Proposal lands 2 near-stars for Jaylen Brown in Boston Celtics blockbuster

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley concocted a league-shaking trade proposal that would see the Boston Celtics landing two near-stars for Jaylen Brown from the Atlanta Hawks: Dejounte Murray and John Collins.

Murray is a “near-star” and not a full-on star in the Houdini’s eyes due to the lack of staying power he’s had overall in his career. The 2016 Spurs first-round draft pick had humble beginnings in his first three seasons, starting off as a reserve his rookie season and missing his third season back in 2018-19 due to an ACL injury. For the past two seasons, Murray has been a star, and on many nights since his arrival in Atlanta, he’s been the team’s best player.

Collins, meanwhile, was a 20/10 nightly double-double on 40% 3-point shooting back during the 2019-20 season. The Wake Forest product’s game has been on a downhill trajectory in the years since the Hawks became a contender in the Eastern Conference and he’s known to not see eye to eye with Atlanta’s franchise star, Trae Young. The deal from B/R would bring a first-round pick to the Boston Celtics as well while giving Payton Pritchard a new home and re-routing Danilo Gallinari back to the last team he suited up for.

The Boston Celtics would need hands tied to make this deal

While the return is a good one, a really good one, in fact, the reality is that the Boston Celtics would need to have their hands tied — mainly meaning that Brown would have to make a trade demand — to agree to such a proposal. Murray isn’t the cleanest fit with Marcus Smart in the backcourt, with many skills overlapping, and Collins is far from a necessity with Robert Williams III, Al Horford, and (possibly) Grant Williams on multi-year deals.

Buckley’s deal would send Brown to his home city, but it would only be something considered if he wanted to go back there. Better offers are likely out there.