The Celtics may have solved their tax problems this offseason, but they appear to have created an even bigger one. Amid the backlash surrounding the Jaylen Brown trade, they might have a fresh issue to address in the upcoming season.

By sending Brown to the Sixers, the Celtics didn’t simply move an All-NBA talent. It may have handed one of the league’s most motivated stars the perfect fuel for a revenge season. Appearing on ESPN’s First Take, senior NBA writer Davis Dennis Jr. warned that the Celtics have unknowingly “put that battery in his back.” He predicts that JB will spend the entire 2026-27 season chasing the league’s biggest individual prize. The MVP award.

“The entire season, he is going to look to be the MVP,” Dennis said. “He is going to look to be the best player in the world.”

The warning carries weight because of what Jaylen Brown accomplished before the trade.

Fresh off his career-best season, Brown finished sixth in the MVP race after averaging 28.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, and 5.1 apg, guiding the C’s to the second seed without Jayson Tatum for a large stretch. 

This heavy lifting only added value to Dennis’ belief that another insult could only elevate his game again. He argued that Brown has always embraced the villain role. 

“Whenever he finds himself in a position where he feels he’s being slighted or where he feels like he has something to prove, he goes out there and takes things to another level,” Dennis said. 

Adding a twist to it, he referenced the famous Michael Jordan meme, saying, “He takes it personally.”

Well, there’s evidence for that mentality. 

Earlier this past season, Brown boldly declared, “Me? I’m the best two-way player in the world.” He later reinforced that belief on social media, posting, “Pound for pound, I am the greatest.”

Those comments now fit Dennis’ prediction that Brown will arrive in Boston “on demon time,” determined for revenge.

Dennis noted that shortly after proclaiming himself as the best two-way player, Brown exploded for a career-high 50 points against Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers.

In Dennis’ words, “He whooped Kawhi Leonard from pillar to post and showed everybody that I made that argument that I am the best two-way player in the world.”

Later in the season, he repeatedly welcomed head-to-head battles with SGA, eager to prove that he belonged in the same conversation.

Dennis further pointed out the perceived slights surrounding Brown’s exit.

“Derrick White, they said that he’s better, had a better season than Jaylen Brown did. When they’re saying, you’re holding Peyton Pritchard back, this dude may be the next Jalen Brunson if you were not there, and these guys have disrespected you. The next time this man goes and walks into Boston, he is going to be on demon time,” Dennis added.

With these narratives in place, Brown has found no shortage of motivation. Dennis even noted the emotional element, hinting at Jayson Tatum’s strange silence throughout the trade saga.

Whether these narratives are fair is almost beside the point. 

If Dennis’ warning points prove accurate, the C’s haven’t simply traded away an elite scorer. They have created the most motivated version of JB yet, benefiting the Sixers.