The Boston Celtics didn’t wait until this summer to start shopping Jaylen Brown around the NBA.
According to Sham Charania, speaking on a recent episode of ‘The Stephen A. Smith Show,‘ Boston engaged with the Golden State Warriors regarding a potential Brown trade around the February 5 trade deadline.
“The Warriors could’ve got in the Jaylen Brown sweepstakes if they wanted to give up 4 first-round picks-ish, in that range,” Charania said. “They decided not to, from my understanding.”
Charania continued.
“Those two teams, the Warriors and Celtics, did talk about a Jaylen Brown trade around the trade deadline, and it was around several first-round draft picks, potential swaps, and seconds. The Warriors decided not to go down that route, and so that’s on them. That’s the decision they made.”
The latest revelation from Charania shows that Boston was already exploring Brown’s trade value midway through the season, despite him producing at a near MVP level. Clearly, the Celtics had plans to move on from the explosive forward before this summer.
Brad Stevens and the Celtics front office ultimately chose to trade Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, getting Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks in return.
Brown Was Due A Contract Extension From Celtics
Heading into this summer, Jaylen Brown was eligible for a two-year $141 million contract extension. That deal would have seen him earn roughly $70 million during his age-33 and age-34 seasons.
According to Charania, speaking on a recent episode of ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ Brown’s extension eligibility likely played a role in Boston seeking to trade him.
“They knew they were not going to offer Jaylen Brown the two-year, $140 million contract extension,” Charania said via ‘The Pat McAfee Show.‘ “That would have caused a reaction. Both sides would have had to have even harder conversations, and this could have gone another way. This could have gotten ugly potentially because you’ve already shopped the player multiple times. In 2022, he was offered for Kevin Durant.”
Following his trade to the Sixers, Brown will now become extension eligible next summer, meaning Philadelphia will have a similar decision to make.
Celtics Could Regret Trading Brown
During a July 9 episode of his “KG Certified” podcast, former Celtics champion Kevin Garnett warned Boston could regret parting ways with Brown.
“This is going to be like that [Karl-Anthony Towns] trade,” Garnett said. “It’s like Minnesota kicking themselves over the KAT trade. I think Boston is going to look back on this. It’s like when KD left Golden State and then he turned around like what the f–k. This is one of those moments where you don’t break a great thing up. This was a great thing.”
Garnett continued.
“…Those two have been tested through time and time,” Garnett said. “So, this is just a relationship. It ain’t always going to be great, you know what I’m saying? But, it would have had to have been something detrimental for me to break that up. That was probably the most dynamic duo in the league to me.”
Boston will now move forward with a new-look roster. Stevens has spent the past 12 months positioning the franchise to reset the repeater tax. As such, next summer will likely be a busy one for the Celtics, as they continue restructuring the current roster.
Therefore, we won’t know how Brown’s departure will impact the team’s chances of long-term success for a long time.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Surprising Details Surface Over Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Trade Talks appeared first on HEAVY.