Malcolm Brogdon could be included in a Boston Celtics trade for Kevin Durant if Cs ever seriously consider a pursuit

If the Boston Celtics do get involved in the bidding for Kevin Durant, surprising names could be involved in trade talks — including their recent acquisition, Malcolm Brogdon, who the Cs landed for the price of  Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan and a 2023 first-round pick. MassLive’s Brian Robb revealed as much in his recent Boston Celtics Mailbag answering a question from a reader who wanted to know if Brogdon could be included in an offer for the former 2x NBA Finals MVP, saying ‘if the Celtics eventually go down that Durant road and start considering serious offers, there’s nothing to prevent the Nets for asking for (Brogdon) as part of a trade package’.

So far, Boston has been mentioned as a potential Durant suitor by analysts like Avery Johnson–who said that he’d call the Celtics first if he was in charge of the Brooklyn Nets front office–but not by the superstar forward himself. Until KD himself mentions the Cs as a preferred destination, don’t expect Boston to risk giving up assets for a guy who can definitely be considered a flight risk.

Still, as one of the teams in the league who can meet the Nets’ price, the Celtics will be a team to watch as the offseason progresses. Jaylen Brown’s recent social media activity, namely liking a tweet that read ‘Jaylen Brown is so disrespected by Celtics fans’, only adds fuel to that fire.

As for Brooklyn’s price for their 33-year-old 2021-22 All-NBA Second Teamer, Adrian Wojnarowski outlined the depth of Sean Marks’ demands and how it’s tough for most teams to even enter the KD sweepstakes (h/t NBC New York):

"“Essentially five first-round picks for Gobert. I think for Brooklyn, that level of picks and pick swaps, and then an All-Star level player. Those deals are difficult to put together. Teams that would like to be really aggressive with Brooklyn because they know Kevin Durant has great interest in playing for them — Phoenix and Miami — they don’t really have the ability to do one-on-one deals with Brooklyn. They need to bring more teams into it.”"

The Boston Celtics will likely be rolling into the 2022-23 season with their current top nine guys

The Houdini thinks it’s a serious long shot that Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens will tinker with a starting lineup that led the entire league in Net rating (12 pts/100 possessions better than 2nd best team) and defensive rating, and was third in offensive rating this past season (h/t NBC Sports Boston’s Max Lederman).

It’s also not likely that Boston will immediately send away Malcolm Brogdon so soon after trading for him. Derrick White is also all but certainly staying put after a spectacular offseason, at least until the last two Finals games, despite some thinking Brogdon’s arrival meant the end of White’s time in the T.D. Garden home locker-room. Danilo Gallinari can’t get traded until December anyway due to a provision in the CBA that prevents freshly-signed players from being traded the same summer the ink on their contracts dry.

The most likely player to get traded is Grant Williams, who this writer believes makes an intriguing trade package along with Payton Pritchard and a future pick in a potential deal for a win-now veteran. Even still, those two are likely to stay put unless the front office is entirely resistant to the idea of handing Williams an extension.