Brad Stevens Directly Addresses Jaylen Brown Situation After Giannis Antetokounmpo Chase

BOSTON — Moments after selecting Chris Cenac Jr. with the 27th pick in the NBA draft, Brad Stevens sat down to take questions from the media. But most of the questions had to do with Jaylen Brown.

The Boston Celtics very publicly pursued Giannis Antetokounmpo, reportedly offering Brown and draft picks in an effort to add the former Milwaukee Bucks star. That pursuit failed, and Antetokounmpo is headed to Miami, which puts the Celtics in a bit of a bind. Not only did they not get the guy they were chasing, Brown had to watch his name get thrown into trade rumors again.

"We've met,” Stevens said, noting that he and Brown have spoken on multiple occasions since the offseason began. “[We spoke] 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, been 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. But we certainly wanted to be as proactive and upfront as possible. I thought we had really good, candid conversations."

Steven refused to divulge what was said in those conversations, choosing to keep the details private. However, he did acknowledge the very public nature of Boston’s trade efforts.

“It’s not easy to be in the national rumor mill. Again, I’m extremely understanding of that,” Stevens said. “There always has to be discussions. I just keep going back to this. That’s why I just try to be as up front as possible and as candid as possible at the beginning, long before any talks begin so that our guys understand that being here and being in the limelight, they’re gonna have a lot of attention on them regardless, and then they also understand that there are things that are exaggerated at this time of the year and there are things that are real, so they’ve been through all that stuff and felt all that stuff. But it doesn’t mean it’s easy.”

Stevens also chose not to discuss the trade discussions, saying he’d only discuss deals that are done. We also haven't heard anything from Brown, who has been mostly quiet about the rumors other than acknowledging them on a Twitch stream and saying people commenting that he should be traded are motivating him. An optimist would say these conversations between Stevens, Brown, and his agent are the kind of up-front discussions athletes tend to appreciate. The pessimist would say Brown’s name in trade rumors has reached it nadir, and there's no coming back from that.

Steven left enough up to interpretation that his comments will be used by both sides as evidence. But perhaps the most telling answer of the night came when he was asked directly if Brown would be on the team on opening night. It’s a yes or no question that got neither answer.

“Jaylen Brown is a big part of us. I'm never going to predict the future,” Stevens said. “Every indication, everything that I think about over the past few years has been building around those guys, right? Obviously, you never know. But at the same time, I think the one thing that I want to make very clear is how valued he's always been.

“He's been amazing. He's been an amazing teammate. Great person to be around. Whether that run ends 10 years from now when he retires or before, there's a lot to celebrate. We have a great relationship and an open relationship where we talk about everything. But I don't want to predict the future. I look at it as this is our team."

Stevens has always preached flexibility for his team, and that's what that answer gave him. There's enough in there to suggest Brown might stay in Boston, but there's also plenty that suggests he won’t. Stevens spent a lot of time Tuesday night on the clock to make a draft pick, but a bigger, louder clock is ticking on the Brown situation. Stevens said a lot, but none of it added any clarity to a murky situation.

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