Jaylen Brown’s name has now joined the long list of stars the Warriors let slip by, and the latest reporting only makes the decision look more puzzling.
Shams Charania reported that Golden State did not want to meet the Celtics’ asking price. Logan Murdock of The Ringer added another layer to the story, saying the Warriors had a chance to get Brown before the February deadline in the 2026 NBA trade deadline window, but couldn’t get everyone in the organization to agree he was the right fit to lead the team after Stephen Curry.
“The Warriors had an opportunity to trade for the former Celtic before the deadline in February, but couldn’t build an organizational consensus that Brown would be the right player to carry the Warriors beyond the [Stephen] Curry era.”
That explanation is hard to square with what Brown has been on the floor. He’s coming off a season in which he averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.0 steal per game, while shooting 48-35-80.
With Jayson Tatum missing most of the year, Brown helped keep Boston afloat and finished sixth in the MVP race. He was the Celtics’ first option, and he handled that role like a player who belonged in the conversation.
Maybe Brown wasn’t the perfect answer for life after Curry. That part can be debated. But it’s much harder to argue that Golden State has anything close to a better plan in place right now.
The question for the Warriors is simple: what exactly is the post-Curry foundation supposed to be? Brandin Podziemski?
Soon-to-be 24-year-old Yaxel Lendeborg? Brown would have given them a legitimate centerpiece, the kind of player who could anchor whatever comes next.
He also would have done more than just help with the future. Brown would have strengthened the present, too, giving Golden State a steadier path forward even before Curry’s exit. And with Brown in the mix, even the pursuit of LeBron James might have played out differently than it did with him in Philadelphia.
Instead, the Warriors passed, and the reason they gave doesn’t make much sense when measured against the kind of player Brown has already proven himself to be.
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