A Jaylen Brown trade seemed inevitable after the Boston Celtics failed to move the five-time All-Star to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo. He didn’t seem happy that the team had involved him in the discussions, and apparently, it fractured the relationship between the player and the organization so badly that Boston had no choice but to move him somewhere. Anywhere.
While a package of two first-round picks and two second-round picks, along with Paul George, is a sizable haul, it’s nowhere near the value that Brown has. For starters, George is seven years older and has played fewer than 60 games in six of his last seven seasons. The last couple of years, he’s averaged 16.7 points per game, versus Brown’s 25.6. He’s on the verge of retirement, while Brown is just coming into his prime.
The draft picks are useless, at least in the short-term. It was clear that any trade the Celtics made was going to make them worse. By all accounts, Brad Stevens is a smart guy, and there’s no way that his end game was Paul George and a player who is in eighth grade right now (2031 pick). This has to be the first move in a long chess match, where it’s hard to see the final result. There are a couple of finishes to this story that could make this trade worth while. One is a little more far-fetched than the other.
The Pipe Dream
Both outcomes require George to decline his player option for the 2027-28 season, which is highly likely. While no one will offer him anything close to the $56 million he’s slated to make for a season, he could get more guaranteed money than that overall. It would not be unthinkable that he could secure a two-year deal for $70 million somewhere. That’s a pay cut in terms of AAV, but $14 million more than if he opts in.
A player who is slated to become a restricted free agent next offseason is the reigning defensive player of the year, Victor Wembanyama. Getting him would be a major coup and would easily get Celtics fans to forget all about Brown. There are a couple of things that make this unlikely. For starters, he’s a restricted free agent, so any offer he gets can be matched by his current club, which would definitely happen.
Wemby would need to be completely unhappy in San Antonio and force a sign-and-trade to make this happen. By all accounts, he seems completely happy where he is and is about to sign a humongous extension before the start of next season. It’s never going to happen, but just the daydream about it cools the sting of Brown leaving.
The Realistic Possibility
Nikola Jokic is arguably the best player in the NBA. At worst, he is the second-best player, and he has yet to sign an extension with the Denver Nuggets. Things have been going downhill in the Rocky Mountains, and it appears their time at the top is long past. Jamal Murray seems like a less-than-ideal sidekick for the big man, and like George, he has the ability to opt out of his contract at season’s end.
Unlike George, who will be begging teams for a multi-year deal, Jokic will get paid in truckloads. That’s OK for the Celtics, who will just have unloaded George, and they have a perfect sidekick in Jayson Tatum. What makes the pairing so ideal is that both players are alpha dogs, but they only want to win. It’s reminiscent of early 2000’s Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
The Celtics will have the cap space and the allure to bring in an elite player while he is still at the top of his game, and he’s a big man who rebounds (12.7 per game over the last five years). This is something Boston has craved for years. It’s a match made in heaven, and it wouldn’t be possible if Brown were still on the roster.
The Jaylen Brown Trade Is Far From Over
Stevens is a mastermind, and this game is far from over. Maybe it won’t be Wembanyama or Jokic, but there is a move that Stevens is eyeing down the road. Something Celtics fans will shower him with love for. Right now, they want to kill him, but he’s working a long con. He has to be, right?
