Celtics president of basketball operations and former coach Brad Stevens said he told guard/forward Jaylen Brown there’s no truth behind all the recent trade rumors.
Several reports have linked Brown to a potential deal involving 76ers guard/forward Ben Simmons, first by Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Celtics are one of the 10 reported teams to have engaged the 76ers about a Simmons trade.
“I just walked up to Jaylen and said, ‘Your name is all over the place as you know. Obviously, from our standpoint, you’re a Celtic and obviously a guy that we think exceptionally high of. Nothing doing,’” Stevens said on 98.5 The Sports Hub, via CelticsBlog. “I just wanted to make sure that he has that peace of mind.”
Stevens is in his first season as chief of basketball operations, with Ime Udoka in his first year as coach. The Celtics have gotten off to a fairly rocky start and Brown is currently sidelined with a hamstring strain.
“When you get into trade rumors, obviously, there’s going to be rumors, there’s going to be talks,” Stevens said. “We have to be on the phones, but we also have to be prudent and smart about what we’re doing with our own team. I would say most of the time that I’ve been here at least, there’s a lot less to it that’s real.”
Brown, 25, is 6-foot-6 and averaging 25.6 points and 6.1 rebounds in eight games this season.
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