Jaylen Brown struggled to impact the Boston Celtics December 27 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. With Jayson Tatum sidelined due to the league’s health and safety protocols, Boston needed their second star to step up to the plate.
Unfortunately, Brown put too much pressure on himself to lead the line for the Celtics, and the team ended up losing against a Timberwolves team, missing half of their roster. As you can expect, fans worldwide were disappointed in the poor display from both Boston and Brown, and as such, are now re-evaluating the team’s current core.
Brown’s name has been floated around in numerous trade packages throughout this Season, with a deal for Ben Simmons being the one that gained the most traction. Yet, after failing to prove he’s capable of stepping out of Tatum’s shadow, it would seem fans are opening up to the idea of moving on from one of their All-Star wings, and it’s highly unlikely to be Tatum.
Frankly, the Celtics have too many issues to solve. Without using one of their better players to begin rebuilding their contract, the team will continue treading water as it tries to improve around the margins.
Jeff Goodman Believes It’s Time to Trade Brown
Last Season, NBA insider Jeff Goodman risked the fury of Celtics fans around the world when he postulated trading Brown. However, it would seem like Goodman was ahead of the curve with his line of thinking, as the idea of moving on from the Atlanta native is becoming more palatable as the Season progresses.
“It’s time to admit this group together does not work. They have to make a move. I don’t know what it is. I have said all along. I would trade Jaylen Brown. Unfortunately, I think his trade value is quite as high as it was when I said to trade him about a year ago.
I think it was at its peak about a year ago, but can you still get a superstar in return for him. But, I’ve said it over and over, and I wonder if people finally agree with me, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown still look like they’ve never played basketball together before,” Jeff Goodman said on a recent episode of The Garden Report.
Goodman believes that Brown’s ceiling isn’t high enough, and his fit poor enough, that the Celtics would be justified in trading him, should the deal make sense for both sides. Of course, there’s no escaping the Simmons rumors, but in truth, a passing guard who is an elite perimeter defender could unlock new layers to Tatum’s game.
“At some point, you’ve got to say to yourself, ‘these two do not work great together, let’s see if we can bring in Ben Simmons and more? Can we get Ben Simmons at his lowest possible value right now?’ But you’ve got to get more. Jaylen Brown’s contract is terrific right now. Daryl Morey would do that trade in two seconds… They’ve gotta sweeten it with something good. I don’t know what that is,” Goodman said.
It would seem that opinion is split of the current duo of Brown and Tatum, with Chris Mannix recently declaring that he believes Boston should do everything in their power to build around the pair rather than split them up.
Brown’s Season Hasn’t Gone as Planned.
Things haven’t been easy for Brown in recent months. From injuring his wrist and missing the tail-end of the 2020-21 NBA season, along with the play-in tournament and playoffs, to contracting COVID at the start of training camp. Everything that could go wrong for the young All-Star has.
Of course, we can’t deny that Brown’s hamstring injury also robbed him of a perfect opportunity for him to build momentum and cohesion with this Season’s Celtics roster. But there are also questions surrounding Brown’s ability as a closer. After all, this is the same player that continually starts games hot but fades as his team gets closer to the finish line.
Sure, people joke that the Celtics always have an elite scorer on hand between Tatum’s slow starts and Brown’s cold finishes. But if Boston wants to get back to challenging for championships, they need consistency from both of their star players, not just on a game-to-game basis, but also from quarter-to-quarter.
The trade deadline is still over a month away, and things can change very quickly, so we likely see Brown double down on improving within his role and building the consistency the team sorely needs from him. The 25-year-old wing will get his first shot at redemption on December 29 when the Tatum-less Celtics face off against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Insider Urges Celtics to Flip Core Starter in Trade for Disgruntled All-Star