Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens hears all of the trade chatter about the Sixers wanting Jaylen Brown in any sort of Ben Simmons deal. Stevens made sure to be proactive in his communication with his star forward.
“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 recently said of his conversation with Brown via Toucher & Rich on 98.5 The SportsHub (h/t CelticsBlog). “I just wanted to make sure that he has that peace of mind.”
The Celtics have interest in Simmons and while Danny Ainge is no longer around, Stevens is a disciple of the former Boston great, so it’s fair to expect that the front office is still always looking to upgrade.
“When you get into trade rumors, obviously, there’s going to be rumors, there’s going to be talks,” Stevens said on the speculation. “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.”
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