After the Celtics made a pair of big trades ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft, the rumor mill swirled around the organization. In the lead-up to the draft, there were murmurs the team could trade one of Jaylen Brown or Derrick White. Now, the caveat was that it would take a massive haul to land either core Celtic.
Turns out, per Boston vice president Mike Zarren, they weren’t that close to trading away one of their star players as he addressed the trade rumors. Zarren spoke Thursday after the conclusion of the 2025 draft as the Celtics added three new faces to the roster and organization.
“Those two guys are really, really great NBA players, and there hasn’t been anything close to serious about trading them,” Zarren said. “I’m not sure where all this reporting came from but those guys are key parts of our team, and we’re lucky to have them here.”
The reporting was that the Celtics were getting calls on both White and Brown. Teams saw that the C’s traded away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis as the franchise cut payroll significantly. Considering more trades were expected, that’s when there were questions on if the Celtics would seriously consider moving one of their key guys.
But it appears no team was willing to meet Boston’s high price point. It even got to the point where the Celtics reportedly laughed off a trade offer, when the Raptors shopped the No. 9 overall pick for White. The amusement was more that it would be a straight swap, which was not close to enough to land a caliber of White’s player.
The Celtics did make a trade during the draft, but it was a relatively minor one as they traded down from the 32nd overall pick. In the deal, they got the 46th pick (Amari Williams) and 57th pick (Max Shulga), along with a second-round pick in 2026 and 2027. So, there were no fireworks despite the trade speculation.
“All the time we’re looking for the ability to get more assets in the future and still get a bunch of good players,” Zarren said. “And we felt pretty confident that there’d be guys we liked lower in the draft and we had the ability to add a couple of really good future draft picks in addition to getting those guys. So, that’s what we did.”