Celtics would do 3 unbelievable favors for Portland in Jaylen Brown trade

With all the Jaylen Brown rumors spreading like wildfire, something that's become abundantly clear is that the Portland Trail Blazers want the Boston Celtics star. However, despite their interest, it appears there are certain lines they don't want to cross to the point that Boston would do them a lot of favors in a Brown trade if they agreed to Portland's terms.

Noted Trail Blazers reporter and radio host Danny Marang revealed what the Trail Blazers would be willing to send the Celtics in a Brown trade.

It makes sense that Portland doesn't want to gut their entire team for Brown, but when trading for a player of that caliber, you're going to have to give up something you don't want to in order to elevate yourself to that next level. If the Celtics really accepted the Trail Blazers terms in a Brown trade, they'd be doing three favors for them.

1. They're giving them the best player in the deal

Let's just confront the obvious before it becomes too painful not to acknowledge. The Trail Blazers want Brown because of the player he is and the season he's coming off. Second team All-NBA, sixth in Most Valuable Player voting, and the leader of a team that won 56 games without their best player. Oh yeah, Brown has a lot of appeal as a trade target, especially to a team like them.

For the record, the Trail Blazers are coming off a pretty notable playoff run, and they did it without Damian Lillard. It's clear they see themselves as a team on the rise, and Brown helps them with their goals and then some.

Boston may be willing to give them Brown, but if they really agreed to a deal with Marang's aforementioned terms, that's practically just handing him over regardless of the draft capital they get.

2. They are taking a contract that Portland is actively trying to get rid of

Boston is not only trading Brown in a hypothetical like this, but they are also acquiring Jerami Grant, a player who is on an albatross contract that Portland would love to get rid of, no matter what.

Grant has his qualities, but he's paid as though he should routinely be in All-Star conversations, and he's not. Worse, he's not even close, for that matter. If Boston acquired him, they would have a $30-plus million anchor on their payroll for the next two years.

Brown may be overpaid for what he does, but that doesn't detract from the fact that he gets paid handsomely because he's an awesome player. Grant is being paid much more than what he's worth, compared to Brown, who's getting paid only slightly more than what he's worth.

Matching contracts is part of what makes these deals work, but nothing would turn off Boston more than taking Grant period, let alone for a superstar like Brown.

3. They won't take back the one player that could solve their biggest problem

It was originally reported that the Celtics' intentions in a Brown trade are to solve their big man problems. You know who has a really good big man who would solve this problem? Portland, as they have the very promising Donovan Clingan on their roster.

While not the exact same player, there's fair reason to believe Clingan is following the Al Horford path of being an extremely impactful player on both sides of the floor as both a shot-blocker and floor-spacer. He really has so many rare qualities as a big man that trading Brown for him as perhaps the most important return would make sense.

It's for that same reason that the Trail Blazers don't want to trade him. Trading him causes a problem for them, as they more or less inherit the Celtics' current problem with their big men. However, those are the risks you take when you make deals like this. You give up something you don't want to.

The Trail Blazers would have questions if they included Clingan in a Brown deal, but at the same time, they're getting Brown in his prime. Shoot first, ask questions later as they say.

So right now, the Celtics shouldn't have much incentive to pull off a Brown trade given Portland's present parameters. In the Trail Blazers' case, put Clingan in the deal, and you've got the Celtics' attention. Find another team for Grant, and you keep the Celtics' attention. Throw in the draft capital, and you inch closer to a deal.

Until further notice, Boston may trade Brown, but they're not handing him over. Portland should be aware that if they want a deal done, they must help Boston's future, not just their own. Brown would be the best player they've ever acquired via trade, but by virtue of precisely that, they need to know that they must pay up to get it done.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow