The trade winds were swirling around the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft following the team dealing away Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday for salary relief. MassLive reported that multiple teams were inquiring about Jaylen Brown and Derrick White in potential deals, which was confirmed by multiple outlets.
The team that showed interest in Brown remained a bit of a mystery entering draft night but one report from Brett Siegel indicated that the Utah Jazz, now led by former Celtics front office executive Austin Ainge were making an aggressive push to land the Celtics All-Star entering draft night.
Utah ended up standing pat with their No. 5 overall pick last night and selected Rutgers wing Ace Bailey. However, Austin Ainge made a point to address the Jazz’ interest in Brown with reporters in Utah after last night’s draft.
“I don’t like to confirm or deny rumors, just as a policy. But, I will this time: No. That hasn’t happened,” Ainge said. “No conversations that way.”
The denial makes sense when you look at where the Jazz stand as a franchise. The team has a single All-Star level talent in Lauri Markkanen but is full of young players and veterans on expiring contracts (John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Colin Sexton). Giving up a considerable haul for a 28-year-old would not seem to align with Utah’s timeline since are far from being a playoff team in the Western Conference, much less than a true contender.
Brad Stevens also indicated that Brown remains a part of the Celtics offseason plans moving forward as of now despite trade rumors swirling over the last few days.
“We’ll do our best to put the right group together, and, at the same time, regain some flexibility and maximize some asset return,” Brad Stevens said after draft night. “But I do think we’ve got a good group. We’ve got the foundation with Jaylen and Jayson and D-White and Payton and all those guys that a lot of teams love to have.”
The Celtics and Jazz will likely continue tweaking their rosters as they head into NBA free agency next week.