Sports Illustrated proposes monster trade between Boston Celtics & Mavs

It’s trade season around the NBA and more rumblings of another Boston Celtics mock trade dropped this week from Sports Illustrated writer, Dalton Trigg.

He wrote an article on a hypothetical blockbuster of a deal centered around C’s star Jaylen Brown and Dallas Mavericks big man, Kristaps Porzingis. Now, while Boston seems pretty clear on their stance to keep the Jays together at the moment, said proposal is certainly an intriguing one to say the least.

The full deal reads as follows:

Upon first glance, I feel it’s a slight downgrade for the shamrocks as Porzingis would be our clear-cut number two and he has regressed over the years with various injuries.

Jalen Brunson is a nice young piece to add to our core for sure, but I feel his services could be acquired in a smaller deal giving up way less.

With this, let’s step back and analyze how this trade would look for the Boston Celtics.

Why the Boston Celtics could consider this trade?

The Boston Celtics would only do this deal if they felt a successful team could not be built around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown which, in turn, would ultimately be seen as the franchise giving into the recent perception that these two stars cannot coexist.

They would trade for a versatile big man who can stretch the floor in Kristaps in hopes of a bounce-back in a new system as well as health managing to stay on his side.

The Latvian forward could potentially pair up with Robert Williams in the frontcourt quite nicely, and with Tatum still in tow, it could possibly be viewed as the best trio at those positions.

Even in a regression year, Porzingis has shown hints at making it work as second fiddle to another superstar.

The star power forward has more of the ability to pair alongside Timelord with his uncanny floor spacing abilities and is more of a youthful as well as a mobile defender than Horford.

It is possible the Boston Celtics would be operating under the belief that it was a bad fit and marriage between KP and Dallas.  A change in scenery could re-emerge the player we once saw in New York, which was someone the Cs considered trading for back in 2017.

Jalen Brunson also is no throw-in without promise.

The young guard has shown glimpses of stardom in times of Luka Doncic absences. During stints seeing bigger roles within Dallas’ rotation, the guard has shown he can score at all levels and couples this well with savvy playmaking skills and capable defensive chops.

Dennis Schroeder will be a free agent after this season and the Celtics have very little leeway to retain his services.

With this in mind, why not sell him before you lose him for nothing?

I am trying to play devil’s advocate here and, with this, I believe that in no universe should the C’s consider this deal, for they would be slightly worse given the fact Porzingis is regressing and incredibly injury-prone.

Why the Dallas Mavericks could consider this trade

I can say far less on why the Mavericks would not pull the proverbial trigger here.

Frankly, this is a no-brainer idea for them to consider, as the team’s star centerpiece in Doncic would unequivocally get a better counterpart in Jaylen Brown.

There have been rumblings for a while about chemistry issues between Luka and KP, and this deal would bestow them the chance to move on from a non-complementary player and, in turn, stop wasting precious time within the guard’s golden years.

Brown has more of an offensive arsenal than Porzingis and has proven he is capable of defending at a much higher level. The Mavericks have been looking for more of a two-way star to pair with Doncic for a while now, so clearly JB makes a ton of sense for the Mavs to pursue.

For good measure, Brow is averaging over 24 points, 6.6 rebounds, and around three assists per game, which are All-Star caliber numbers for anyone at the shooting guard position.

As for giving up on Brunson, Dallas does not seem willing to give him a four-year, $80 million dollar contract. Schroeder would be more of a rental in the short term, but in any event, this is the Mavericks going all-in on a deep playoff push in the West.