Throughout the first 10 games of action, the Boston Celtics have shown flashes of what they could be as currently constructed, with their impressive blow-out victory against the top-seeded Miami Heat serving as a prime example of just how much potential they truly have.
However, these spurts of success are too few and far in between for anyone to be confident in the team’s abilities to put it all together, and recent reports seemingly suggest the front office is already looking into ways in which they can make some big splashes to help guide the Cs in the right direction.
According to a new report by The Athletic’s NBA insider Shams Charania (subscription required), Brad Stevens and co. have gone about and reached out to the Philadelphia 76ers in regard to the availability of their estranged All-Star, Ben Simmons. Per the report, the asking price for the point guard is still rather pricy, as Philly is apparently uninterested unless All-Star wing, Jaylen Brown, is included in the return package:
"“The Boston Celtics have engaged in conversations with the 76ers revolving around Simmons and expressed interest in the 6-foot-11 guard, sources tell The Athletic. Talks have been fluid with no traction as of yet, those sources say. Any potential Simmons deal with the Celtics would have to include All-Star forward Jaylen Brown, an ascending talent who is in the midst of another career season, averaging 25.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.”"
In response to this, Boston Celtics fans have taken to the Twitterverse to express their displeasure with such a report, suggesting that the franchise absolutely should not be interested in making such a move if it were to include their sixth-year baller.
For the record, we at HH are certainly of this same mindset, as we believe that the longer Simmons remains in Philadelphia and subsequently out of their lineup, the lower his trade value will continue to plummet, which likely would lead to no Brown being needed.
That said, while we’re not interested in seeing the Boston Celtics trading the 25-year-old star in this exchange, this is not to say we’d completely write off the idea of potentially seeing him shopped in the future — after all, with how the shamrocks have played thus far into the year, desperate times call for desperate measures.
No, we don’t want such a transaction to happen where we see Jaylen Brown sent packing, but an interesting question to ponder on is who would potentially be worth exchanging him for.
While the list of players is not all that long, today we discuss 2 talents that could be considered worthy of being targeted in a hypothetical trade involving Brown:
Boston Celtics target No. 1) Domantas Sabonis
Frankly, the only reason the Boston Celtics should consider trading the likes of Jaylen Brown is if they could get someone of a similar or even greater talent level while also perhaps better complimenting the remaining member of the Jay-core in Jayson Tatum.
In our humble opinion, Indiana Pacers big man, Domantas Sabonis, would check off both of these aforementioned boxes.
Playing a position of serious need for the Cs in power forward, the sixth-year pro finds himself off to a tremendous start to the 2021-22 campaign, posting impressive per-game averages of 19.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.9 steals on nearly 59 percent shooting from the floor.
One of the best offensive-minded bigs in the game today, Sabonis has the makings of being a great fit next to a guy like Tatum, for, unlike Brown, their specific skill-sets would not clash when on the floor together.
An inside-outside tandem, Tatum would be able to patrol the perimeter and drive the lane whenever he desires (similar to how he operates now) while Sabonis would man the interior and, with his sound bag of tricks, could either feast in the paint, step out and knock-down a mid to long-range jumper, or look to dish it to one of his teammates for a cleaner score (has averaged 5.7 assists per game over the last three seasons while dishing out nearly seven a night last year).
Still just 25 and under contract through 2024 at an average salary of $18.7 million per year (nearly $8 million per year cheaper than Browns’ deal), not only could trading for Domantas Sabonis benefit the team’s production on the hardwood, but it would also help clear up some salary space along the way.
Boston Celtics target No. 2) Karl-Anthony Towns
The Boston Celtics have been waiting patiently for Robert Williams III to break out and take over as the clear long-term answer down in the paint and, while he has shown flashes through the first nine games played this season, to many his level of production has not been enough to convince them that the front office shouldn’t look into alternative options.
Now, at his age coupled with his potential and somewhat cost-efficient contract (four years, $54 million starting next season) we at HH are not under the impression that the C’s decision-makers should be going all-in on finding an upgrade over the Time Lord this season.
That said, should a top-flight talent at the five become available at some point this year, Boston should be interested in looking into their availability/ what their respective team’s asking price would be.
However, if one of these available players were to turn out to be Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, Brad Stevens should jump at the opportunity to land the young stud, and we believe Jaylen Brown could be worth such an acquisition in the long run.
Arguably the second-best center in the league outside of reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, and easily a top-5 player at the position, the 25-year-old is once again having a stupendous campaign for himself, boasting 23.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game on 51 percent shooting from the floor and 49 percent shooting from deep.
Unfortunately, however, such as been the case throughout his seven-year tenure, the Minnesota Timberwolves have not been able to reward his efforts with quality success and, in turn, has them once again on the outside looking in on legitimate playoff contention as they currently hold a sub-.500 record of 3-5 and are slotted into the 11th seed out west.
A 2x All-Star, an All-NBA selection, and a dominant rebounder & scorer, it’s evident that, no matter how productive KAT is, the T-Wolves continue to waste his prime years and, with his recent social media engagement, it appears that the baller could be as eager to see himself get out of town as we are.
Having the young big man team up with Tatum in Boston would make for one of the most menacing and complementary dynamic duos in the association, let alone in the Eastern Conference.
While we love Jaylen Brown, and want to see Boston’s current wing core flourish and continue to grow alongside one another, the idea of bringing Towns to Beantown could be enticing enough for the front office to consider parting ways with him.