Evan Mobley #4 of the Cleveland Cavaliers could be an NBA trade target.

The Boston Celtics came out of the long slog of Giannis Antetokounmpo trade negotiations on Monday with some relief that the situation had been resolved one one hand, but with two prominent problems on the other hand. The first is that the Celtics don’t have Antetokounmpo on the roster. The second is that they still have Jaylen Brown, after a very public and embarrassing negotiation that made clear the Celtics were ready to move on from Brown.

With the draft behind us and the Celtics–along with the rest of the NBA–gearing up for free agency, keeping an iron in the trade fires is a priority. There will be plenty of inquiries on Brown, now that teams know how willing the Celtics are to move him. But the price will be steep, and it is not clear anyone will be able to meet it.

One player who could pretty much singlehandedly get the Celtics to deal Brown away, though, is a very expensive big man: Cavaliers star Evan Mobley. And league insider Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated says the Celtics have let the Clevelanders know that they’d like to get their hands on Mobley.

Celtics Eager for Evan Mobley

Speaking on NBC Sports Boston, with an incredulous Brian Scalabrine–former Celtics forward, now a broadcaster for the team–Mannix claimed the Celtics are already in contact with the Cavaliers on a Mobley-for-Brown trade.

Mannix said that the Cavs would be motivated by getting star guard Donovan Mitchell to re-sign on an extension. Mitchell and Brown are friends, and Brown would bring the kind of playoff leadership the roster lacked last year.

Brown was the NBA Finals MVP back when the Celtics won it in 2024.

Here’s how Mannix put it for the Celtics: “Cleveland is in win-now mode. We’d agree on that. Mitchell is almost 30, Harden is in his late 30s, like they’re now trying to win. They’re also trying to get Donovan Mitchell’s name on a contract extension. Donovan Mitchell likes Evan Mobley fine, but if you bring Jaylen Brown in, a championship level guy, someone you’re close with, I think he might like that more.”

Brad Stevens Feeling Awkward Situation

On Tuesday, Celtics president Brad Stevens emerged to talk with reporters during the draft, and much of the focus of the question lobbed at Stevens addressed Brown’s situation. Stevens said there is no animosity between the team and Brown, but acknowledged the sides are in an uncomfortable position.

Said Stevens: “We had a couple meetings earlier, end of May, also before he went back oversees a couple days ago. Spent a lot of time, just the two of us, sitting down together and then have been—like every offseason–have been in regular touch with his agent all the way through the last couple of days.

“Obviously, with the rumor mill and all that stuff, name being splashed all over the place. You know, that’s not easy. But certainly, we wanted to be as proactive and upfront with that as possible. And I thought we had really good conversations.”