BOSTON — Late Tuesday night, Brad Stevens addressed a roomful of bleary-eyed reporters, all of whom were seeking clarity on Jaylen Brown’s future with the Celtics. For many, they left disappointed. In a 15-ish-minute post-first round media availability—Boston drafted Houston big man Chris Cenac Jr., if you were wondering—Stevens artfully avoided any direct answers on the future of the All-NBA forward. He said Brown was “a big part of us” before adding, “I’m never going to predict the future.” He said he “can’t say enough good things about Jaylen,” but stopped short of committing to Brown being on the roster next season. Said Stevens, “I think the one thing I want to make very clear is how valued he’s always been. And he’s been amazing. He’s been an amazing teammate, great person to be around. And whether that run ends 10 years from now when he retires or before, there’s a lot to celebrate.”Got that? Boston’s courtship of Giannis Antetokounmpo the last few days has been well documented. ESPN reported that the Celtics dangled Brown and a pair of first-round picks to Milwaukee for Antetokounmpo. The Bucks passed, instead accepting a package of players and picks from Miami. But that wasn’t the end of it. Boston continued to discuss Brown trades on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the talks tell Sports Illustrated. Many of the conversations were initiated by rival teams, sources say. Some were brokered by the Celtics. “They are hunting a big man,” says a rival executive. “And they are willing to trade [Brown] to get it.” Brown trade chatter is nothing new. Frankly, it’s unusual when there isn’t any. Since Brown was drafted in 2016, he has been seen as the centerpiece to potential trades for Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis. In 2022, weeks after helping lead Boston to the NBA Finals, Brown was connected to a swap for Kevin Durant. It seems like ever since the Celtics got Brown there have been some level of discussions about moving him. Still, this one feels … different. Following a stunning first-round series loss to Philadelphia, Stevens underscored the need to get better. The team needed to put more pressure on the rim, Stevens said. He pointed out Boston’s record (3–11) against the top-three teams in both conferences. The rise of Victor Wembanyama has increased the need for playoff-ready bigs. And the Celtics have precious few of them. Said Stevens, “We’ve got to do a good job as we build out the roster to have more options.”Clearly, Boston’s roster is flawed. The 56-win season was smoke and mirrors, achieved through Brown’s career-best brilliance, Joe Mazzulla’s coaching and a schedule loaded with tanking teams. Jayson Tatum’s miraculous late-season return fueled a misguided belief that this team could make a deep playoff run when its lack of frontcourt depth made that impossible. Still, trading Brown—even for a talent like Antetokounmpo—would be a radical move. Boston has had enormous success in the Tatum-Brown era. In the last five years, the Celtics have been to three conference finals, two NBA Finals and won a championship. Tatum and Brown are the kind of versatile, high-scoring, two-way wings teams are building around. And both are just hitting their primes. Celtics guard Jaylen Brown and forward Jayson Tatum have led the team to enormous success. | Winslow Townson-Imagn ImagesThe Celtics, seemingly, appear ready to split them up. Evan Mobley is someone Boston is believed to be high on (isn’t everyone?) though extracting Mobley from Cleveland would be both complicated and costly. Houston has an All-Star big man in Alperen Şengün, while Atlanta could put together an interesting package to bring Brown back to his home state. And Boston may not have a choice. Brown was upset when his name came up in trade talks in 2022, sources said back then. It would be unsurprising if he was seething now. Stevens made the point that he has stayed in regular contact with Brown’s representatives the last few days—“We certainly wanted to be as proactive and upfront with that as possible,” Stevens said—while reiterating his value to the team. When asked if another round of trade rumors have soured Brown’s relationship with the franchise, Stevens said, “I would say you would have to ask him.”“It’s not fun and I’m empathetic towards that,” said Stevens. “It’s not fun to be through that. And at the same time, I think my job is to be as candid and upfront as possible prior to and have tried to do that.”Contractually, Brown does not have much leverage. He has three years left on his current deal, which will pay him north of $170 million. But Brown could force the Celtics’ hand. He could insist on a contract extension—Brown is eligible for a two-year tack-on at more than $70 million per season—and he could make a lot of noise if he doesn’t get it. Even if Boston wanted to bring him back into the fold, Brown could make that difficult, if not impossible. We’ll see. With free agency looming, the spotlight has shifted off of Milwaukee and settled directly on Boston. Suddenly the Celtics have the most appealing superstar on the market. Stevens will have to make a franchise-altering decision. Or maybe make none at all. Asked if he still believed the Tatum-Brown duo could deliver a championship, Stevens offered his lone definitive answer. Said Stevens, “Yes.” More NBA From Sports IllustratedListen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow