Jaylen Brown, again, has addressed the constant trade rumors that have surrounded his time with the Boston Celtics recently.
During an interview with Logan Murdock of The Ringer, the two-time All-Star didn’t sound optimistic about his future in Boston.
It was reported last summer that the Celtics offered Brown, guard Derrick White and a draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Kevin Durant, a deal that the Nets refused. Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Brooklyn counteroffered and tried to get Brown, Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, draft picks and “potentially one more rotation player.”
Smart and White are still with Brown and the Celtics, while Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns last month but is injured.
Boston’s first pick (third overall) in the 2016 NBA Draft made headlines last week when he called out a perceived “problematic” portion of the Celtics fan base.
“It’s not the whole Celtic fan base, but it is a part of the fan base that exists within Celtic nation that is problematic,” Brown said, during an interview with Sopan Deb of The New York Times. “If you have a bad game, they tie it to your personal character.”
The 26-year-old is having arguably the best season of his seven-year career. Through 60 games, Brown has averaged career highs in points (26.7), rebounds (6.9) and minutes per game (36.2), while matching his high mark in steals per contest (1.2) and career-best 49.0% from the field and 7.2% from the free throw line.