The Celtics struck out in their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo, leaving them in an uncomfortable spot with one of their franchise pillars.

According to multiple reports, Boston offered a package of Jaylen Brown and multiple unprotected first-round draft picks to Milwaukee for Antetokounmpo. That bid failed, with the Bucks instead choosing to send the two-time NBA MVP to Miami for a return that included four players (Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis), four draft picks and one pick swap.

How Brown responds to his team’s failed courtship of Antetokounmpo — which ESPN insiders described as “aggressive” and “all-in” — could shape the future of the Celtics organization.

Will he understand Boston’s willingness to trade him for a player of that caliber and move forward with no ill will toward the franchise? Or will he view the proposal — after a season in which he posted career-best numbers, finished sixth in MVP voting and served as the Celtics’ unquestioned leader while Jayson Tatum recovered from Achilles surgery — as a sign of disrespect and ask to be moved elsewhere?

It was not the first time the Celtics dangled Brown in a trade for a superstar. In 2022, he was part of their offer to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant. That, however, was before Brown helped lead Boston to a championship, took home NBA Finals MVP and carried the Celtics through Tatum’s 10-month absence.

Brown was excellent this season, posting a stat line (28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists per game) matched in Celtics history only by Larry Bird and John Havlicek. He made second-team All-NBA (missing out on the first team by one spot), was the league’s fourth-leading scorer and relished his role as the headliner of an underdog roster that far exceeded expectations before stalling out in the first round of the playoffs.

“I did all of that, and you still try to trade me?”

It’s unclear whether Brown, Boston’s longest-tenured player, feels that way. But it wouldn’t be an unreasonable sentiment. Remember, mentor Tracy McGrady relayed last month that Brown was deeply frustrated with the Celtics — comments the Basketball Hall of Famer later tried to walk back — and that was before the Antetokounmpo trade winds began swirling.

The focus now shifts to whether the Celtics will move Brown in a non-Giannis-related deal. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported late Monday night that Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens “has not actively shopped Brown in trade talks,” but colleague Brian Windhorst said Tuesday morning he anticipated a “bidding war” for the 29-year-old five-time All-Star.

“In the most recent days, teams have been preparing for this eventuality — that it wouldn’t be the Boston Celtics who won the Giannis sweepstakes; that there would be a Jaylen Brown market,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “We’re now going to watch that. I think it’s going to take some time to play out, but if there is a draft pick involved, it could happen (before or during the 2026 NBA Draft, which begins Tuesday night). I don’t think that’s likely, but it could happen today.”

One team to watch on that front is New Orleans, as Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III has been rumored as a potential fallback target for the Celtics if they were unable to land Antetokounmpo.

Murphy is not nearly as accomplished as Brown, but he is younger (just turned 26), has a manageable contract (signed for three more years with a $27 million salary for 2026-27) and posted solid numbers on a series of dreadful Pelicans teams (21.5 points per game, 37.9% 3-point shooting this season). Teammates Herb Jones and Dejounte Murray also could entice Boston in a potential package for Brown.

Teams reported to have interest in acquiring Brown include the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and his hometown Atlanta Hawks.

The Celtics also could keep their Tatum/Brown core — the duo that’s guided them to five Eastern Conference finals, two NBA Finals and one title — intact and make other, less seismic moves to improve their roster. Bolstering their frontcourt is a must after that unit struggled in the first-round loss to Philadelphia, and Stevens said he wants to add players who can “have more of an impact at the rim” (a box Antetokounmpo would have emphatically checked).

But those plans will hinge, at least partially, on Brown’s willingness to remain committed to a team that just tried to offload him. Brown has three years remaining on the supermax contract he signed in 2023, and he will become eligible next month for an extension that would pay him close to $70 million annually in his age-34 and 35 seasons.

“All the people that’s doubting me,” Brown said in a Twitch stream Monday afternoon, before the Antetokounmpo trade agreement was reported, “that want me to do this, or want me gone, or whatever, you’re turning me into a monster.”