Could the Timberwolves Land Jaylen Brown For Rudy Gobert and More?

Brown is likely to be traded by the Celtics, who reportedly want a big man. Could Minnesota make this happen?

Dec 23, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (1) after the Celtics defeated the Timberwolves at TD Garden. | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Anthony Edwards and Jaylen Brown finished third and fourth in the NBA in scoring last season. They might be the two best shooting guards in the league. They're both from the Atlanta area and have a clear mutual respect for each other. Could they be teammates next season?

It might not be a completely unrealistic idea. Brown seems very likely to be traded by the Celtics, who dangled him in Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talks before the Bucks chose Miami's package instead. That relationship may not be salvageable. Per SI's Chris Mannix, Boston is hunting a big man and would be willing to trade Brown to land one. The Wolves, who are always looking to add talent around Edwards, happen to have a veteran center who has won four defensive player of the year awards.

Here's an offer Tim Connelly could make to Brad Stevens:

• Timberwolves get: Jaylen Brown
• Celtics get: Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVincenzo, Terrence Shannon Jr., 2033 first-round pick

After the Wolves salary dumped Julius Randle this week, that deal would work financially, while still giving Minnesota plenty of room below the first apron. That would be necessary to add a starting center and replenish some of the depth that would be lost.

Why Minnesota does it

Landing Brown would give the Wolves another superstar scorer who could take significant pressure off of Edwards. With Jayson Tatum missing almost all of last season due to injury, Brown became the Celtics' alpha and averaged a career-high 28.7 points per game to go with 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He's a five-time All-Star who just finished sixth in MVP voting and made the All-NBA second team for the second time. In 2024, it was Brown — not Tatum — who was the MVP of both the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals as the Celtics won the title.

Do Edwards and Brown have fairly similar skill sets? They do. Could they shine alongside one another like Brown and Tatum have? Absolutely. Defenses wouldn't be able to double both of the Wolves' elite guards. Brown, who is a bit bigger than Edwards, could easily play small forward, sliding Jaden McDaniels to the four and Naz Reid to the five. Or you could have an Edwards-Brown backcourt with McDaniels at the three, Reid at the four, and Ayo Dosunmu the first player off the bench.

Jaylen Brown | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

The package above is a lot for the Wolves to give up, but that's probably the only way to land Brown without parting with McDaniels or Reid. Minnesota's defense would certainly become a big question if Gobert isn't on the roster. Connelly would need to use the mid-level exception to sign a starting center, unless the Wolves can find a way to land Neemias Queta in the trade. Someone like Mitchell Robinson or Robert Williams III could be an option in free agency. Keep in mind that young Joan Beringer should be a rotation big man for the Wolves this year.

DiVincenzo would be tough to part with, but he's set to miss most of next season to injury anyways. Shannon has some upside, but not enough that he'd be a reason not to pull the trigger on this deal. If this would be enough for the Wolves to land Brown, the upside would be too great to turn it down.

Why Boston does it

This is the trickier part. The Celtics will have a lot of options for where they could trade Brown, so it's unclear if that Wolves offer would be enough to win the sweepstakes. The case for it is that Gobert is the best defensive center they could realistically acquire. A starting lineup of Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Tatum, Sam Hauser, and Gobert might be a problem in the East, given all of the shooting they'd be putting around Rudy. They'd also have DiVincenzo back by the playoffs for even more shooting, and he could be a good long-term piece for the Celtics if they extend his contract.

In Shannon, Boston would get an aggressive bench guard who has shown he can be a problem when he has the ball in his hands at the top of the key. They'd also pick up a future first-round pick, albeit one that's quite far in the future.

It may not be the best offer the Celtics can get for Brown, which is why it doesn't seem very likely that he'll end up in Minnesota. But it doesn't feel like something that's totally unreasonable or impossible, either.