After failing to complete a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Celtics may be searching for another blockbuster deal.
Jaylen Brown was reportedly the centerpiece of Boston's package for Antetokounmpo, who is on his way to Miami after spending 13 seasons in Milwaukee. Even with an Antetokounmpo trade off the table, Brown could still be on the move, as the Celtics haven't shut the door on an offseason deal.
Brown is coming off the best individual season of his career. He averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game in 2025-26, earning All-NBA Second Team honors. Has he already played his last game in a Boston uniform?
Here are the latest updates on talks surrounding the Celtics star.
Jaylen Brown trade rumors tracker
Wednesday, June 24
Celtics actively engaged in Jaylen Brown talks
On the second night of the 2026 NBA Draft, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Celtics are "actively engaged" in trade talks surrounding Brown.
"There is a sense of purpose from teams around the league that they feel from the Celtics in these conversations," Charania said. "That does not mean, though, that a deal is guaranteed because Jaylen Brown does have three years left on his contract. ... His status is very much up in the air in Boston."
Reporting for ESPN NBA Draft show on the Boston Celtics actively engaged in trade talks surrounding Jaylen Brown: pic.twitter.com/pQtHp1zJNm
Brown signed a five-year supermax contract extension with the Celtics in 2023. That deal runs through the 2028-29 season and does not include a player or team option. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2029.
The contract carries a base salary and cap hit of $57,078,728 in 2026-27, per Spotrac.
Boston selected Houston's Chris Cenac Jr. with the No. 27 pick in the draft, adding a young, talented player to the roster, and on Wednesday night have the No. 40 overall pick in the second round. The Celtics won't be able to acquire an elite prospect that far down the draft board, but they have still found valuable players like Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez in that range.
Of course, Boston could include those picks in a trade package if the team is focused on adding a big name following the failed pursuit of Antetokounmpo.
Follow along right here for the full list of Celtics picks from the 2026 NBA Draft.
Celtics NBA Draft picks 2026
Round
Pick
Player
Position
School
1
27
Chris Cenac Jr.
PF
Houston
2
40 (from Bucks via Magic)
Dillon Mitchell
F
St. John's
NBA Draft trade details 2026
Wednesday, June 24
Magic send Felix Okapara to Wizards
Orlando drafted Tennessee center Felix Okpara with the No. 46 overall selection of the night, but he has been traded to the Wizards for picks 51 and 60.
The 60th pick was then traded to the Bucks for cash considerations.
Bulls trade Braden Smith to Pacers
Per ESPN's Shams Charania, the Bulls selected the NCAA's all-time assists leader Braden Smith, but then traded him to the Indiana Pacers for Kam Jones, future swaps and cash.
Thunder trade Ryan Conwell to Heat
After selecting Louisville's Ryan Conwell with the No. 37 pick, the Thunder traded him to the Miami Heat for pick 41 and cash, per ESPN's Shams Charania.
Knicks trade No. 31 pick to Rockets
After acquiring three second round picks on Tuesday night, the Knicks make another move, trading their first pick of the night to the Rockets. Per ESPN's Shams Charania, New York traded picks 31 and 55 for 39, 53 and a 2029 second rounder that belonged to the Kings.
Lakers acquire No. 56 pick from Bulls
Minutes before the second day of the NBA Draft gets underway, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired the No. 56 pick from the Chicago Bulls, sending cash back the other way, per ESPN's Shams Charania.
Tuesday, June 23
Knicks trade first round pick to Mavericks, pick up second rounders
After selecting Sergio De Larrea with the No. 25 pick earlier in the night, the Knicks send him to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Koa Peat — who Dallas selected with the No. 30 pick — and two second-round picks. Then, Peat was traded to the Phoenix Suns as the Knicks picked up three second-rounders and cash; Peat gets to stay in his home state of Arizona, where he also starred for the Wildcats.
Kings select Alex Karaban
The Kings traded for pick 29 from the Cleveland Cavaliers, sending a future second-round pick along with No. 34 to move up. With it, Sacramento selcted Alex Karaban, a two-time national champion at UConn, to pair with Darius Acuff, who was picked by Sacramento earlier in the night.
Spurs trade up to select Tarris Reed
After the Denver Nuggets selected UConn's Tarris Reed with the No. 26 pick, the pick was traded to San Antonio for pick No. 35 and two second round picks. The reigning Western Conference champions one of the strongest players in college basketball to its frontcourt.
Lakers trade up with Knicks
In another trade, the NBA champions New York Knicks trade the No. 24 pick to the Los Angeles Lakers, allowing the Lakers to move up and select Cameron Carr. In exchange, the Knicks get the No. 25 pick and cash considerations.
Thunder trade for Bennett Stirtz
We have our first trade on draft night, with Iowa's Bennett Stirtz getting drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. But, he is immediately traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for two first round picks.
Sources: Memphis is trading No. 16 pick Bennett Stirtz to the Oklahoma City Thunder for two second-round picks.
The first round of the NBA Draft will air live on ABC and ESPN. The second round of the draft will air live on ESPN. Both nights of the event will be available to stream on DIRECTV, fubo and the ESPN app.
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NBA Draft 2026 date, start time
Date: Tuesday, June 23 (Round 1) | Wednesday, June 24 (Round 2)
Time: 8 p.m. ET (Rounds 1 and 2)
Location: Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
The NBA Draft will start with Round 1 on Tuesday, June 23, and it will continue with Round 2 on Wednesday, June 24. Both rounds will start at 8 p.m. ET.
The event will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
NBA Draft order 2026
Round 1
Pick
Team
1
Washington Wizards
2
Utah Jazz
3
Memphis Grizzlies
4
Chicago Bulls
5
Los Angeles Clippers (from Pacers)
6
Brooklyn Nets
7
Sacramento Kings
8
Atlanta Hawks (from Pelicans)
9
Dallas Mavericks
10
Milwaukee Bucks
11
Golden State Warriors
12
Oklahoma City Thunder (from Clippers)
13
Miami Heat (traded to Bucks)
14
Charlotte Hornets
15
Chicago Bulls (from Trail Blazers)
16
Memphis Grizzlies (from Suns) *(Traded to Thunder)*
17
Oklahoma City Thunder (from 76ers) *(Traded to Grizzlies, traded to Pistons)*
18
Charlotte Hornets (from Magic)
19
Toronto Raptors
20
San Antonio Spurs (from Hawks)
21
Detroit Pistons (from Timberwolves) *(Traded to Grizzlies)*
BOSTON — The last time the Celtics fought and clawed for their playoff lives, they were without their face of the franchise in Jayson Tatum. The C’s star was still going through return-to-play protocols, so after a left knee issue popped up, he was shut down ahead of Game 7 against the 76ers.
Tatum now gets a full offseason to recover after playing in 22 combined games between the regular season and playoffs. While he wasn’t at 100% coming back from his Achilles injury, Tatum still played at a high level in his return. Celtics president Brad Stevens, speaking after the first round of the NBA Draft on Tuesday, gave a health update on the Celtics star.
“He’s been good,” Stevens said. “A lot of the younger guys have been here because they are ramping up to play in Summer League. We haven’t been done as early as we’ve been done in a long time. They actually went away for awhile and came back for a couple weeks so they have spent a lot of time together. Jayson joined them last week to start to ramp up. He’s good some travels coming up. He’s got his camp coming up and I think he’s excited about getting on the court with some of those young pups a little bit.”
But regardless of what the Celtics do this summer, Tatum’s health is one of the most important pieces. Tatum remarked how, at the end of the season, his right calf was still smaller than his left one coming back from his Achilles injury. It was one of those realities that, yes, despite his great play, he wasn’t close to 100% yet. He’ll have a chance to get back to full strength now that he has a full offseason ahead of him.
“I‘m very happy that I came back to be a part of his team,” Tatum said back in May. “To get back to doing what I love, to help us, give us a chance to compete for a championship, to prove to myself that I can get back to being the guy who I was, and hopefully better. And just to kind of defy what this injury kind of means.”
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BOSTON — The Celtics have their latest first-round pick, selecting Houston big man Chris Cenac Jr. at 27th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. It was clear the C’s could look to bolster their big man depth through the draft, and that’s what they did with Cenac.
Cenac figures to join a center rotation that already has Neemias Queta and Luka Garza. Queta is the projected starter after his breakout season. Of course, the Celtics could still add to their roster with free agency set for next week. How Cenac figures to be in the mix remains to be seen, but he’s officially with the C’s now.
Here are four things to know about Cenac, the Celtics’ newest first-round pick:
Cenac is still young
While college players are trending older in this current age, that isn’t the case for Cenac. He’s still just 19 and won’t turn 20 until next February. That means Cenac still has a lot of time to round out his game going forward. On the flip side, it also means he’s still a raw prospect coming out of Houston. Cenac was also rated as a five-star player coming out of high school and was nationally a top-10 prospect, per 247Sports.
Cenac will likely need some time to start his career
The Celtics added some size with Cenac, who was measured at 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan. That should fit right in at the next level. He’ll likely need to add some muscle and weight considering the league’s physicality, but Cenac has time to grow into an NBA body. Just don’t expect Cenac to be an immediate starter quite yet.
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The skills and abilities are tantalizing, but Cenac is still raw. It also remains to be seen if Boston continues to add more size to its roster. Considering he was the 27th overall pick, it’s no surprise to see the Celtics go with an upside pick who won’t necessarily contribute from Day 1.
“There certainly probably is a lot of excitement and expectation from his, but we were sitting here last year and I didn’t think the guy that we drafted would play at all for us,” C’s president Brad Stevens said. “But you never know. Let’s see. We’ll see how they all come in and work and he’ll certainly have the opportunity like everybody else. But you’re behind when you’re 19 and you’re dealing with now men.”
Cenac is already a strong rebounder
Of Cenac’s skills that immediately stand out, rebounding is one of them. He was already grabbing boards consistently for the Cougars and should be a reliable guy on the defensive glass. Cenac also created consistent second-chance opportunities for the Cougars last season. Considering the emphasis C’s coach Joe Mazzulla puts on rebounding, that’s already a good sign for Cenac going forward.
“He’s just a good young player,” Stevens said. “Energetic. Plays hard. Excellent athlete. Long. Fits a position of need. Some things that we were a little short on this year from an athletic perspective, I think with his size and his length.
Cenac comes from a gritty Houston program
The Cougars haven’t made it to the top of college basketball under coach Kelvin Sampson, but his program still commands a ton of respect. Houston is consistently one of the toughest teams in the nation that plays a physical brand of basketball. Stevens was plenty happy to grab someone who was developed with that in mind. Cenac averaged 9.5 points and 7.9 rebounds in 37 games for Houston last season.
“When you play in the program he’s played for, he’s been taught well and been held to a high standard,” Stevens said. “I like that, and he will undoubtedly come here and be eager to jump into it. He’s a good worker, he’s a good person and he’s got a lot to learn. But we’re excited about starting that process with him.”
Now that Antetokounmpo is in Miami, insiders think teams will start trying to trade for Brown. This has sparked plenty of discourse about Brown and whether the Celtics should trade him or not. In this discourse, some insiders are bringing up what Jaylen Brown said on a livestream after the season.
Brown said that last season was his favorite season. Some found this odd, considering Jayson Tatum missed most of the season and the Celtics were bounced in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Brown has already clarified what he meant by those comments, but once again called out ESPN and Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday.
"ESPN is unethical, and Stephen A. Smith is the head face of that," Brown said at Cannes at Sport Beach in a video posted on X. "The organization and players were all in agreement. They all knew what I meant by that. Our team basically salary dumped. We lost a lot of players and for us to emerge and still be in the same position."
With Brown's name popping up in trade rumors again, media personalities are pointing to his comments after the season ended as a way to say he no longer wants to be in Boston and likes being a No. 1 option. However, Brad Stevens noted in his post-draft press conference on Wednesday that he thinks Brown and Tatum can still win together and coexist.
Smith and Brown have gotten into it on social media a few times since the Celtics season ended, so this is not much of a surprise at this point.
The first round of the 2026 NBA Draft was on Tuesday night, but the biggest concern for Celtics fans was not landing Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo in a trade on Monday.
Milwaukee decided to trade Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat instead of the Celtics. This deal will take effect at the beginning of July. Boston's president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, did not want to comment on missing out on Antetokounmpo.
"I'm not going to talk about those types of things," Stevens said Tuesday on not landing Antetokounmpo. "We'll do it if we ever have a deal and are ultimately allowed to talk about it. I am not going to go into specifics on that."
Brad Stevens declined to get into any specifics on how close the Celtics were to landing Giannis pic.twitter.com/9gucsKlUpS
Stevens gave the standard response that front-office members typically offer at press conferences after failing to secure a significant deal. It seems that Stevens may not want to elaborate, especially since Boston appeared willing to trade Jaylen Brown for Antetokounmpo. Now, the Celtics may need to repair their relationship with Brown and don't want anything more to come out than what's already been reported.
Just because Stevens didn't acquire Antetokounmpo doesn't mean he isn't working on another significant trade. Stevens has successfully executed many big trades in the past, and he may have something unexpected planned that no one sees coming.
The Boston Celtics added a new name to the roster on Tuesday night, selecting Houston's Chris Cenac Jr. with the No. 27 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Cenac Jr. represents a massive value grab late in the first round, sliding to No. 27 despite flashing the raw physical traits of a lottery selection. Standing 6-foot-11 with a massive 7-foot-5 wingspan, the freshman forward/center gives Boston a highly intriguing, long-term developmental project.
While a loaded roster means minutes will have to be earned from day one, Cenac Jr. has the defensive tools and complementary skill set to carve out a definitive role in Boston.
Get to know the new Celtics rookie who will soon be rocking the green and white.
Why did the Celtics select Chris Cenac Jr.?
The Celtics opted to select Cenac Jr. with the No. 27 pick, giving Joe Mazzulla a pick with plenty of upside to add to their frontcourt.
Cenac Jr. was a consensus five-star prospect and the No. 1 ranked center in the Class of 2025, and though his stats did not jump off the stat sheet at Houston, there are plenty of reasons for fans to be optimistic.
Outside the stats, Cenac Jr. played for one of the best cultures in college basketball, with Kevin Sampson at Houston. The Cougars were the top defensive team in America, with a defensive rating of over 90 when Cenac Jr. was on the court, and he will add plenty of that end for Boston.
On the other side, he is not only a presence inside, shooting 48.5% from the field.
That raw potential makes Cenac Jr. the perfect clay for Mazzulla’s development system. Since taking over the Celtics' bench, Mazzulla has built a reputation for maximizing role players and integrating young talent.
Stepping into a culture that mirrors the defensive intensity he just left at Houston, Cenac Jr. will be given the structural freedom to refine his perimeter game and develop his 7-foot-5 wingspan at a manageable pace behind an established veteran frontcourt.
Though he occasionally struggled with foul trouble and efficiency under Sampson at Houston, playing in one of the nation's most grueling, defense-first collegiate cultures perfectly prepared him for the physical demands of the next level.
For a team that doesn't need immediate, heavy rotation minutes from a rookie, Boston is the perfect landing spot for Cenac Jr. to refine his high-ceiling toolkit without the pressure of a rushed timeline.
How Chris Cenac Jr. impacts Celtics' lineup?
Cenac Jr. adds to a Celtics frontcourt that has plenty of room for development. Boston's frontcourt was rotational through the second half of the 2025-26 season, with Neemias Queta, Luka Garza and Nikola Vucevic splitting minutes. The hope is Cenac Jr. will be the starting big before long.
While Boston has wings in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, it lacks a real rim runner, and Cenac Jr. can provide this.
Cenac’s elite physical tools — specifically his 7-foot-5 wingspan and explosive verticality — give the Celtics a dynamic structural dimension they drastically lacked last season. While Boston's primary offensive actions flow through their premier wing engines, having a high-flying vertical threat forces opposing rim protectors to look different ways.
If he is able to develop right, Cenac Jr. can turn into a real threat on the offensive side of the court, while the floor he already gives is defensive tenacity instilled by one of the best coaches in college basketball and the intangibles to succeed in the NBA. Despite playing just under 25 minutes per game at Houston, he led the Cougars in rebounding with 7.9 boards a night, proving he isn’t afraid to initiate contact and box out older, more physical frontcourt players.
An emotional Chris Cenac Jr. walked the draft stage wiping tears after being selected by the Boston Celtics with the No. 27 pick.
In Mazzulla's scheme, which often demands big men to switch out onto smaller guards on the perimeter, Cenac's multi-directional fluidity and lateral quickness give him the tools to succeed. He'll immediately contribute to the Celtics with the hope of blossoming into a superstar.
Chris Cenac Jr. college stats
While Cenac Jr. was not Houston's flashiest player, he still had a productive year in his one season for the Cougars.
News of a league-altering trade was broken late Monday night, when ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the Milwaukee Bucks were sending superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat in return for a massive haul including Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucioni, and draft compensation.
The blockbuster deal, which isn’t set to be finalized until July 6, ends months of speculation that the 2025-26 season would be Antetokounmpo’s last in Milwaukee. The Heat and Boston Celtics were seen as the last players at the finish line, with the Celtics offering a package around star shooting guard Jaylen Brown.
In fact, the Celtics were so close to getting a deal done that senior Chris Haynes, the senior NBA insider for NBATV and the NBA on Prime, was touting the Cs as the favorites to land Antetokounmpo just moments before the news of the trade broke.
“Well, from what I’m hearing, it sounds like the Boston Celtics are the frontrunners to land Giannis Antetokounmpo,” Haynes said on the NBATV set. “The expectation and belief is that a deal will be done by the draft. And the owner, the owner for the Milwaukee Bucks, they said this a couple months ago; they said they were looking to do so.
BREAKING: The Bostin Celtics are the favorites to land Giannis, per @ChrisBHaynes
“The Boston Celtics are the front runners to land Giannis Antetokounmpo…. I can expect something to be done by end of the day but if not, most definitely by the draft. Right now I’m hearing the… pic.twitter.com/NJlVD9Zctn
“And I would say probably about a couple of weeks ago, teams were starting to hear, starting to hear some intel about how the Bucks might even take this past the draft and go on to free agency. But, you know, the last 48 hours or so, I think that has changed. And from what I’m hearing from all accounts, is that the Milwaukee Bucks are ready to make a move. I will expect—I can expect — something to be done by the end of the day. But if not today, most definitely on the day of the draft. And, um, right now I’m hearing the Boston Celtics, not the Miami Heat, are the favorites to land him in a trade.”
It’s worth noting that Haynes wasn’t the only one pointing toward a Celtics-Bucks deal being imminent, with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reporting that Boston was “all in” on getting a deal done for the former MVP. So while Haynes’ sources and reporting don’t appear to have been erroneous, there’s no denying that his timing was brutal.
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