would allow the Celtics to get out from underneath it and perhaps reset around Tatum, and it is something that reportedly remains under consideration.

"They've talked to teams and teams that I've spoken to feel like there is a level of intention with the Celtics, but that doesn't mean a trade will necessarily happen," Charania reported.

Still, Boston figures to be a team to keep an eye on as the offseason progresses.