Report: Spurs ‘Team To Watch The Closest’ For Celtics’ Jaylen Brown

According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the San Antonio Spurs are the “team to watch the closest” for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown. 

“The team I’d watch the closest with Jaylen Brown is probably the Spurs,” Mannix said Wednesday on NBC Sports Boston’s The Off C’season special. “Sure, I think (the Spurs would) love to make a run at Giannis (Antetokounmpo), but do the Bucks ask for Stephon Castle? Like, is that on their wish list? And if it is, I can’t see San Antonio doing a deal like that.

“One of the concerns people in San Antonio told me about is you go and deal for a guy like Giannis, all of a sudden you’ve created a championship window, but it is a window with a closing date. You’ve got De’Aaron Fox, who’s in his late 20s, Giannis in his early 30s and the last thing they want is to have a roster after those guys kind of age out where when (Victor) Wembanyama is maybe looking around going, ‘All right, where are the young guys I’m going to play with after that?’

“It certainly is a problem for another day, but that’s on the mind of the San Antonio Spurs. That’s why they want to hold on to Stephon Castle, so he can be that second guy opposite Wembanyama for a long time, assuming they trade that No. 2 pick.”

The Celtics have to make trades this offseason to avoid having the most expensive roster in the NBA next season.

Boston superstar Jayson Tatum is expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season recovering from his right Achilles tendon tear. 

“I think if you’re Boston, you’re not going to ask for a Stephon Castle. You’re not going to get a Stephon Castle in a potential Jaylen Brown deal,” Mannix said. “You would get the No. 2 pick back in return. You would get the Devin Vassells, the Keldon Johnsons, future first-round capital. That’s something I’d watch if and when the Giannis Antetokounmpo stuff shakes itself out over the next few weeks.”

Brown won the 2024 Finals MVP Award. He will make 53,142,264 next season.

Brown is one of the top players in the NBA. He averaged 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists this season while shooting 46.3% from the field, 32.4% from 3 and 76.4% from the free-throw line. 

A four-time All-Star, Brown finished this season with a partially torn right meniscus. He told Noa Dalzell of Celtics Blog he may undergo surgery this offseason.