Boston Celtics fans have been on edge for the past few weeks, wondering if they’ll be watching Jaylen Brown play for their favorite team next season. There’s been no clear indication one way or the other, but we’ve started to get a sense that the front office doesn’t plan to trade Brown just to do it.
They want to keep themselves in “legitimate contention with the newly crowned champion New York Knicks atop the Eastern Conference,” according to The Steinline’s Marc Stein and Jake Fischer.
The insider duo suggested that Boston could potentially work with the Detroit Pistons for All-NBA center Jalen Duren this summer.
“One more fascinating scenario that we've been advised not to rule out completely: A possible sign-and-trade run at Boston's perennial All-Star Brown,” Fischer and Stein wrote Friday. “This would certainly require Detroit to be willing to part with restricted free agent big man Jalen Duren in a sign-and-trade exchange for Brown, which would obviously clash with the Pistons' longstanding view that Duren and Ausar Thompson are franchise pillars alongside [Cade] Cunningham.”
On paper, it doesn’t sound like the worst return in what’d undoubtedly be an emotionally taxing trade. Duren just had the best season of his young career for the first-place Pistons. His 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game earned him a spot on Third-Team All-NBA as well as the All-Star team.
Swapping Ja(y)lens with the Pistons would be malpractice for the Celtics
Boston’s lack of frontcourt depth was a prominent storyline all season long. The 22-year-old should be a perfect fit, right?
Well…
Maybe not.
The whole reason why Duren’s name is even coming up in rumors is because Detroit doesn’t feel confident in offering him the extension he’s hoping for. Since the big man made All-NBA on his rookie deal, he’s eligible for a rookie supermax, which is worth up to $57 million per season -- a steep price.
After Duren’s rough showing in the playoffs, it’s understandable that the Pistons are apprehensive in these negotiations. His scoring averaged dropped by over nine points per game. His field goal percentage dropped by 14%.
Detroit felt more comfortable at times finishing games with reserve big man Paul Reed than they did with Duren.
If the Celtics are going to trade Brown, they’ve got to get someone more reliable and on a more valuable contract than whatever Duren’s new deal will be.
Nowadays, making the most of every dollar spent is key with the most recent collective bargaining agreement.
We all saw how brutal the second-apron penalties were to the Celtics last summer. They were effectively forced to trade both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis with the sole intent of cutting costs.
Not to mention that one of the biggest criticisms of the 60-win Pistons was their lack of offensive creativity beyond Cade Cunningham. The Celtics trading one of their top two scorers for a guy who can’t create offense and struggled in the postseason would be malpractice.
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