Jaylen Brown is doing his best to block out the trade rumors

LAS VEGAS -- Few players around the league showed more growth during the past season than Jaylen Brown. The second-year guard emerged from a solid, but inconsistent rookie season to become a breakout star alongside Jayson Tatum during the team’s shorthanded run to the Eastern Conference Finals. The 21-year-old managed to average 18 ppg with terrific shooting splits (46% FG, 39.5% 3pt) despite being hampered by a hamstring injury for parts of the final two rounds.

Brown’s quick development has not only made him an essential part of the team’s young core, but has also raised his profile around the league. When All-Star trade names are thrown around, including Kawhi Leonard or Anthony Davis, Brown is generally one of the first names mentioned as a hypothetical piece needed to make a deal. The speculation reached a point last month at which a top national writer entirely focused on whether the Celtics should be willing to include Brown in a deal for Leonard.

The Celtics have understandably passed on offering Brown in any trade talks for Leonard, according to league sources, and the rumors connecting Leonard and Boston have died down in recent weeks.

Trade rumors can take a toll on any player, so BostonSportsJournal.com asked Brown this week in Las Vegas about his reaction to hearing his name so often in speculation and whether the Celtics have tried to reassure him of his status with the team.

Unsurprisingly, Brown wasn’t eager to talk about how he deals with it.

“No comment,” Brown said of his reaction to the rumors. “That’s my only answer right now. No comment.”

Had the Celtics reached out to try to reassure him about his standing in the team in the wake of all the chatter?

“A little bit, maybe,” Brown admitted to BSJ. “Not really too much. My job is to play and that’s what I continue to do.”

Danny Ainge acknowledged last month that the constant leaks and speculation had been a challenge to deal with, due to the hysteria it creates among his own players.

“I don’t like how names are just thrown around,” Ainge said. “You guys probably don't care about the names, and that's your job is to make good stories and have things to talk about on the air. But, yeah, most of it's not true but there's sometimes bits and pieces of it that are true. So it's not total lies but -- I can't call it fake news -- but it's complex. These are complex situations and I think that, just like you guys don't like answering or having to respond to rumors, even though it does give you good programming, I don't like it any more, having to deal with the players that are calling me and the agents that are calling me when their name is in a rumor that's like just totally made up.”

The situation will be one to watch as the years go on with Brown. The 21-year-old has two years remaining on his bargain rookie deal, at which point the Celtics will have to make a big decision on the degree of investment they will be able to make with Brown. If he continues at this rate of progression, the athletic wing will be a candidate for a max deal in two more years.

The question is whether the Celtics will be able to afford him at that price with three other max players (Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Gordon Hayward) that are expected to be on the roster in 2020 and another big contract looming for Jayson Tatum in 2021. Of course, things could change quickly next summer, depending on what happens in negotiations with Kyrie Irving (2019) and Al Horford (2020). Irving will get a max deal if he elects to stay in Boston, while Horford’s price point will be an interesting debate when he hits the open market at age 34. The Celtics will be deep into the luxury tax at that point, so it will be hard for them to afford everyone on pricy deals.

The good news for the Celtics is that Brown doesn’t seem to be the type of player to let this long-term uncertainty get into his head. He’s one of the smartest young players in the league and is well aware of the realities of the business, as he discussed Thursday with reporters while speaking on Marcus Smart’s free agency situation.

“When it gets into the politics and the money and the business of it, I can’t do nothing but respect and understand it because at the end of the day that’s what it is,” Brown explained. “So you can’t really get too emotional about it. It’s a business. A lot of guys get caught up because they get their heart stuck in the mix of it, but at the end of the day it’s business.”

The fact remains that Brown isn’t going anywhere right now. An All-Star like Leonard is the only level of player the Celtics should consider moving him for, and there are far too many uncertainties surrounding him from a health and future standpoint right now to pay the Spurs’ asking price (which includes Brown) in any hypothetical package. Any realistic Anthony Davis trade rumors are also on hold until next summer at the earliest in the wake of a successful postseason run by the Pelicans.

In the meantime, Brown remains committed to Boston and getting over the hump in the Eastern Conference. The best way to keep his name out of any future trade rumors is to help bring the Celtics closer to a title as soon as next season. The window is wide open in the Eastern Conference right now for the Celtics, and financial realities may prevent this team from having such a deep collection of talent beyond next year. The urgency there for this group right now.

“We don’t know what the final roster is until later in the summer, so right now we’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves and bring that to the table,” Brown said of next season. “We’ve got a lot of great talent on this team with a great coach, so we’re thinking we’re trying to raise a banner. But we’ve gotta make sure that we take care of ourselves, eat healthy and start for the long haul. We’ve gotta start thinking now rather than start thinking later.”