If you’re wondering what it would take for the Atlanta Hawks to part with John Collins, the answer is apparently Jaylen Brown.
In answering a question in his Celtics Mailbag, Brian Robb revealed that he thinks the Celtics star would have to be included in any hypothetical Collins swap.
Only one party would be willing to meet those terms, though.
Apparently, the athletic Hawks big man isn’t an enticing enough return to sway Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens into breaking up his star pairing of the ‘Jays’ just yet:
"The only thing that probably gets the Hawks to consider moving Collins is talking about Jaylen Brown in a deal (with Collins and more heading back to Boston) and league sources indicate Boston isn’t willing to go there with the All-Star this year. There could be some smaller deals that make sense with Atlanta and Boston but I don’t see Collins involved in any of them."
Jaylen Brown is a no go in any trade talks this trade season
Unless a player of Karl-Anthony Towns’ or Damian Lillard’s ilk becomes available, don’t expect Stevens to even entertain the idea of trading Brown away.
There’s been no indication that he or Jayson Tatum are actively willing to find a new home. In fact, there’s only been the opposite, with the pair repeatedly telling reporters that they want to make this pairing work in the long-term.
And that makes sense. These two were drafted as #3 picks in consecutive years and led the Cs to within a quarter of the NBA Championship in Tatum’s rookie year back in 2018. Many forget, but this team returned to the Eastern Conference finals less than a year and a half ago.
There’s still plenty left to be determined about the duo and how far they can go. What people need to instead focus on is how the front office could add more spot-up shooting around them.
Following last night’s razor-thin 114-112 victory over the Chicago Bulls that was decided on the final possession, trade talks of this nature should begin to die down. While the Cs still sit outside of the postseason picture, the schedule will begin to ease up a bit. Three of their next four games are against New Orleans, Portland, and Washington, who are all struggling.
Winning is the only way for this Jaylen Brown trade discourse to cease. Regardless, he isn’t going anywhere anyway.