Jaylen Brown Emerging As Trade Candidate for Cavaliers After Giannis Trade

Giannis Antetokounmpo has finally been traded, but that did not erase any momentum on a potential Evan Mobley trade.

Nov 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) and Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) embrace after a game at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images

On June 22nd, the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade saga finally ended as he was traded to the Miami Heat.

Multiple teams were on the table and made bids for the Greek Freak. Two of them being the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now, neither team secured the talents of Giannis and look to be now eying a blockbuster move revolving around Jaylen Brown and Evan Mobley.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, this could become a possibility.

.@SIChrisMannix says that he’s heard the Celtics are showing interest in Evan Mobley

Any deal would send Jaylen Brown to Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/ti3pfYi7R3

— John-Griner Canady (@Johng_c) June 24, 2026

It felt like Boston was ready and willing to give up Brown for Giannis without hesitation. They look to be still open to moving Brown despite missing out on the two-time MVP winner.

The Celtics front office said this morning that Jaylen Brown is still going to be a Celtic. He has three more years left on his current contract.

Why could the Cavs chase Brown?

As for Cleveland, they have made it known that they are open to moving on from the young big man for an older more established star. Jaylen Brown is somebody that has been thought of as a trade candidate for Cleveland for a while.

Brown has proven his ability to carry a team without Jayson Tatum as he did this season. He is also younger than Giannis and we know how Cleveland has shown they are willing to make moves like this in order to bring another championship to Cleveland after the trade for James Harden in February.

A swap of Evan Mobley for Jaylen Brown straight up would likely not be all involved in this deal. The real question here would be which team gives up more. Cleveland does not have the draft capitol to send to Boston.

Dennis Schroder has been a player that Cleveland has been looking to move on from. A return to Boston could be on the table for Schroder, who played 49 games there during the 2021-22 season.

Donovan Mitchell’s Opinion

One of the bigger factors to a potential Jaylen Brown would obviously be Donovan Mitchell. It has seemed like all offseason that Mitchell would prefer to keep this current team together, based off of his posts on Instagram.

He posted the whole team on Instagram with the caption “Back Soon”. So if Cleveland wants to move on from Mobley for Brown it really feels like something they would discuss with their number one guy.

But they may get a response that surprises them.

Donovan Mitchell has a great relationship with Jaylen Brown. The two of them are close friends going back to high school. Despite that relationship off the court, on-court, they are fierce rivals.

That may be something Mitchell would rather keep that way. That rivalry on court goes back for many many years and it could bring some trouble in the locker room between the two.

A move for Jaylen Brown would be huge for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but could it backfire with Mitchell due for a contract extension? Giving up a player he clearly wants to keep could bring him to move on from Cleveland.