NBA Free Agency is over half a day old, and not much has happened. We definitely got our fair share of big NBA news, from the Kawhi Leonard trade to LeBron James' decision to leave LA. Yesterday was certainly epic, but free agency itself was sadly quiet. What everyone is waiting to see is how this Jaylen Brown drama will end for the Boston Celtics.
No one wants it to be this way, but it appears Brown's divorce from the Celtics is imminent. The question is, sadly, not if he'll get traded, but what Boston will get back for him. The Celtics have the daunting task of trading Brown while remaining in title contention, which means fixing their big man issues while not losing too much gravity from Brown.
With that in mind, here's the best idea I could think of between the Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and New Orleans Pelicans. The following trade not only considers the Celtics' aforementioned needs, but also considers the following pieces of intel we know of.
-The Cavaliers want to bring back LeBron for Round 3
-Brian Windhorst floated the idea of Brown going to Cleveland to entice LeBron
-Murphy was a previously reported Celtics target, but their price is three first-round picks
-Cavaliers will have to move some money around to sign LeBron and re-sign James Harden
So here's the deal in a nutshell
Cavaliers get: Brown
Celtics get: Murphy (using Anfernee Simons TPE), Evan Mobley
Pelicans get: Dennis Schroder, Max Strus, Cavaliers unprotected first-round picks in 2028 and 2030, Celtics protected picks in 2027 and 2030
This was brought up earlier, but more a straight-up swap between Boston and Cleveland where the former gets Mobley and the latter gets Brown.
Why the Pelicans do it
If New Orleans is holding firm on their three picks offer, this trade is golden for them because they get four, plus they pretty much get a clean slate with Strus' expiring deal and Schroder's team-friendly deal could allow them to re-route him to a playoff contender.
From the sounds of things, the Pelicans understand that the Western Conference is very much a bloodbath. With more teams loading up for next season, it might be in their best interest to start over. They were a terrible team last season when they weren't even trying to be.
Now, they have the chance to start over and not have to worry about consequences.
Why the Cavaliers do it
If they are serious about bringing in LeBron for Round 3, this follows Windhorst's advice to a tee to make it so. Note that they would only do this if they know for certain that James is coming back. They could do Mobley for Brown (remember that they can't take on more money, so more players would have to go.
But a team with Brown, James, Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and Jarrett Allen is a formidable team. What makes this deal more appealing is that they save a good amount of money. It comes at a steep price for them, but they understandably want to take advantage of window by bringing back the franchise's best player directly after their best playoff run ever without him ironically enough.
Sure, it would come at the cost of Mobley, but with Mobley, they haven't made all that much progress. It's time for a drastic change for them, and this is it.
Why the Celtics do it
Boston wants a shiny new big man going forward. Again, their preference would be to keep Brown while also adding that big man, but because that doesn't appear to be an option anymore, Mobley is that guy for them as a former Defensive Player of the Year, NBA All-Star, and All-NBA recipient.
Jayson Tatum has made it work with pretty much every big man he's ever been paired with, from Al Horford to Kristaps Porzingis to Daniel Theis to even Enes Freedom. Mobley could be the most talented and dependable two-way big he will have ever played with.
With Murphy, he doesn't replace what Brown brings, but can replace him in the aggregate as a shooter. He's never gotten the chance to prove how good he is, but Boston gives it to him, and there's a solid chance he could have a Derrick White-like surgence if and when he does.
The Celtics want the best package possible for Brown, and this might be it. They may strengthen one of their opponents in the process, but this is what desperation does at a time like this.
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