You know the old internet meme. A dog with a fedora sits in a room. A mug is on a table. And the walls are on fire. Seemingly calm despite the circumstances, the dog says, “this is fine.”
To most of the talking heads, this is where the Celtics are heading into free agency. After striking out in their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, many suspect that 1) Jaylen Brown has/had asked to be traded, 2) bridges have been burned between him and the front office, and/or 3) Brad Stevens is actively shopping the 2024 Finals MVP and 2026 All-NBA Second Teamer.
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On Thursday, ClutchPoint’s Brett Siegel reported that “Jaylen Brown has not once approached the organization or Brad Stevens to ask for a trade.” The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer also said that “Boston is very much moving forward in the market with the thought that they don’t have to trade Jaylen Brown..I don’t believe at this juncture that the Celtics want to move Brown unless it makes them better.”
Despite those missives throwing water on a lot of the speculation from more mainstream outlets like ESPN, there’s still an air of indecision with the fanbase. Brad Stevens tried to quell those rumors in his post-draft presser, but actual NBA GMs and armchair GMs alike have already hit the trade machine with possible deals that could make sense for the Celtics.
We polled our readers on the current state of the team before free agency starts on June 30th at 6 pm EST:
What does Jaylen Brown think? Well, he’s overseas at the moment, but on Wednesday, he simply tweeted that he “loves cats.” It’s not exactly the energy-shifting attitude we were expecting from JB, but it ain’t the “this is fine” dog either.
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Despite the palace intrigue at Waltham, our friends at FanDuel still have the Celtics as the favorite at +210 to represent the East in next year’s Finals and third behind the Thunder and Spurs to raise the Larry O’Brien.