Jaylen Brown has garnered most of the attention in NBA trade rumors during the early stages of the Boston Celtics offseason. Yet, Jayson Tatum’s silence amid the trade rumors surrounding Brown is drawing attention.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons ponders why Tatum has been silent as the Celtics consider a blockbuster trade for Brown.
“Where’s Tatum? He hasn’t said anything,” the analyst noted in a June 28, 2026, episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast.” “He hasn’t said anything this offseason. Jaylen said at one point Tatum was coming on his Twitch (stream) or whatever. He hasn’t come on.
“How about the last couple weeks, the guy who could actually squash this is the alleged leader of the team, the franchise, Tatum, who could come in and say, ‘I don’t want them to trade Jaylen. We won the title together two years ago. I can’t control the front office, but I wanna try to win more titles with him,’” Simmons continued.
“Or ‘that’s my guy.’ Nothing. There’s been dead silence, which makes me think that the team has felt at some point, either during the season or right after that this is a wrap and that Jaylen just wants his own team and Tatum probably wants him to have his own team. And that’s probably the answer, right?”
Jayson Tatum on Relationship With Celtics Co-Star Jaylen Brown: ‘We Had Some Growing Pains’
Brown’s relationship with Tatum has been under constant scrutiny, even though both stars have tried to diffuse the idea that there is any tension. Tatum admitted that there were “growing pains” at times in their relationship.
“As you get older, like you just start maturing and realizing things that, for one, it’s like, man, the grass not always green on the other side,” Tatum explained in a January 27, interview on “The Pivot Podcast.” “Understand that… he a year and a half older than me and, you know, two guys that love this game, work they butt off and want to win at all costs. Now, we had some growing pains that we had to figure out, you know, what is that going to look like?
“… We both had individual success and (were) all stars, like now let’s figure out how do we put it all together. And, you know, we’ve been in two finals and won one and hopefully we got much more to accomplish together.”
Celtics Rumors: NBA Teams Expect Jaylen Brown To Be Traded
Tatum is in a no-win position because if he discusses the trade rumors, there are those who will criticize the star for interfering with the front office’s job. If Tatum remains quiet, speculation is going to increase that the two stars are not on good terms.
Regardless of Brown’s relationship with Tatum, all signs point to the Celtics eventually trading the star.
“After finishing sixth in the NBA’s MVP voting and coming off the best statistical season of his career, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown was mentioned in trade rumors surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo,” HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto detailed in a June 28, story titled, “NBA Intel: Jaylen Brown trade talks, Jalen Duren’s free agency, Nikola Jokic’s future, Tyler Herro, more.” “Despite the Greek Freak landing in Miami, rumors have persisted to the point that NBA executives across the league are wondering not if Brown will be traded, but rather when and where.
“Brown has drawn trade interest from various teams across the league, including the Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, and Los Angeles Clippers, league sources told HoopsHype.”
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Celtics Star Jayson Tatum Grabs Attention Amid Jaylen Brown Trade Rumors appeared first on HEAVY.