Hawks need to sort these 4 salaries to pursue Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown

With Heavy’s Sean Deveney recently alerting the NBA world that the Atlanta Hawks were ‘probably the biggest team to worry‘ the Boston Celtics when it comes to Jaylen Brown’s next home, the relationship between the Cs and their 1A star once again came into focus.

Many feel that irreparable damage was done by Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens including Brown’s name in Kevin Durant trade talks despite a report stating that the No. 3 overall draft pick from 2016 was all in on the franchise moving forward. Truthfully, the severity of the damage will be best assessed after the team takes the court in 2022-23 and proves that one way or another on the court.

Still, in the meantime, every NBA team with eyes on Brown will feel like they have a chance to lure him away in 2024 — and no team has the home-field advantage that Atlanta does given Brown’s Marietta, Georgia roots.

Well, in order to have a realistic shot to actually poach No. 7 from a championship contender he has spent his entire career playing for, the Hawks need to settle their cap situation and sort out the following four players per FanSided’s Dedrick Hendrix:

"“Obviously, it would come down to salary. Atlanta would have to figure out the contracts of Clint Capela, Okongwu, John Collins and Hunter, but a big three with Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and Brown is certainly something to build around. It would leave the Hawks quite thin up-front, but offensively they’d be one of the best in the league.”"

The Boston Celtics won’t have the financial means to replace Jaylen Brown in 2024 free agency

Let’s say Jaylen Brown does decide to test free agency in 2024. In that scenario, the Boston Celtics would be someone screwed if Brown bolted to a team with cap space able to sign him outright. The books are to the brim with cap holds for the Cs, with extensions for Al Horford and Grant Williams likely taking Boston’s cap space flexibility away.

If Brown did want to badly find a new home, it appears that a trade would be the best case scenario for the Celtics. With that said, it likely wouldn’t be executed until the 2024 trade deadline if it does at all. The Cs will likely be in contention in two years time, so gunning for a title with Brown in tow would probably be worth it before trading him away.

Of course, hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy next June likely stops this conversation dead in its tracks anyway.