The Golden State Warriors were reportedly in talks with the Boston Celtics before the February 2026 trade deadline to discuss a package that would have landed them Jaylen Brown in return for an asking price in the range of three to four first-round picks. But they eventually traded the MVP candidate to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Since the Warriors had only three tradable first-round picks in 2025-26, such a package would have additionally included pick-swaps or second-round picks as well. It was previously reported that the Celtics were not interested in any of the assets that the Warriors could offer.
But contrary to the old reports, senior NBA insider Shams Charania now claims that it was the Warriors who decided to walk away from the table and not the Celtics.
Moreover, they could have re-entered the negotiations this summer with a better offer (four tradable first-round picks) but decided not to.
“The Warriors could’ve got in the Jaylen Brown sweepstakes if they wanted to give up four first-round picks-ish, in that range. They decided not to, from my understanding,” Charania said during his recent appearance on the Stephen A. Smith show.
“Those two teams, the Warriors and Celtics, did talk about a Jaylen Brown trade around the trade deadline, and it was around several first-round draft picks, potential swaps, and seconds. The Warriors decided not to go down that route, and so that’s on them. That’s the decision they made.”
“If they had gone out and got that done, does that make LeBron James more viable? If the Warriors had gone out and been willing to give up several draft picks to go get an Anthony Davis from Washington, does LeBron James follow suit?”
“My understanding was that if the Warriors were able to get Anthony Davis, they had as good a chance, if not better than anyone, to get a LeBron James, and I think you have to look at that in the calculus of everything,” concluded Charania.
According to reports, it was seeing the addition of Jaylen Brown to their roster that pushed LeBron James to even consider joining the 76ers in the first place. Makes you wonder how elite this trio would have been on the Warriors.
If the Warriors had landed Brown in February, they would have also had a younger player to build their future around and would have made a compelling case for how LeBron James’ addition could seriously help them elevate to championship contention in the present as well. But they decided to retain the draft assets over cashing in on Stephen Curry’s final years with the team.
This might further fuel the seemingly growing rift between Stephen Curry and the Warriors’ front office. For now, it is expected that Curry will sign a contract extension this summer. But I doubt that it means that he will stop pushing them to make win-now moves.
Which is exactly why there is a growing buzz around the league that Curry might ask for a trade if they are no longer contending. It will be very interesting to see what the Warriors’ front office decides to do in this situation.
