The NBA offseason has barely begun, but the Boston Celtics have already made a major blunder involving star Jaylen Brown. The Celtics tried to trade Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo only to strike out.
Now, it seems that he wants out and they don't have a clear backup plan. Teams aren't lining up the way that they expected to acquire Brown, leaving them with lackluster offers to choose from.
Thus far, it appears the Portland Trail Blazers are the frontrunners to acquire him. Despite that, the potential return for Brown may be far less than many Celtics fans might expect.
The Celtics have backed themselves into a corner involving Jalen Brown
According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, teams have been hesitant to offer huge halls for Brown, given his poor analytics. In fact, he went as far as to state that one front office views him as being the seventh best player on a team.
That seems ludicrous considering he finished fifth in MVP voting last season and won Finals MVP in 2023. Nevertheless, it seems that he may not have the same value to other teams that he does the Celtics. Therein lies the problem.
The Celtics want the sun, moon, and stars for arguably their best player. However, other teams are only willing to give up the Sun and possibly the moon but certainly not the stars for him.
The Celtics may still be forced to trade Jaylen Brown
If Brown really wants a fresh start, then the Celtics may oblige him and trade him, but only if it makes sense for them. It was always seen as an almost certainty that the Celtics would eventually have to trade Brown given his contract.
After all, he is set to make a total of $285 million over the life of his 5-year max extension. After failing to trade him for an upgrade, they may instead have to trade him for flexibility.
If they can get multiple rotation players and multiple picks back in return for Brown, then it might make sense for them to pull the trigger now rather than wait. Otherwise, they will only be delaying an inevitable breakup with Brown.
Especially if they are unable to sustain paying two max players long term and Brown wants a team of his own.
