The Nets had the assets to acquire Jaylen Brown from the Celtics before he wound up with the Sixers. However, Brooklyn didn’t want the All-Star forward, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports (subscription required).
The Celtics approached the Nets on a potential Brown deal and he was more than willing to join the Nets. However, Brooklyn chose not to pursue him.
Despite reports linking Michael Porter Jr., Day’Ron Sharpe and draft assets to a potential Brown deal, the Nets passed on Brown. Brooklyn’s brass was concerned that Brown would become a distraction, similar to the issues the Nets had with Kyrie Irving during his time in the organization. Brown and Irving are close friends.
“They weren’t lowballing,” a source told Lewis. “They just shut it down altogether. They just said, ‘We’re not interested.’”
Here’s more on the New York teams:
- Nets guard Egor Demin left their overtime loss to Boston on Tuesday early due to a right leg contusion. Demin had two points and two assists in 10 minutes before departing.
- Knicks assistant coach Chris Jent will be away from the team for an undisclosed period of time due to personal reasons, according to the New York Post’s Jared Schwartz and Stefan Bondy. Jent is an associate head coach who is in charge of the offense under Mike Brown. He hasn’t been on the bench for the last three games, including their victory over the Pistons on Tuesday. Assistant T.J. Saint has filled his role on the front of the bench during that span.
- The Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers have been officially split into two separately publicly traded companies by MSG Sports, The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov reports. Both franchises will continue to be run by James Dolan as their CEO and executive chairman. The Knicks and the G League’s Westchester Knicks are now owned by MSG Knickerbockers Corp., while the Rangers, AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and the MSG training facility are owned by MSG Rangers Corp. Knicks shares are going for approximately $300 apiece.