The Jaylen Brown noise has gotten so loud that we’re already getting fake trades from the national media, not even a week after the season ended. Brown caused some smoke with his Twitch stream comments, and his friend and mentor, Tracy McGrady, fanned the flames by claiming Brown is deeply frustrated with the Celtics.
Brown, T-Mac, Brad Stevens, and others have all done their best to put out these fires, but the narratives are out there now. And with the way the Celtics crashed out of the playoffs in round one, they brought this on themselves.Â
On Thursday’s episode of the Zach Lowe Show, Zach and his guest, Mo Dakhil, did a whole segment on potential JB trades, going all around the league and trying to cover every option. Here is what they came up with, and my thoughts on how they’d impact the Cs.
Jaylen Brown to the Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo
This is the obvious one that everyone’s talking about. With the new draft lottery odds and the Bucks having little control of their own picks, JB is probably the best player they can get if they want to rebuild on the fly. They could also flip Brown for more stuff. There may be some picks heading one way or another, but the money works to make this nearly a straight-up deal. While it would be devastating to see Brown leave Boston, returning a top-5 player in the NBA is a tantalizing proposition.
They also brought up iterations of this where it’s a three-team deal that sees JB land in Portland or Atlanta, but the bottom line is the Celtics would be sending out Jaylen and getting back Giannis.
Grade: B+
Jaylen Brown to Pelicans for Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy, NOLA '27 1st
This is a pretty intriguing deal for Boston. Murphy can give you a solid facsimile of JB on the wing and is younger and much cheaper. He may be a more natural fit as a better shooter and someone who doesn’t need the ball as much, but Boston would be giving up a lot in terms of defense and rim pressure.Â
Dejounte would be a solid add, who can give you scoring and playmaking, but that’s another player fresh off an Achilles tear. He looked good in his return, but his shooting leaves a lot to be desired, his defense hasn’t been the same in recent years, he’ll be 30 when the season starts, and he’s set to make almost $33 million next year with a player option for $30+ million the following year.
Grade: C+
Jaylen Brown to Clippers for Kawhi Leonard, LAC 2031 1st
It feels like we’ve had JB for Kawhi rumors since before he was even drafted, but now things have flipped to where Boston would be getting the extra assets. The ‘31 pick could be juicy, but Ballmer won’t let this team get too bad. Kawhi had a great season, but the injury risk is alarmingly high for a 34-year-old entering the final year of his deal.
Grade: C-
Jaylen Brown to Rockets for Kevin Durant, Stuff
A lot of the above Kawhi analysis applies to this deal as well. KD could be slightly better, but he’s much older and has caused problems everywhere he’s been. This is just way too risky for the Cs to entertain, and could end in disaster. Houston would have to add a lot of sweetener to make this make sense.
Grade: D+
Jaylen Brown to Lakers for Austin Reaves, every LAL pick
Woof. Just woof. Absolutely not.
Grade: F
Jaylen Brown to Nets for Michael Porter Jr., salary filler, picks
Unless this comes with every decent player on their roster and every pick they have with no protections, I have no idea why the Celtics would even consider this. MPJ would be a fine role player, but this would be a complete debacle.
Grade: F
Jaylen Brown to Nuggets for Jamal Murray, Stuff
This feels like a lateral move at best. Sure, Murray may be a smoother fit as a point guard, but he’s a massive injury risk, a negative on defense, and just had a brutal playoff series. He’s older than JB, a worse overall player, and his contract is worse. The Celtics can’t be this desperate.
Grade: D-
The big takeaway from all these deals is that JB is a hell of a player, still in his prime, and a known great fit in Boston. Trading him would likely be a mistake, and there aren’t many clear paths to upgrading the team that involve moving on from Brown.
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