Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens spoke to the media after the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday, but he wasn’t asked a whole lot of questions about their No. 27 pick, Chris Cenac. With just a day having passed since the Celtics failed in their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, many of the questions were about Jaylen Brown.
The Celtics’ offer to the Milwaukee Bucks centered around Brown and Stevens was notably asked in his press conference whether the five-time All-Star would be on the team at the start of next season.
“Jaylen Brown’s a big part of us,” Stevens said, via the Celtics. “I’m never going to predict the future, but every indication, everything that I think about over the past few years has been building around those guys, right? And so, obviously, you never know. But at the same time, I think the one thing I want to make very clear is how valued he’s always been, and he’s been amazing.
“He’s been an amazing teammate, great person to be around,” Stevens continued. “And whether that run ends 10 years from now when he retires or before, there’s a lot to celebrate. And we have a great relationship and an open relationship where we talk about everything. But I don’t want to predict the future, but I look at it as this is our team.”
Stevens basically dodged the question. It is quite interesting that he didn’t just say outright that Brown will remain a Celtic.
Stevens had earlier been asked how close the Celtics came to acquiring Antetokounmpo, but he made it clear he wasn’t going to speak about that. They had reportedly offered Brown and two first-round picks, but the Bucks preferred the deal that the Miami Heat had put on the table.
That certainly left the Celtics in a bit of an awkward position with Brown. The 29-year-old had seen his name pop up in trade rumors in the past, and he had even reportedly been offered to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant in 2022, but this situation was different.
The Antetokounmpo pursuit appeared to be a lot more public, and Brown is at a different stage in his career now. He is coming off his best season, as he averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2025-26.
Brown’s excellent play led to him finishing sixth in MVP voting in 2026, and he also made the All-NBA Second Team. For the Celtics to still offer him up in a trade would have stung.
Back in May, Brown had said he would play for the Celtics for the next 10 years if it were left to him, and Stevens was asked if that stance had changed, based on their conversations.
“I’ll always keep our conversations private,” Stevens said. “It’s just I think it’s appropriate regardless of what the content of those conversations are like. But I think what I said is really true. I don’t love the fact anytime it’s a big public thing. As you know, we try to keep things as close to the vest and quiet as possible. And at the same time, knowing that the rumor mill is the rumor mill and there’s going to be a lot of noise out there.
“That’s why you also meet and be upfront as possible,” Stevens added. “But yeah, like listen, I can’t say enough good things about Jaylen… I certainly am empathetic towards probably what that’s felt like.”
Stevens said he tries to be as upfront and candid as possible with the players before any talks begin. The 49-year-old understands, though, that all of this wouldn’t be ideal for Brown.
Stevens was also asked if he thinks this saga has impacted Brown’s relationship with the Celtics, and he didn’t have an answer. He thinks the 2024 Finals MVP is the only one who can speak on that. As for their conversations, they spoke just over a week ago.
“We had a couple meetings earlier,” Stevens said. “End of May, also before he went back overseas a couple days ago or 10 days ago or so. Spent a lot of time, just the two of us sitting down together… Like every offseason, in regular touch with his agent all the way through the last couple of days.
“Obviously, with all the rumor mill and all that stuff and name being splashed all over the place, that’s not easy,” Stevens continued. “But we certainly wanted to be as proactive and upfront with that as possible, and I thought we had really good candid conversations.”
Should all of what Stevens had to say give you confidence that Brown will remain a Celtic? Not really. This is definitely a situation to keep an eye on, as there appears to be a very real chance we have seen Brown play his last game for the Celtics.
