New Jaylen Brown Mock Trade Proposal Would Be A Disaster For the Atlanta Hawks

While the Knicks and the Spurs battle it out for the title of NBA champion, 28 other teams are prepping for the offseason and things are going to start heating up with the NBA Draft less than three weeks away now.

The Atlanta Hawks remain the only team that has beaten the New York Knicks in the playoffs so far, but they still have plenty of roster holes to fill if they want to take the next step as a franchise and compete at the highest level.

While the Hawks have maintained that they are going to focus on the draft, internal development, and making smart free agency decisions (think Nickeil Alexander-Walker last offseason) this summer, they continue to be linked to big-name trade targets. The primary name when it comes to the Hawks making big trades is Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who hails from Georgia.

Despite not formally requesting a trade and the Celtics not shopping him around, Brown is still mentioned as a trade candidate this summer for a number of reasons and the latest mock trade proposal from Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley has the Hawks more or less mortgaging their future to land Brown:

TRADE. New Orleans Pelicans receive: No. 8 pick, Jonathan Kuminga (sign-and-trade), Zaccharie Risacher, 2028 first-round pick (via ATL, CLE or UTA)

Atlanta Hawks receive: Jaylen Brown, Yves Missi

Boston Celtics receive: Trey Murphy III, Onyeka Okongwu, Kevon Looney, 2030 first-round pick swap (via ATL)

Why this would be a disaster

Jaylen Brown Boston Celtic — Jan 17, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) dribbles against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

I think this kind of trade would be an unmitigated disaster for the Hawks and the kind of move that they need to avoid making this summer.

Brown is an excellent two-way player and was deservedly a second-team All-NBA player while keeping the Celtics afloat while Jayson Tatum was coming back from his injury, and the team had traded Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and lost Luke Kornet in free agency. It was arguably the best all-around season of Brown's career and he would make the Hawks a really good team in the Eastern Conference.

But is he really worth that much? I would say no and there are several reasons.

As Hawks President of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh has stated, this team is not one player away from being contenders:

"We are not one player away from this, the best iteration of this team is going to be through development and our players currently getting better. We're really excited about the future and what holds there, from the draft to the flexibility moving forward, all that stuff. We're in a good place, position set up moving forward, and our coaching staff has just been remarkable this year."

Saleh is right. While the Hawks might not be NBA Finals contenders just yet, their young core of Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Onyeka Okongwu, and Dyson Daniels continue to get better; they have two picks in the upcoming NBA Draft (8th and 23rd), and they have flexibility to add talent to their roster at the right cost.

This is not the right cost and is reminiscent of the trade that the Hawks made four summers ago when they moved multiple first-round picks to acquire Dejounte Murray, a move that they still owe future picks for. Atlanta has been trying to build back their assets, and I don't think they are going to be moving them for a very good, but not top ten level player in the league.

If the Hawks made this trade, they would have Brown, Johnson, Daniels, Alexander-Walker, and not much else. They would lose out on the chance to draft a player at No. 8, they would be moving a very good starting center on a great contract, and multiple future firsts in a deal that might not make them markedly better than they were a season ago.

The connections that are drawn between Brown and Atlanta make sense, and I don't think it is impossible that they trade for him if the price is right, but that is the key phrase. The price has to be perfect for the Hawks to acquire a player who does not fit on their age timeline and is on an exorbitant contract that gets bigger and bigger.

I think Atlanta could be active in trade discussions this summer for the right fits, but making an all-in move like this would be out of character for this front office.

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