After coughing up a 3-1 lead and losing Game 7 of the opening round to the Philadelphia 76ers, did All-Star Jaylen Brown play his final game as a member of the Boston Celtics? It feels increasingly so after reports confirmed Brown was offered to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo. All of a sudden, NBA insiders who guaranteed the Jayson Tatum-Brown tandem was safe for at least one more season changed their respective tunes.
Now, the consensus suggests the Celtics will most likely part ways with Brown in one form or another. However, they could land two-time MVP Antetokounmpo or another All-Star-caliber player later this summer, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“The Celtics, I think, at the end of the day, have reached the conclusion that they are not good enough, where they were,” Windhorst said. “They believe, internally, they didn’t lose in the first round to Philly because Jayson Tatum got hurt. They believe they lost because they weren’t good enough. And I think they believe that if they had gotten to the next round against the Knicks, they were not good enough to beat the Knicks. And would not have been good enough to get out of the East to win the Finals.”
For Windhorst, improving the Celtics’ supporting cast around Brown and Tatum isn’t enough to compete with the champion New York Knicks. Jaylen, coming off the most impressive season of his career, is ready to lead his own team.
“They are aggressively looking to make a change,” Windhorst added. “I believe that if the Bucks choose the Miami Heat offer, Jaylen Brown will get traded somewhere else. They are going to move on here. That said, an offer that includes Jaylen Brown, and from what I understand, other assets in this deal, potentially including the 27th pick, and potentially other things the Celtics have either in their draft-pick stable or on their roster.
“That’s a very compelling offer. And I understand the initial response is going to be: “Well, what will Jaylen Brown think about this?” From what I understand, Jaylen Brown is accepting this and realizing it’s a chance to turn the page and may be getting his own team, which is something he’s thought about for a long time,” Windhorst concluded.
In his tenth season with the Celtics, Brown averaged career-bests in points (28.7), rebounds (6.9), and assists (5.1) in 2025-26.
Celtics’ Jaylen Brown prepared to lead his own team
In the end, the intrigue of Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum joining forces with Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo proved too strong to ignore, considering the tall task in an attempt to dethrone Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and the Knicks. Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who traded Marcus Smart three years ago, has proven he’s not afraid to say yes to a difficult decision. Stevens knew that featuring Brown in a trade for Bucks’ Antetokounmpo could give him leverage.
Perhaps Stevens knew that the thought of watching Antetokounmpo play for another team, with the Celtics having a shot at trading for him, got the better of the Celtics president of basketball operations, who added Brown to a proposed offer to the Bucks, as Brian Windhorst noted on ESPN’s Get Up.
“I was really skeptical that the Boston Celtics were gonna go all in on this, and from what I understand, they have,” Windhorst reported. “They were very cautious about putting Jaylen Brown in an official firm offer. I believe they have. Jaylen Brown is on the table, and Jaylen Brown could get traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo in the short term.”
While Brown could have been eager for the Celtics to run it back with a healthy Tatum entering training camp in the fall, the front office made the difficult decision to do their best to maximize a return for Brown as they began building a championship-tailored roster. For Stevens, who most likely doesn’t see another way for the Celtics to compete with the likes of the Knicks in 2026-27, Antetokounmpo is his initial target ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday.
