The Jaylen Brown chatter is starting to pick up, and the Boston Celtics are at least open to hearing offers for their five-time All-Star after coming up short in their push to land Giannis Antetokounmpo earlier this offseason.
Brown makes sense as a target for plenty of teams. He’s coming off a career-best season in Boston during Jayson Tatum’s Achilles recovery, and if he does end up moved after nine seasons with the Celtics, he’d walk into his next stop as an immediate difference-maker.
One possible landing spot that keeps popping up is Utah, and that connection isn’t hard to trace. The Jazz have Boston ties all over the place, with Danny and Austin Ainge running basketball operations, which is enough to make them a speculative dark horse in any Brown discussion.
The price, though, would be steep.
Shams Charania reported, “In some cases, the Celtics have asked for at least four first-round picks for Jaylen Brown.”
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie recently put together a set of possible Brown deals, and one of the scenarios he floated had Utah sending out a package built around Lauri Markkanen.
Vecenie described it this way: “This seems like a fair ask from the Celtics if they were to inquire with the Jazz about a deal. They get a returning centerpiece that matches Brown's salary in Markkanen, a young bench scorer in Sensabaugh, and a couple of draft picks that sweeten the pot.”
From Utah’s side, the appeal is obvious enough. Brown would give the Jazz a top-15 player, a true No. 1 option for the offense, and a wing who would help on the defensive end too.
But that doesn’t mean the Jazz should be sprinting toward the deal.
Utah is in a different spot than a team desperate to make one final swing. This is year one of trying to build a competitive, playoff-level roster. The Jazz have already put time into building chemistry, they’ve got a healthy mix of veterans and younger talent, and they still have future draft flexibility if they want to keep shaping the roster later.
The timeline matters here. The Jazz are not in a position where they need to force a move for Brown right now. They can let this group play out, see what it looks like next season, and revisit bigger decisions next offseason if necessary.
Markkanen is the other major piece of this puzzle. Brown may be the better player in a vacuum, but Markkanen has remained committed to Utah since the rebuild began.
He’s under contract through 2029 on the $238 million deal he signed in 2024, he’s still in his prime, and he just turned in a strong 2025-26 campaign. His game and versatility fit a wide range of Jazz lineups, both now and down the road.
So unless Boston puts something on the table Utah simply can’t turn down, there isn’t much reason for the Jazz to move off Markkanen for Brown.
A front office with Celtics ties might think about it. But thinking about it and actually doing it are two very different things.
For now, Jazz fans probably don’t need to worry about Brown landing in Utah anytime soon. And if a deal ever does get serious, there’s a real chance the Jazz would look back and wonder why they pushed their chips in so early.
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Jazz Have A Free Agency Decision Fans Will Definitely Debate
The Jazz have some real flexibility heading into free agency, with about $15 million in non-taxpayer mid-level exception space to work with, but the first priority remains clear: keeping restricted free agent Walker Kessler in the fold. After that, the front office can start weighing whether to use what it has left on a veteran who helps right away, and the list of names Utah is kicking around reflects that balancing act. Marcus Smart, Matisse Thybulle, Gary Payton II and Tobias Harris each bring something different, whether it is defense, toughness or a more settled scoring presence.
For Jazz fans, the debate is easy to see. Smart would bring a proven edge if the market breaks his way, while Thybulle and Payton would tilt the roster toward pressure defense and energy on the perimeter. Harris is the most familiar offensive bet of the group, especially given Utahs previous interest in him before he landed in Detroit, but each option comes with its own cost and fit questions. However the Jazz choose to use that money, it figures to be one of the more interesting calls of their summer. [Read more 🡒]
What Jaylen Brown Would Really Cost The Jazz
Jaylen Browns name is suddenly sitting in the middle of a lot of speculative trade talk after Boston was said to be open to offers for the five-time All-Star, and Utah has naturally surfaced as a team worth watching. The Jazz have former Celtics executives in their front office, which gives any Boston-to-Utah conversation a little extra oxygen, especially with ideas floating around that involve Lauri Markkanen and draft capital.
For Utah, though, the question is less about the allure of a marquee scorer and more about timing. The Jazz have shown no urgency to chase a blockbuster, preferring to keep developing the roster they have and preserve flexibility for what comes next, which makes any Brown pursuit feel more like a debate than an inevitability. And with Markkanen still locked in as a long-term piece, the front office would have to decide whether this is the kind of swing that changes the franchise or just the sort that empties the cupboard. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Are Circling Walker Kessler Again And Jazz Fans Know Why
The Lakers are getting a head start on free agency, and Walker Kessler is part of the conversation again. Los Angeles has lined up meetings with several targets as it tries to add frontcourt help, and the Jazz center is drawing enough leaguewide attention to remain on the radar even as he enters restricted free agency. For Utah, that interest is hardly surprising after Kessler flashed real two-way value before his season was interrupted by a left shoulder injury, a stretch that only sharpened the sense that his market could get complicated.
Kessler is not the only name tied to the Lakers early push. Sandro Mamukelashvili is expected to have plenty of suitors after declining his option with Toronto, while Gary Trent Jr. is also on Los Angeles board after opting out in Milwaukee. For Jazz fans, the Kessler piece is the one to watch, because a team with the Lakers profile circling a restricted free agent always raises the same question: how far will the bidding go before Utah has to decide whether to match and keep its defensive anchor in place? [Read more 🡒]