New Jayson Tatum Trade Rumors Leak After Shocking Jaylen Brown-76ers-Celtics Blockbuster

In the wake of the Boston Celtics' shocking trade of Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, rumors emerged regarding recent trade interest in Jayson Tatum.

During an appearance Thursday on Get Up, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the Celtics turned down trade overtures for Tatum in recent weeks, saying, "Whether it was personal situations between the two players or whether it was just the on-court basketball fit, the Celtics had just made the determination that moving forward, they can no longer win a championship, clearly, with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The Celtics received calls on Jayson Tatum over the last couple of weeks, they shut those down completely, from my understanding. But when it came to Jaylen Brown, they were open to listening and they have been for quite some time now."

While the Celtics decided to keep Tatum as the face of the franchise, Charania reported Wednesday that they agreed to send Brown to the Sixers in exchange for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks.

The 28-year-old Tatum has spent his entire NBA career in Boston, and he has established himself as the face of the franchise during that time.

Over nine NBA seasons, Tatum is a six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection, and he helped lead the Celtics to an NBA championship in 2024.

Although Brown was named Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP that year, Tatum usually emerged as the go-to guy during their time together.

Tatum finished in the top six of NBA MVP voting in four straight seasons from 2022 to 2025, and it wasn't until Tatum missed all but 16 games last season while recovering from a torn Achilles that Brown registered a top-six finish in the MVP race.

Despite missing so much time, Tatum quickly knocked off the rust last season, averaging 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.9 three-pointers made and 1.4 steals in the 16 games he did play.

Tatum missed Game 7 of the Celtics' first-round playoff series against the Sixers with a knee injury, though, and the seventh-seeded 76ers went on to shock the second-seeded Celtics by beating them and eliminating them from the playoffs.

Despite losing the series, Brown largely impressed by leading the Celtics with 25.7 points per game, which may have compelled Philly to make a run at him.

With Brown gone, Tatum is now the unquestioned No. 1 option in Boston, and he will lead a roster next season that also includes the likes of George, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and free-agent signing Mitchell Robinson.

The Celtics' ceiling was seemingly lowered significantly with the trade of Brown, but the organization is banking on a healthy Tatum keeping them in championship contention.

Boston could have cleaned house completely, but it made its choice by moving forward with Tatum as the captain of the ship, and many of the team's successes and failures in the future will likely be pinned on him.