The Boston Celtics have started to turn a corner lately. They are 4-1 in their last five games and look primed to start climbing the Eastern Conference standings.
Everyone is finally getting healthy, the wins are beginning to pile up, and most people on the roster are playing some of their best basketball of the season.
But unfortunately, that’s not the news today.
NBA Rumors: Jaylen Brown could seek a trade from Celtics this summer
According to NBA rumors from Steve Bulpett of Heavy, if the Celtics don’t start getting their act together by the end of the season, All-Star Jaylen Brown might start thinking about other options.
Bulpett’s sources told him that “Brown could be the one to acknowledge that the mix isn’t right and seek a move” if Boston’s play doesn’t start to improve.
All throughout the season, NBA trade rumors have emerged involving Brown and a bunch of other Celtics players. In large part, the narrative has been that he and fellow superstar Jayson Tatum cannot play together.
This season, Brown is averaging 24.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from three-point range.
Apparently, these issues have been brewing for a while now, too. Bulpett mentioned that some of the problems that could be brewing between Brown and the team have to do with Tatum’s style of play.
Here’s a quote from one of Bulpett’s sources:
“But when it was going bad, it was really hard to watch. It seemed like Brown was feeding off Tatum holding it. Like, Brown goes, ‘Ah, screw it. Tatum’s held it three straight times. Now if I get the ball, I’m shooting no matter what.’”
The Celtics finished last season with a .500 record and they’ve been hovering around that mark this year as well. With Tatum playing so much isolation-heavy basketball, Brown felt the need to do the same.
That same source would go on to admit that the talent is there if the team can learn to play together. And even past that, if the talent starts to gel, moves at the trade deadline might not even be necessary.
Brown choosing to leave the Boston Celtics this summer could be the closest thing to the worst-case scenario. If Boston wants to avoid that situation completely, they need to keep winning.
If not, things could start to get really interesting.