Boston failed to get Giannis Antetokounmpo this week, watching him head to Miami instead. However, the story that’s dominating Boston isn’t the star they missed. It’s the one they nearly traded away to get him, and whose future in Boston is now anything but settled.

Chris Mannix on Wednesday reported that the Celtics have already opened dialogue with Cleveland about a deal centered on Evan Mobley, who is entering the second year of a $269 million five-year deal he signed with the Cavs.

“I spent some time this afternoon talking to different teams about what might the Celtics be interested in,” Mannix said via ESPN Cleveland. “And the name that came back to me a lot was Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mobley is one of those guys that could fit the archetype of the type of player the Celtics are looking for.”

Mannix’s take depends on Donovan Mitchell. The Cavaliers are in win-now mode with Mitchell approaching 30 and James Harden in his late 30s, and the front office is also trying to lock Mitchell into a contract extension. “Donovan Mitchell likes Evan Mobley fine,” Mannix said, “but if you bring Jaylen Brown in, a championship-level guy, someone you’re close with, I think he might like that more.”

Evan Mobley, 25, is viewed as Cleveland’s last young former star that they wanted to build the franchise around, after the team parted with Darius Garland to acquire Harden. Cleveland operates as a second-apron team, meaning that any outgoing salary must be matched dollar-for-dollar with what comes back.

The longer Boston kept trying to get Antetokounmpo, the clearer it became that the organization was willing to break up its own core to land a two-time MVP, and was fully aware of the risk that doing so could permanently damage its relationship with Brown.

Brian Windhorst reported that a “bidding war” for Jaylen Brown is now possible, with teams around the league preparing offers in case he wasn’t sent to Milwaukee as part of the Antetokounmpo deal. Brown himself has already broken his silence on the situation, as he issued a warning to those hoping to see him moved.

Brad Stevens Won’t Shut the Door, Even While Praising Brown

Brad Stevens on Tuesday chose his words carefully when responding to questions about the future of Jaylen Brown:

“Jaylen Brown’s a big part of us,” Stevens said in a team press conference. “I’m never gonna predict the future, but everything I think about, over the past few years, has been building around those guys. You never know, but the one thing I want to make very clear is how valued he’s always been. … Whether that run ends 10 years from now, when he retires, or before, there’s a lot to celebrate, and we have a great relationship … But I don’t want to predict the future. I look at it as: this is our team.”

What stood out was “whether that run ends…before” – a statement Stevens introduced unprompted, in the middle of praising Brown’s value. Kendrick Perkins separately suggested that the Celtics may genuinely be ready to move on from Brown, and rumors continue to list the 2024 Finals MVP among the league’s most actively shopped stars this offseason, alongside names like Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis.

Stevens never said the door was closed. In a summer where Boston already proved willing to trade its Finals MVP for the right star, that omission speaks louder than the praise surrounding it.