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Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics need an elite big man. Both Neemias Queta and Nikola Vucevic struggled badly during the team’s postseason loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Since Boston’s elimination, the future of Jaylen Brown has become a talking point, both among the media and the fanbase. According to Tracy McGrady, Brown has become ‘frustrated’ with the Celtics organization. However, Brown has since dispelled that rumor during a recent livestream.

Nevertheless, the path to improving the current roster could be tied to moving on from Brown, who has three years left on his $285 million deal.

Colin Kennedy of 98.5 The Sports Hub recently proposed a trade that would solve Boston’s need for an elite center while also moving on from Brown’s mammoth contract.

The proposed trade looks like this:

Celtics Get: Bam Adebayo and Davion Mitchell

Miami Heat Get: Jaylen Brown

“Brown wouldn’t be all too upset with a move to Miami, where he would slot in as its No. 1 option,” Kennedy wrote. He would also play under a respected head coach in Spoelstra, who has proven to be an X-factor in the postseason when the Heat made a run to the Finals as an eight seed.”

Moving on from Brown would undoubtedly be a controversial decision. However, if the trade gets Boston closer to another championship, the fanbase would quickly get on board.

Brad Stevens Is Open To Making Moves

On Wednesday, May 6, Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, spoke with the media for an end-of-season news conference. During his media time, Stevens addressed Boston’s need to improve the current roster in order to get back to contention.

“Obviously, these guys are really committed to growth. I thought the coaches did a really good job of helping guys all get better,” Stevens said. “But there’s another step to take. And whether you’re in my shoes, or you’re in any of our support staff’s shoes, or if you’re in our coaches’ shoes, or if you’re in our players’ shoes, we got to get better. So that’s going to be the charge and the focus.”

Stevens continued.

“So we’ll figure out how best to do that. It’ll probably be a balance of development and, at some point, obviously, with the draft coming up and free agency coming up, and trying to figure out how to make our team as good as it can be.”

Stevens spent last season getting Boston out of the luxury tax. Now, he will look to use that added flexibility to begin reshaping the roster.

Brown Remains Happy With The Celtics

During Brown’s recent Twitch livestream, which occurred on Wednesday, May 6, he reiterated his love for Boston and desire to remain with the team.

“First things first, a lot of stuff swirling around the Celtics and the organization. Hate that our president of basketball operations even had to respond to this,” Brown said. “Me and Brad have a great relationship. I love Boston. If it was up to me, I could play in Boston for the next 10 years. I’ll say it again. I hate that our — I hate that Brad even had to respond to this. Like I said, me and Brad have a great relationship and I can play in Boston for the next 10 years. I love Boston.”

Nevertheless, if the Celtics view Brown as their best route to improving, then they’ll need to make a business decision. Bringing back Adebayo would be a solid return.

Stevens has some tough choices to make.