{"id":147357,"date":"2025-06-27T12:26:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T16:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=147357"},"modified":"2025-06-27T12:26:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T16:26:55","slug":"celtics-shut-down-jaylen-brown-derrick-white-trade-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/27\/celtics-shut-down-jaylen-brown-derrick-white-trade-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics Shut Down Absurd Trade Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After the Boston Celtics traded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is<\/a>, some people speculated this meant Boston was going to enter a full rebuild. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1937715383785464189\/video\/1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shams Charania repeatedly<\/a> said that the Celtics were getting massive offers for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Brown<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whitede01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick White<\/a>. This sparked plenty of unwanted rumors for Celtics fans. However, speaking after the draft, Celtics vice president of basketball operations Mike Zarren emphatically shut down these trade rumors.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There hasn&#8217;t been anything close to serious about trading them. I&#8217;m not sure where all this reporting came from. Those guys are key parts of our team, and we&#8217;re lucky to have them here.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/zm_cox\/status\/1938435671758123471\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Zarren said<\/a> when asked about the trade rumors surrounding Brown and White.<\/p>\n<p>Zarren&#8217;s comments come as a sigh of relief to Celtics fans and should stop discussions about trading these two key pieces. Let&#8217;s further explore why keeping Brown and White is a no-brainer decision.<\/p>\n<h2>Celtics Shut Down Absurd\u00a0Trade Rumors<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_147366\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-147366\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-147366\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24660481_168404824_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-147366\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nov 2, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla argues a call as the Celtics play against the Charlotte Hornets during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>The Trade Rumors Never Added Up<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, there&#8217;s probably significant interest around Brown and White. A return package would also be sizable; however, it would likely be centered around picks and\/or young talent, which doesn&#8217;t benefit the Celtics. The other reason people speculated about possible Brown and White trades was money. However, after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/24\/kristaps-porzingis-obvious-celtics-benefit\/\" target=\"_self\">getting under the second apron<\/a>, this doesn&#8217;t make as much sense. Notably, the Celtics saved $180 in luxury tax payments after trading Porzi\u0146\u0123is and Holiday.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the Celtics will save more money with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hausesa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Hauser<\/a> trade likely on the horizon. While the Celtics won&#8217;t be contenders in the 2025-26 season, they could be once Tatum returns in the following season. The Celtics&#8217; short-term goal was to save money for next season, and they did that. Regardless, their long-term goal is to build another contender around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-06-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a> when he is fully healthy in the 2026-27 season. That&#8217;s something you can&#8217;t do by trading Brown and\/or White.<\/p>\n<h3>Brown and White are Crucial to the Celtics<\/h3>\n<p>Brown and White are essential to the Celtics&#8217; success on both ends of the court. With Tatum injured, Brown will take over first-option responsibilities. When Tatum is healthy, JB is the league&#8217;s best second option. Offensively, Brown&#8217;s ability to relentlessly attack the rim and create his own shot is infinitely valuable. The Celtics&#8217; offense is built around the Jays creating shots for themselves and others. Defensively, Brown is an elite on-ball stopper. Overall, the 2024 Finals MVP is one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/24\/top-25-nba-players-2024-25-no-13-jaylen-brown\/\" target=\"_self\">best two-way wings<\/a> in the league and an irreplaceable part of the Celtics&#8217; core.<\/p>\n<p>White&#8217;s knockdown three-point shooting and connective playmaking are vital to the Celtics&#8217; offense. Notably, White is coming off a career-best season, where he averaged 16.4 points and broke the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/31\/derrick-white-breaks-celtics-3p-record\/\" target=\"_self\">Celtics franchise record for most threes<\/a> in a season. Furthermore, he is an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/14\/derrick-white-all-defensive-case\/\" target=\"_self\">elite and versatile perimeter defender<\/a>. Similar to Brown, White&#8217;s skill set and impact are impossible to replace.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the Celtics have a clear core with Tatum, Brown, and White. Trading Brown or White would be counterproductive for the Celtics&#8217; future. \u00a0Hopefully, Zarren&#8217;s comments shut down these nonsensical trade rumors once and for all.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Featured image: \u00a9 David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After the Boston Celtics traded Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is, some people speculated this meant Boston was going to enter a full rebuild. Shams Charania repeatedly said that the Celtics were getting massive offers for Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. This sparked plenty of unwanted rumors for Celtics fans. However, speaking after the draft, Celtics [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4779,"featured_media":147367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,5,62,3],"tags":[1090,450],"class_list":["post-147357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-nba","category-news","tag-derrick-white","tag-jaylen-brown"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147368,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147357\/revisions\/147368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}