Getty Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown.
It’s that time of the year again. You know, the one where the Boston Celtics waver around a .500-record, which in return leads to mounting Jaylen Brown trade speculation despite the organization publically portraying him as off-limits.
On December 11, Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer fueled such speculation during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio, giving his reasoning as to why he believes that Brown and fellow Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum are heading for a divorce.
“I think this is definitely the beginning of the end for the Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown pairing,” Fischer said. “I don’t know if that will get broken up this season. But I think sometime in the next 12-18 months we’re really going start to hear about the conversations about the future of Boston with Jaylen Brown heading out the door.”
While the duo is arguably the most talented 25-and-under pairing in all of basketball, their talent has not equated to anything more than personal success in recent years. The reigning All-Stars are each coming off career campaigns from a season ago. However, the Celtics own a record of just 49-50 since the start of 2020. With the team stuck in neutral, it’s fair to question whether Brad Stevens could be propositioned into reconfiguring his roster at the expense of Brown if the Celtics continue to wallow as a middle-of-the-road team heading into the February 10 trade deadline.
And if Stevens needs a nudge to do so, Matt George of ABC10 and the “Locked On Kings Podcast” is volunteering Sacramento Kings president of basketball operations Monte McNair as tribute.
“If I was Monte McNair, I’d be calling Boston every 2 minutes trying to get Jaylen Brown to Sacramento,” George tweeted in response to quotes from Fischer’s take on the Celtics star.
Could De’Aaron Fox Intrigue the Celtics?
First things first, of course, McNair should be on the phone with the Celtics were they to show even a glimmer of possibility that they’d be willing to part with Brown — McNair and the other 28 NBA general managers, that is. If the Cal product was dangled in trade discussions at any point in the near future, he’d likely top the majority of teams’ wish lists thanks to his mix of age (just 25 years old) and a somewhat favorable contract (will earn an average of $26.5 million through 2024.)
So, with that in mind, the question becomes which players on the Kings current roster could possibly pry away one of the league’s would-be hottest commodities from Boston? The obvious candidates include De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley, all of whom appear to be on the outside looking in on what is shaping up to be yet another rebuild in Sacramento.
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Fox to Be a ‘Main Piece’ in a Big Move?
That’s the feeling in league circles according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer who, on December 6 wrote: “The Kings are at a crossroads yet again, with a new interim head coach, a relatively new GM, and a lot of players with uncertain futures. GM Monte McNair drafted two guards in consecutive drafts (Mitchell and Tyrese Haliburton) despite having De’Aaron Fox on the payroll, which suggests to executives around the league that Fox will be his main piece for a big move.”
The Kings also have 29-year-old Harrison Barnes still at their disposal, a player the Celtics were rumored to be highly fond of around last season’s trade deadline. A mixture of a handful of aforementioned players and draft picks could possibly bring the Cs to the table. However, don’t expect the Celtics to jump on any deal before they feel like they’ve truly exhausted all possibilities of making things work with Brown in Boston.
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