The Boston Celtics suddenly have a potential Jaylen Brown nightmare on their hands.
After failing to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo (which I think will actually be a good thing for the long run), there's some uncertainty about Brown's future in Boston.
They are not necessarily the same exact situations, but this is reminiscent of the Celtics' failed Malcolm Brogdon trade (when they agreed to trade him to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Kristaps Porzingis sign-and-trade in 2023 -- they ultimately sent him to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jrue Holiday), and even the Boston Red Sox' failed Alex Rodriguez trade in 2003 (they agreed to send Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez to the Texas Rangers -- Garciaparra ended up getting traded to the Chicago Cubs during the 2004 season, whereas Ramirez stayed a little while longer and helped the team win two World Series).
At this point, it wouldn't be a surprise if Brown has already played his final game for the Celtics. It would be tough for the team to reel him back in (let alone sign him to a contract extension this summer), especially if all the speculation is true that he wants to lead his own team.
But there's one big problem the Celtics are playing themselves into: they missed out on trading for Antetokounmpo, and they might have to move on from Brown anyway.
Celtics only should've traded Jaylen Brown for Giannis
I had been very adamant that it didn't make much sense for Boston to trade Brown for Antetokounmpo. It's a solid short-term move, but it completely messes with the team's long-term window, especially because of Antetokounmpo's age, injury concerns, and contract situation. Plus, it didn't make a lot of sense to split up their championship-winning duo when they still had a ton of other problems to figure out (starting center, depth, bench scoring, etc.) and it probably wasn't going to be good enough to re-enter the title picture anyway.
But if the Celtics are going to trade Brown no matter what, it's tough to imagine that they would have been able to find a better return than the two-time MVP. Sure, it would have been a risky move to make regardless, but it would be completely different trading your homegrown star for Antetokounmpo vs. someone like Trey Murphy, Kevin Durant, or whoever else.
It could make some sense for the Celtics to trade Brown for someone like Evan Mobley (Boston has an extra wing and needs a center; the Cleveland Cavaliers have an extra center and need a wing), but even that feels lackluster at this point.
In a perfect world, Brown stays in Boston, signs a new deal, and the team just fills out the rest of the roster to complement him and Jayson Tatum. But if things can't be smoothed over, and he has already played his final game for the Celtics anyway, then it's hard to think they didn't just blow a golden opportunity.
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