Boston Celtics, Jaylen Brown winners in the Kevin Durant non-blockbuster

Now that Kevin Durant is staying with the Brooklyn Nets, Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics now must turn their attention on making sure there wasn’t too much damage done to their relationship with budding young star Jaylen Brown.

As a team rumored in a deal for Durant, the Celtics president of basketball operations was asked about his communication with the Nets around a deal centered around Brown.

Choosing his words wisely, Stevens did admit there were conversations about the potential blockbuster that would’ve landed Durant in Boston.

"“Listen, at the end of the day I’m not going to go into any conversations that we had because I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Stevens said in an appearance on “Merloni, Fauria and Mego,” on Tuesday.  “But my job is to know what costs are and then ultimately determine whether or not we want to be involved in any deal with any team around the league.”"

Whether those inquiries involved Brown or not, the NBA rumor mill certainly had the Celtics star as the center of a trade package for Durant.  As a result, could all the noise have fractured JB’s relationship with the team which could ultimately lead him out of town when he hits free agency?

Boston Celtics and Jaylen Brown now have to focus one goal

That will be the narrative if the 2022-23 NBA title favorites don’t live up to the hype.  Every time a big-name player is on the trade block, Jaylen Brown is the name rumored as the center of any trade package.  Unless his game heightens to a level where he is a better overall player than Jayson Tatum, that kind of chatter will probably never go away.  Especially, if he rises to the level where he wants his own team.

In acknowledging the under-appreciation his young star may feel, Stevens said he did keep in contact with Brown as the Durant trade rumors swirled throughout this summer.

"“Jaylen’s been through this from the standpoint of – the noise has been around him for a long time and big names over the years,” Stevens said.  “You’ve got to be able to ignore the noise and know what’s important but also be able to reach out and have candid and transparent communications with the people that are involved.  And so yeah, we’ve had those, made ourselves very open from the get-go as all of this has been going on for any of our guys.”"

In other words, Jaylen has formed a tough skin during his time with the Celtics.  Whether it was Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, James Harden and now Kevin Durant, the C’s have ultimately ended up winning the non-trades by sticking with Brown who has risen to All-Star level and as proven in the team’s playoff run, a clutch player for the team.

Want your voice heard? Join the Chowder And Champions team!

Write for us!

Now, the motivation for Jaylen Brown is to prove he can partner with Tatum to lead this team to an NBA title.  Although there was a debate that Durant would’ve made the Boston Celtics an absolute favorite to win the title, it would and will be more satisfying and even more special if the team captured Banner No. 18 led by the players who grew up on the team.

In concluding, the dust has settled and now Stevens and the Boston Celtics must work on making the star they drafted feel the appreciation he deserves.  Any chance of another championship run now rides or dies with motivation of Jaylen Brown.