Jaylen Brown Trade Destinations: Four Teams That Should Pursue Celtics Superstar

After the Celtics tried and failed to land Giannis Antetokounmpo last week, a Jaylen Brown trade feels more likely than ever.

Brown is coming off his best season in Boston, averaging 28.7 points per game while earning second-team All-NBA honors and finishing sixth in MVP voting. His growth as a leader and playmaker made for the primary reasons the Celtics wildly exceeded expectations last year as Jayson Tatum recovered from his Achilles injury. Nevertheless, team president Brad Stevens was willing to put Brown on the table in Antetokounmpo trade talks and now the Celtics appear much more open to a trade for their 29-year-old superstar than they ever have before; Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported Boston was in discussion about Brown trades earlier this week. Some discussions were initiated by rival teams, and others were brokered by Boston.

With Antetokounmpo off the table, it becomes difficult to envision a trade that justifies the Celtics moving the 2024 Finals MVP. Brown is at his peak value, to be sure; he’s 29 years old with three years left on a max contract and will never again have the opportunity to dominate the ball last year as long as he shares the floor with Tatum. If assets were the only goal this is the best time to move him. But Brown is a proven fit next to Tatum and the two are stamped as champions. With both elite wings in their prime Boston would have to be sure a Brown trade would be improving the team as it stands. Given this roster won 56 games largely without Tatum there aren’t many obvious upgrades to be found when looking around the league.

But the Celtics appear to be looking, and Brown could be an awesome acquisition for a lot of teams as an excellent two-way wing who sets the tone every day in the building. His $57 million salary for the upcoming season is pricy and tricky to match in possible trades. But interested teams can get it done—as long as they have impact players to offer. Boston isn’t going to sell Brown off for a package made up primarily of draft picks with Tatum firmly in his prime. They might be used as sweetener to push the deal across the finish line but unless the relationship between Brown and the franchise is fractured beyond repair, any team hoping to land Brown for a haul similar to what LaMelo Ball got traded for will have to keep dreaming. Which is really the trickiest part of the whole exercise.

Here are four teams that would make the most sense as landing spots for Brown if Boston really does move on after 10 years, as well as some proposed trade packages that would make the return worthwhile for the Celtics.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers were tabbed as an early Brown landing spot during the early days of the Giannis sweepstakes because he’d slide perfectly into what Portland is trying to build. The roster has a few awesome defenders and a two-way wing in Deni Avdija, who averaged 24.2 points per game in a breakout campaign last year. But Brown is at another level as a scorer; his addition would elevate the Blazers from a feisty low seed in play-in contention to a top-six seed in the West and possibly higher if certain things broke right. He’d be a great tool for new coach Micah Nori to wield on both ends.

The problem is that Portland’s place as a logical destination for Brown was tied to the fact that the franchise owned most of the Bucks’ future picks, so sending those to Milwaukee to facilitate a Giannis trade to Boston made some sense. But as noted above the core of this trade would have to feature useful role players at the very least, the same players who helped make the Blazers a playoff team last year. Giving up enough to convince Boston it’s a worthwhile deal while keeping enough to contend is a tricky balance for this Portland team. Nevertheless, it’s enough of an upgrade that they need to think about it.

Proposed trade: Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan for Brown

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons won 60 games by playing great defense and letting Cade Cunningham go to war for most of their points, so an upgrade like Brown isn’t technically needed to take the leap to genuine championship contention. But Detroit’s playoff run very clearly showed a dire need for additional scoring and perimeter creation, which Brown would fix immediately. His three-point percentage isn’t as consistent as the Pistons might like given just how devoid of shooting the rest of the roster is. But Brown is still dangerous enough as a scorer that defenses wouldn’t be able to leave him alone to shut down Cunningham, and having a guy like that (as Detroit just learned) is the difference between an early playoff exit and battling for a title. And from an attitude standpoint Brown’s gritty play would be a wonderful fit in the Motor City.

The PIstons shouldn’t be considered a favorite to land him, though, because they don’t have much to offer that the Celtics would want. Isaiah Stewart could’ve been a nice piece given Boston’s need for center depth but he got dumped on the Grizzlies for second-round picks on Wednesday. Otherwise Detroit has too many one-way players to really move the needle on the Celtics’ end. It’s certainly worth a try given how perfect Brown would be, though—and quite possibly worth giving up the budding talents of Ausar Thompson.

Proposed trade: Ausar Thompson, Duncan Robinson, Ron Holland II, Caris LeVert for Brown

Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks are a natural landing spot for Brown, and not just because he is originally from the Atlanta area. They’re a young team looking to take a big step forward after an encouraging season and playoff run in which they were the only team to take two games from the Knicks before they won the title. Brown would fill a need in terms of three-level scoring and further raise the ceiling of an already-talented young defense. It would make for a fun off-court story and the exact sort of upgrade a team like the Hawks should seek in order to hang in with the heavyweights of the conference.

Could they land Brown without trading Jalen Johnson? That’s the big question. Johnson isn’t really that much better of a fit next to Tatum than Brown is but the Celtics won’t settle for Kingston Flemings and draft picks, either. To acquire premiere talent one must give up premiere talent. Especially for a talent like Brown who seems like an ideal addition as far as a veteran star goes.

Proposed trade: Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Walker-Alexander, Onyeka Okongwu for Jaylen Brown

New Orleans Pelicans

Nobody has any idea what the Pelicans are going to do with Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver running the show. But Brown would be a logical target if New Orleans wants to skip steps and try to compete right now. The roster lacks a true star (Zion Williamson no longer counts, sadly) and acquiring one like Brown would give the team an identity the likes of which it hasn’t had since the glory days of the Anthony Davis-Demarcus Cousins frontcourt. Making it more appealing is the Celcitcs’ reported interest in Trey Murphy III; the Pelicans value him very much but giving him up for Brown would be worth it.

The question is whether the other pieces would prove enough to push the deal across the finish line. Boston would have to believe Murphy can blossom into a true No. 2 option next to Tatum to build a deal entirely around him and, at 26 years old, Murphy hasn’t shown those kinds of goods. He’s definitely a top-level role player on the wing with a sweet jumper and a nose for the rim, but he’s closer to a wing version of Derrick White than a true replacement for Brown. Still, the Celtics have been linked to him and that makes it worth picking up the phone on New Orleans’ end.

Proposed trade: Trey Murphy III, Herbert Jones, Jeremiah Fears for Jaylen Brown

More NBA from Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.

Add us as a preferred source on Google