Boston Celtics: Kevin Durant, not Bradley Beal, worth trading Jaylen Brown for

As it turns out, the 2022 NBA Finals run that the Boston Celtics recently concluded deeply impacted more than just fans in green. Audacy’s Quinton Mayo reported on his podcast, The Quinton Mayo Show, that Bradley Beal was undecided about his future after watching his longtime friend from St. Louis (Jayson Tatum) get so close to an NBA Championship.

Beal recently declined his $36.4 million player option for the upcoming 2022-23 campaign and is set to hit unrestricted free agency. The Wizards shooting guard injured his wrist and hip at different points this past season and was limited to just 40 games as Washington fell from grace hard after being one of the top teams out of the gate in the Eastern Conference back in November.

Beal has long been linked to the Boston Celtics throughout the years. Different swap proposals have featured Jaylen Brown as the headliner and others have used Marcus Smart and Derrick White as the primary trade chips.

Apparently, as Mayo relayed on his podcast, watching the NBA Finals ‘did something’ to Beal and inspired rethinking his career — one spent exclusively in the nation’s capital:

"“I think watching Boston get to the NBA Finals and then seeing a guy like Jayson Tatum, who is his young bull, play at the highest level — I think that did something to him…”"

The thing is, Beal isn’t worth trading Brown for at this point considering the latter’s ascension to becoming a more efficient shooter and defender than the former. Any Beal trade the Houdini would sign off on would have to be built around Smart, White, Robert Williams, and anything short of the ‘Jays’, but that trade package would be beat by the likes of the Brooklyn Nets–perhaps noted activist Kyrie Irving would be at home in Washington D.C.–the Miami Heat, via a Tyler Herro-led proposal, and the Atlanta Hawks, who can offer all of at least two of John Collins, Kevin Huerter, and De’Andre Hunter along with several future first-round picks.

Nets superstar Kevin Durant is a different story. If Irving is dead-set on bolting Brooklyn to play for his fourth NBA franchise, there’s a strong possibility KD looks for his as well. Of course, the Celtics only get a call back from Nets GM Sean Marks if Brown is involved in trade talks, but for one of the game’s greatest all-time scorers playing at near-peak levels, pulling the trigger on a deal is very easy to justify.

Kevin Durant, not Bradley Beal, is worth trading Jaylen Brown for if you’re the Boston Celtics front office

Kevin Durant is on a short-list of guys the Boston Celtics front office should even preliminarily ponder about when it comes to a Jaylen Brown trade. Landing Bradley Beal, even with the close Jayson Tatum ties, would be a lateral move if Brown is involved in the proceedings.

It’d be better off for Boston if Beal ended up alongside Trae Young or Jimmy Butler as the No. 2 option elsewhere. By nature of showing up a year before Jayson Tatum and being nearly as integral during the duo’s postseason success throughout the years, Brown has established a 1A role Beal would never be able to inherit as a potential newbie.

Durant’s two NBA Finals MVPs would give him those same 1A privileges. They might even outright gift him the No. 1 option role in Ime Udoka’s offense. Tatum would surely understand being situated underneath a proven multi-time champion on the totem pole, and Boston would undoubtedly be better off for it.