Boston Celtics: Jaylen Brown linked to former Western Conference dynasty

All offseason long, despite the impressive feats accomplished by Brad Stevens and co., the main talking point for virtually every media outlet when discussing the Boston Celtics has been focused on how they could be an optimal landing spot for Kevin Durant.

From trade proposals to reports of interest from the team itself (subscription required), the C’s have been non-stop linked to the superstar wing since he requested a trade from Brooklyn in late June and while no deal has been made, it hasn’t stopped such rumblings from affecting the current state of the ball club.

Jaylen Brown, an integral part of Boston’s NBA Finals run last season, has oft been tabbed as the odds-on favorite to be shipped out of Massachusetts should the franchise strike a deal with Brooklyn.

Though these rumblings have merely been speculative, this doesn’t mean that the wing hasn’t taken some offense, going as far as to hint toward his displeasures in the form of a three-word tweet.

Since then, it has been reported that Brown is “all in” on making things work with the Boston Celtics so long as the feeling is mutual. However, while this is certainly a great thing to hear, others have gone on record as stating that the young star could have lingering disdain for the franchise, some going as far as to state that “he won’t forget this” situation.

Now, at this point in time, all Celtics nation can really do is hope for the best and expect to see Brown, alongside fellow star Jayson Tatum, stick around for the long haul and help continue to lead the team towards tremendous success.

However, some are already looking towards a murky future, one where the wing chooses to jump ship once his contract expires in 2024, and, should this happen, Grant Afseth of Sports Illustrated views the San Antonio Spurs as being both an ideal and rather realistic landing spot for him to consider.

Citing the fact that the storied franchise is heading towards a full-fledged rebuild and possesses ample cap space for the foreseeable future, Afseth believes that not only could the Spurs offer him virtually any sum of money he could desire but, depending on how they approach their next few drafts, they could have the foundation in place to entice a still in-his-prime Brown to come aboard and serve as the top-option on a promising young squad.

"It remains unlikely for the Spurs to be [significantly] improved yet by the following season (2023-24) either. The Western Conference is only getting more and more powerful and teams like the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder will have aged a bit to where they may have hit their stride.If the Spurs maintain significant cap space as expected and add a few intriguing prospects organically through the NBA Draft, it appears they could at least offer Brown an intriguing situation to consider signing to join.Perhaps Brown could be the featured threat in their offense depending on which players are drafted. Given that Jayson Tatum is the Celtics’ top option and will remain as such for many years, it could be intriguing for Brown to venture out."

An established All-Star in this league, just this past season Brown showcased his abilities to help lead a team in a No. 1 role, even serving as such at times for the Boston Celtics during their six-game Finals series against the Golden State Warriors when Tatum was caught in major slumps.

With promising young players such as Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Malaki Branham in tow San Antonio already has quite a number of intriguing building blocks in place and, considering the fact that they hold the rights to six first-round picks outside of their own through 2028, one can only expect more impressive prospects to come flowing in over time as well.

While we at HH hope nothing more than to see Brown stay with the Boston Celtics and potentially help formulate one of the league’s newest dynasties, should things grow sour by the time he hits the 2024 free agency period, there’s a strong argument to be made that this former dynasty in the Spurs that has a proven track record of building a championship-winning squad could be a legitimate threat to swipe him up.